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9 Wham-O products that make us feel like kids again
Good weather back in the day meant Slip'N Slides and Water Wiggles.
Wham-O was one of the companies responsible for making our childhoods a blast. The toy maker came up with some of the most ridiculous ideas in the 1960s and 1970s, but they were obviously the most fun!
It's like the people at Wham-O knew what kids really wanted, no matter how dangerous the end product turned out to be. Half of the toys this company created wouldn't fly today, which is why Wham-O is so special. It's a relic for kids of a certain generation.
Everyone had a Hula Hoop and Frisbee, but the nine classic toys on this list deserve some love too.
1. Air Blaster
For those who didn't want to buy their child a toy gun, there was Wham-O's Air Blaster. Just because the toy shot out compressed air instead of pellets did not mean it was harmless. When kids started using Air Blasters at close range, problems started to arise.
Image: Pinterest
2. Instant Fish
With the popularity of ant farms and sea monkeys, Wham-O saw the need to jump on the trend of micro pets with Instant Fish. The idea was to sell a dry mud substitute riddled with the dormant eggs of African killifish. Added to water, in theory, the eggs would hatch and you had your own little aquarium. But the reality was much more like having clumps of mud in a bowl, as the eggs wouldn't hatch.
Image: Pinterest
3. Magic Window
You could create works of art by turning the container and watching the swirling colored crystals change patterns. The blue and white version was the original, but Wham-O stepped up its game by introducing glow-in-the-dark versions as well.
Image: The New Magic Window
4. Slip'N Slide
Ah, yes! Nothing completed a hot summer day quite like the Slip'N Slide. If the public pool was too far, or just plain dirty, this was the next best thing. Who remembers getting chunks to grass stuck to them after crashing at the end?
Image: Pow! Science!
5. Super Elastic Bubble Plastic
A toy that helped people blow trippy bubbles was perfect for the 1970s. All you had to do was squeeze out a little bit of liquid plastic, roll it into a ball, and blow through a straw to create multicolored bubbles.
Sounds harmless, right? Of course not. The bubbles contained chemicals like polyvinyl acetate (found in glue) and ethyl acetate (found in nail polish remover). And if you inhaled it, you got a mouthful of toxic fumes. It's no wonder the toy was discontinued in the 1980s.
Image: Remembering the 70s
6. Super Stuff
It was like Super Elastic Bubble Plastic, Play-Doh and Silly Putty all rolled into one. In fact, we're not quite sure what Super Stuff actually was. But we are sure this toy was fun, only for the first hour or two.
Image: Wham-O Super Stuff
7. Turbo-Tube
The Space Age saw a lot of toys take flight, and that includes this gem from Wham-O. Turbo-Tube was a cylinder that glided through the air using "gyro-action." When you threw it like a football, it was supposed to follow a set path. But of course, it would generally take off and fly in any direction that it pleased.
Image: Seize the Play!
8. Water Wiggle
Sure, the Slip'N Slide was the quintessential summer toy, but let's not forget the Water Wiggle. It always seemed as if these things had a mind of their own, and if the water pressure was high enough, the seemingly innocent toy turned into a semi-lethal weapon.
Image: Pinterest
9. Wheelie Bar
The Wheelie Bar was great because you could easily impress your friends by popping wheelies and also not risk your life trying to do so. Plus, who needed a helmet when you had the Wheelie Bar to protect you?
Image: Skate and Annoy
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