Atomic Bomb Ring

Back in 1947, kids could get an "atomic bomb ring" by sending in a boxtop of Kix cereal plus 15 cents. The ring allowed them to observe flashes of light caused by polonium alpha particles striking a zinc sulfide screen. Although one had to be in a fully dark room, with dark-adapted eyes, to see the effect. That's actually a pretty cool toy for a cereal promotion.

I think the ring may have been similar in principle to the cheap geigerscopes that used to be sold to let people search for uranium in their backyards (see previous post).

San Francisco Examiner - Feb 9, 1947
Click to enlarge

image source: orau.org

Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 22, 2024 - Comments (2)
Category: Toys, Atomic Power and Other Nuclear Matters, 1940s

Annie Get Your Yo Yo

The singer's Wikipedia page.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Jul 03, 2024 - Comments (1)
Category: Innuendo, Double Entendres, Symbolism, Nudge-Nudge-Wink-Wink and Subliminal Messages, Music, Toys, 1960s

Sailor, the World Record Frisbee Dog

An article here.

Posted By: Paul - Wed May 29, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Sports, Toys, World Records, Dogs, Twenty-first Century

Sweet Cookie Doll

Posted By: Paul - Mon May 27, 2024 - Comments (1)
Category: Toys, Advertising, AI, Robots and Other Automatons, 1970s

Roll Rock ‘n Roll That Hula Hoop

The creators.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Feb 03, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Fads, Music, Toys, Twins, Lookalikes & Doppelgangers, 1960s

The Castro Cap

Source.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Jan 09, 2024 - Comments (3)
Category: Dictators, Tyrants and Other Harsh Rulers, Disguises, Impersonations, Mimics and Forgeries, Toys, 1950s, Caribbean

Power Tennis

Thank god that video games were invented, to spare us from this.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Dec 24, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Family, Games, Toys, 1970s

Suffer the Children

Another fine Xmas ditty.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Dec 21, 2023 - Comments (1)
Category: Holidays, Toys, Children, 1960s, Weapons

Electric Trains and You

A song of the season. This word might come in handy: paraphilia.

Paraphilia is the experience of recurring or intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, situations, fantasies, behaviors, or individuals.[1][2] It has also been defined as a sexual interest in anything other than a consenting human partner.[

Posted By: Paul - Thu Dec 14, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Holidays, Toys, Trains and Other Vehicles on Rails, 1960s, Love & Romance

A system for climbing vertical surfaces

The French patent office granted Raymond Saulnier a patent in 1951 for "a system for climbing vertical surfaces." A British patent followed in 1952.

Saulnier had come up with a way to allow vehicles, or even people, to climb vertical surfaces without the aid of ropes. His insight was that climbing any slope is essentially a problem of adhesion. If a force stronger than gravity is pushing you against the slope, then you won't slide down. And that adhesive force could be supplied by the downward pressure of propellors or jet nozzles.



Of course, powering propellors or jet nozzles requires a lot of energy. So Saulnier imagined powering them with compressed air supplied by a tube from the ground. He suggested that firefighters, among others, might find his system useful for scaling the sides of buildings.

I've never seen a prototype of Saulnier's invention in action. But when I was in Target the other day, I noticed a Sharper Image-branded toy named the "Gravity Rover" that "climbs from floor to wall to ceiling." It occurred to me that this was Saulnier's invention transformed into a toy.

It's a pretty cool toy, but based on videos of it, extremely loud.

Posted By: Alex - Sun Nov 26, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Technology, Toys, Patents