[mcdougall]

A little off topic, but I figure most of you guys will remember
and relate ...
Remember ads like this...

Well I just found this site called House of the Unusual where
you can still get this stuff...check it out...
http://www.houseoftheunusual.com/menu.html

All the stuff our folks wouldn't let us order out
of the back of a Comic book can be had again
Fun Stuff
Mcdee

 

[Auroranut]

There's some cool memories there Denis!!
We had a joke shop in Sydney when I was a kid and I remember seeing stuff like black soap and xray specs....

Chris.

 

[walsing]

Good memories. I really miss the old joke and magic shops and the back of the comic books.

 

[Cro-Magnon Man]

Yes, I've noticed that shops here still sell all the same joke stuff I remember from the 1970's - black soap, blue mouth sweets, too-hot gum, fly-in-the-icecube, fake blood capsules, etc. The factories which made it all are obviously still producing the stuff just the same; it's obviously more profitable than diversifying into ipods, laptops, MP3's, blueray, etc. In fact this industry came up in the sports news here about 3 years ago when a rugby club, not just the player, but the club as a whole and its management, was involved in a 'fake blood' scandal, in which joke blood capsules from a shop in London were used to fabricate an injury as an excuse to substitute a player.

 

[Rondo]

Man, who didn't want the X ray glasses? My real obsession for a time though was the Polaris Nuclear Sub. Over 7 feet long. Fires missiles. I would get that thing and take it down to the river and have great adventures. It never occured to me that it was not water tight or even water resistant. Mom burst that bubble for me. After seeing the actual item, it's just as well.

http://misternizz.wordpress.com/2011/07/28/my-obsession-with-acquiring-a-polaris-submarine/

I did get some Sea Monkeys though!

Looking for the old ad, I did find T shirts on ebay with the submarine ad on them. It's on my must get list.

Edit: Wow, speaking of which: http://achtungtshirt.com/Polaris-Toy-Submarine-Navy-Toy-Solider-Playset-Comic-Book-Ad-P1207256.aspx

Several cool designs here.

 

[Rotwang]

Remember in Christmas Story what Ralphie said when he finally decoded the "Big Message"? "Son of a ......."

 

[Larry523]

OMG! I actually had one of those Polaris subs when I was a very little kid! I'd completely forgotten about it until I read your post. I was maybe 6-ish when I got it and I'm 53 now, so it was a looooooooong time ago. I vaguely remember that it didn't last long because it was so flimsy - maybe a few weeks until it fell apart. I had fun with it though, or at least I think I did. I can't remember any feelings of disappointment associated with it, but then it was so long ago. Wow, I wonder what else I've forgotten from my early childhood?

 

[mcdougall]

Good memories. I really miss the old joke and magic shops and the back of the comic books.

Yeah I remember saving my dimes and heading to the Smoke shop that sold
some of these old jokes and Monster Models...Usually didn't have enough coin to buy a model but for a couple of dimes you could get fake dog crap, itching powder... fly in the ice cube, you know ...the essentials required to be a kid
...that's what I like about the House of the Unusual...
http://www.houseoftheunusual.com/menu.html
I can relive part of my childhood buying this stuff for my kids and Grandkids,...at least that's what I'm telling my wife...
Denis

 

[kenlee]

This thread brings back a lot of memories. I remember ordering around 1975 the cigarette loads, and nickles into dimes magic trick. I got into a lot of trouble with the cigarette loads, but it was hilarious watching my dad have a cigarette randomly pop while he was smoking it. I loaded four or five and put back randomly in the pack, he never knew when one was going to pop.
For my 12th birthday back in 1972 he ordered a steam engine from the Johnson & Smith company, I still have and it I run it occasionally. The only thing missing is the little metal tray that held the fuel pellets. It really needs cleaning up right now, about 25 years ago I completely disassembled it with the intention of stripping the paint off the brickwork area and repainting it. When I got the paint off I saw that the pressed steel brickwork piece under the boiler was copper plated but strangely the rest was just bare pressed steel. I repainted the bare steel parts but left the copper plated part as is. The oil used to lubricate the mechanism dissolved the ink and glue on the original Johnson & Smith label way back when it was new, so that is long gone.

 

[kenlee]

So cool, the Johnson Smith company still exists!

http://www.johnsonsmith.com/

 

[Zathros]

X-ray specs was invented by Dr.Harold Braunhut, who was a friend of mine.They were nothing more than chicken feathers that when you looked through them, it bent the lighting in such a way, that it gave you the illusion you were seeing through your hand. he passed away about 6 years ago. and incidentally, Dr Braunhut also had another small invention you may have heard about, thats still going strong: Sea Monkeys. I used to visit him at the toy building in New york City..

Z

 

[mcdougall]

Zathros, you've got some pretty cool friends!
I'd like to read your biography...(seriously)
...I still have my X-ray Specs in my dungeon
Denis