A toy from my youth that would be completely illegal today
posted at 7:45 am on June 13, 2009 by directorblue
[ Culture ]
When I was in first grade, I was green with envy over a single toy owned by my next-door neighbor and best friend. His parents had bought him a Johnny Seven OMA.
In the sixties, the Johnny Seven OMA (One Man Army) was the ultimate toy firearm. It integrated seven distinct weapons (thus the Johnny Seven) into a single chassis:
| * Grenade * Anti-Tank Rocket * Armor-Piercing Shell * Anti-Bunker Rocket |
* Repeating Rifle * Tommy Gun * Automatic Pistol |
All of the firing mechanisms were attached to the main rifle assembly – the pistol inserted from the bottom to provide the rifle grip (the pistol also held caps for authentic firing sounds). The main ammunition included various sized white bullets that would “shoot” from the barrels via spring-action. The rockets and grenade also fired via spring-action. The weapon featured a working bipod that provided stability for the various rockets and grenade. The stock could be removed to shorten the weapon while in Tommy Gun mode. The toy when fully assembled is over three feet long.
Decades later, I still remember the Johnny Seven and how my parents would never spring for one.
But I’m not bitter.
Honestly, though, if a kid was walking around with a Johnny Seven these days, they would call in a SWAT team and a hostage negotiator. And Chuck Schumer would hold a press conference to get more face time on TV.
Man, how times have changed.
Update: More toys from our youth that would be illegal today.
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I know your pain. The same kid in our neighborhood with the OMA had a Man from UNCLE briefcase – he was unstoppable. Every time I was about to take him out in the back of his head, my roll of caps would jam up and my pistol would only emit a pitiful click – a click that signaled that death was imminent for me. Law enforcement would have to cave in to his demands.
ericdijon on June 13, 2009 at 8:12 AM
To timestamp this one.
I was born in 1960. We all played with whatever “toy guns” we could buy, or were bought for us (although no one I knew had a Johnny 7.)
And, we made homemade bow-and-arrow sets, and rubber band guns that shot cut-up bike tire innertubes.
No one really anguished over this.
Now, in the (nearly) present day….
My youngest son (born in 1992) picked up a crooked stick at recess, (Kindergarden or first grade,)and made the inevitable “bang, bang” sound that comes out of all pointy things that boys pick up.
A letter from the teacher ensued, to make sure that I wasn’t encouraging this type of violent behavior.
I fired back (pun intended) that all kids, since at least the invention of the flintlock, had made pointy things into make believe guns, and that I was sure it wouldn’t lead to anything drastic.
All this, in just one generation. We’ve fallen greatly.
massrighty on June 13, 2009 at 9:13 AM
Thanks for your post. How the world has changed.
I know of a boy who got into trouble for absent-mindedly carrying a plastic fork out of the lunchroom.
Here’s something related to that reckless 60′s culture. The Bill Whittle video linked there is great.
Pundette on June 13, 2009 at 9:45 AM
LOL, when I saw the Headline… the Johny 7 immediatly came to mind…
My Mom was an anti gun nut… wouldn’t even buy us GI Joes… so I feel you pain…
She REALLY dislikes my house now… LOL….
Romeo13 on June 13, 2009 at 11:38 AM
Honestly, I can understand the big deal over authentic sounds a bit . . . especially in neighborhoods where cops can be shot at in the blink of an eye and have no choice but to fire back . . . but to mentally castrate a boy over taking a stick and going “bang bang” with it is way too much.
Ryan Gandy on June 13, 2009 at 11:53 AM
Never had a Set like that. But I remember riding my bike with my friends all over the neighborhood without even owning a helmet. Riding a skateboard with absolutely no safety equipment (back then blue jeans counted as protective clothing). Riding in the back of our parents station wagon – the very back – with no seat belts.
Turned out perfectly fine, thank you!
Ace ODale on June 13, 2009 at 2:01 PM
Finally I know the name of this gun! A friend of mine had one when we were kids and I remember playing with it, but I never knew the name.
I used to have a lot of those cap guns that use the red circle caps and looked like real revolvers. My friends and I used to paint the red barrel insert black! Not a good idea these days, probably why the same cap guns are flourescent colors now. Times change…
mdmarq on June 13, 2009 at 2:06 PM
I’ll add to your list;
1.Following the “mosquito truck” that sprayed the noxious fox, just so we could ride around blind.
2. “Ski Patroling” – running after, and grabbing onto, the bumpers of cars, so as to get pulled down the street.
3. Jarts – the lawn dart game.
4. Throwing any aerosol can we could find into the outdoor incinerator – because the label said not to! BOOM!
massrighty on June 13, 2009 at 3:50 PM
i’ll add a couple …
5. packing ground up rocket engines, or our own powder mix in my Dad’s spent cigar casings, adding a fuse and stuffing it in a prairie dog hole.
6. tennis ball mortars (made one recenly with my oldest)
AZ_Redneck on June 13, 2009 at 6:05 PM
I’m 48 years old, a responsible Dad, hard worker, all the stuff an adult is suposed to be.
Explosions of any kind are still way cool.
I will never outgrow it.
massrighty on June 13, 2009 at 6:32 PM
HOWEVER, I still have a scratch on my cornea from playing war circa 1965 when one little b*****d shot at me in the face with the supposedly safe, bulbous grenade. There was this little bit of flashing on the end that did it.
kd6rxl on June 13, 2009 at 10:33 PM
. . . and don’t get me started on the joys of carbide
woodenshipster on June 13, 2009 at 10:53 PM
And Popeye candy cigarettes.
andycanuck on June 14, 2009 at 12:26 AM
Yea. My snarky next door friend had that too. As well as every GI Joe accessory ever made including the Jeep with the trailer.
I had the M-16 that made real machine gun noise when you pulled the receiver slide back. We used to look like an armed militia walking thru the neighborhood; going to the woods to play army. The parents didn’t pay any attention, cause’ that’s what boys did.
Oh – saltpeter and sulfur – mix liberally, place in a piece of tin foil with a small hole cut in it with tissue covering the hole. Strike a match, stick it in the hole and toss. Excellent smoke cover for “troop” movement.
BacaDog on June 14, 2009 at 9:13 AM
I have to admit this must have been a little before my time (I’m only 39), but I have to say this is the most B@D@SS toy ever.I wish they were selling these when I was young, I would have saved 6 months allowance to get one.
Alas when we had neighborhood wide games of war
I could have been the neighborhood Rambo
Now you have fed my OCD with the need to find one on Ebay, thanks for burning up my weekend.
As for it never being sellable today, alas my friend it has gone the way of Archie Bunker… Be thankful you don’t live in Illinios. I am learning all about FOID and I am telling you now, its a nightmare.
@ntif@n on June 14, 2009 at 9:24 AM
You must be from Florida?
@ntif@n on June 14, 2009 at 9:26 AM
Nope. Massachusetts.
And, for the younger crowd – “ski patrolling” requires 2 things;
1. Snow/Ice covered roads
2. Bumpers you could actually grab – today’s cars just ain’t making it.
massrighty on June 14, 2009 at 12:04 PM
I had a VERY authentic THOMPSON sub-machine gun, with removable stock and other variants you could select.
Of course, I owned a .22 rifle, given to me on my eighth Christmas, and had been shooting since I was about four.
I also fired on my high-school JROTC rifle team. The weapons were kept on school property, as was the ammo.
Nobody shot anyone. I have never fired a weapon at another human being, though I am prepared to if necessary.
My father used to go to school with his own .22, as did most boys in those days. They would plink or shoot small game to bring home to add to the Depression-era family diet. Nobody shot another kid, teacher, or adult.
Ragspierre on June 14, 2009 at 12:16 PM
But I am, Ft. Walton Beach. chased that truck all through the neighborhood and couldn’t understand why Mom made me take a bath when I (finally) came home. Played with cracker balls, cap guns and those pathetic water guns we had; better ones are available today. Had a Daisy BB gun. My father still had it when he died in 2000, used it to keep squirrels of the bird feeders.
So, never had a bike helmet, or lights on my bike, climb trees, fell out, climbed them again, threw dirt clods at each other, shot arrow into the sky to see how far they’d go up. How in the hell did any of us survive????
E9RET on June 14, 2009 at 4:02 PM
Good God. How about chemistry sets? With real chemicals, of all things.
How about the M19 ‘Annihilator’? You know, the fully automatic BB machine gun that fired 3,000 BBs a minute with compressed air or ‘convenient 1 lb cans of Freon from your local auto parts store’?
What the hell has happened? When I graduated HS in the early 80′s, we all had guns in our car, carried knives on our belts, and we even had a smoking area!
Do they still sell bags of those green army men or did the liberal tardos 86 those also?
Lanceman on June 14, 2009 at 9:24 PM
Not even close to favorite guntoy status, does anyone remember the Agent Zero sonic blaster Bazooka from Mattel? Shot a puff ball of air at your buddies an you could see their shirt move so you knew you got a hit. Pulled from the market because it was LOUD and had a problem with bursting/damaging kids ear drums. After that we went to b.b. guns and goggles, painfull but fun. Only rule was NO head shots. God how did we survive.
doublenaught spy on June 17, 2009 at 2:12 PM
ah memories…that mosquito truck plied the streets of Houston in the ’60s too. About 10 years ago I ended up not protesting loud enough and was duly christened the civic club president. First order of business was trying to figure out what to do with the dues money we collected ($12/year volumtary). I had $1,300 or so in cash and about $16k in the bank that I did not want to touch so spraying for mosquitos seemed like a good idea.
Oy!!! The push back from maybe two households out of 400 about the harsh chemicals blah blah blah had kept the neighborhood from spraying for years. We commenced anyway and within a month the news of the West Nile virus was the rage.
BB guns, .22s, bow and arrows, we had them all. How about a mini-bike with no throttle (wire to the carb) and no brakes powered by my dad’s edger engine? Homemade steel truck skateboards (from my sister’s skates). Awesome!
DanMan on June 18, 2009 at 3:46 PM