I had the day off today, So I spent most of it doing next to nothing – and the rest doing actually nothing.  I am cooking dinner now, still in my sleepwear. I was looking out the window, looking at the Christmas lights my neighbors still have up. I was thinking back on the toys I got as a youth, the ones that I spent the most time with — the most fun, most dangerous, etc.

This one has to be the most dangerous, but also the one my father and I spent the most time playing with. We would build meccano set machinery that was powered by the steam engine…

It lasted many years. It finally was destroyed when my cousin and I accidentally let it boil dry – the front plate fell out. We could have soldered back in place — the whole thing is made of tin — but my dad would never get around to fixing it.

The other toy is a compressed gas/water rocket. It’s not particularly dangerous. The only time we played with it was on boxing day — or maybe even on the afternoon of Christmas day. My dad was absolutely giddy watching us fill the rocket with water, going outside, and firing tit into the air. It went really high up… 30 or 40 feet at least. It was a bitterly cold day (maybe -20ish with a strong wind). As we launched the rocket, my sister and I got a facial of tap water as the rocket climbed…

We scrambled back into the house as quickly as we could. Our coats, mitts, and toques had been soaked. My dad was roaring with laughter. I think this was the only time we’d played with this thing, but my dad definitely got his money’s worth of entertainment value on this gift.

I hope you’ve had a Merry Christmas building pleasant memories with your families. Any memorable or dangerous toys from your youth?