March 21, 2006

PARLOR MAGIC with CIGARETTES (Mar, 1933)

Filed under: How to, Toys and Games — @ 10:37 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Mar, 1933
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PARLOR MAGIC with CIGARETTES

IF THE cigarettes themselves could only express the keen competition apparent among their manufacturers . . .well!

Try this: Drop a bunch of one brand smokes into a hat. Take a lone cigarette of another brand and skoot it into the enemy encampment. Bang! Out comes the intruder with much gusto to be deftly caught in your hand. The “how” is absurdly simple. The “bunch” is dropped into the hat, taking care that they land in the far compartment of the crown. The lone cigarette goes into the near compartment. What’s left is merely a matter of voicing a loud “bang” at the same moment you snap the crown of the hat with your thumb, projecting the cigarette high into the air. For so simple a bit of foolery, this goes over nicely.

How to Tie a Cigarette in a Knot
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March 17, 2006

Human Squirrel Cage (Sep, 1954)

Filed under: Cool, Toys and Games — @ 10:32 am
Source: Popular Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Sep, 1954
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This looks like a hell of a lot of fun.

Human Squirrel Cage

THRILL ADDICTS registered their screaming approval of a German-made fun machine introduced at Chicago’s Riverview Amusement Park this summer. Little cars circle a drum 27 feet in diameter which supports five circular tracks. The cars are loosely attached to the tracks and, by operating a foot pedal, the rider can lock his car to the track. As the drum revolves at about 15 miles per hour, the cars go around with it. Timid riders can release the brake pedal and their cars merely rock back and forth. But braver souls press the pedals and make like squirrels in a squirrel cage.

March 10, 2006

Salvaged Bomb Makes Juvenile Space Ship (Jul, 1955)

Filed under: Cool, General, Toys and Games — @ 9:58 am
Source: Popular Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jul, 1955
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Salvaged Bomb Makes Juvenile Space Ship
Its central structure a discarded 500-pound aerial bomb, a juvenile “space ship” gives two-foot-power transportation to Gene Montoya of Honolulu. The space ship was built by Gene’s father, D. L. Montoya, in a single week end at a cost of less than a dollar. The surplus bomb is lined with rubber padding and the wire wheels are from another juvenile vehicle.

January 25, 2006

Feeding America’s Appetite for Games (May, 1936)

Filed under: General, Origins, Toys and Games — @ 9:31 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: May, 1936
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Learn all about a new game called Monopoly that is taking the nation by storm.

Feeding America’s Appetite for Games

AMERICA likes to play. Whether they know it or not, millions of otherwise rational Americans are forever waiting to be caught in the craze for a new puzzle, a new diversion, a new game. The very word “game” sounds trivial, but it isn’t. Games have a powerful influence on the social life of the world, and—games are the delight and the despair of the men who invent them.

America likes to play, and is willing to pay for its fun. Right now it is playing a new game called Monopoly. Already the fastest-selling non-card pastime in the country, Monopoly bids fair to break all-time popularity records.
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December 2, 2005

How Carnival Racketeers Fleece the Public (Aug, 1934)

Filed under: How to, Toys and Games — @ 10:25 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Aug, 1934
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How Carnival Racketeers Fleece the Public
by EARL CHAPIN
MILLIONS of dollars are taken from the public by clever operators of the smaller sideshows and carnivals who have capitalized upon the American love for games of chance.
Cries of “Try your luck” still meet with ready response despite the fact that one might as well back a three-legged horse to win the Derby as to buck the carnival games and gyp wheels. But the gullible bystander persists. He believes that luck and the law of averages has something to do with it-and he’s right; but the luck is all with the operator. The player doesn’t stand a chance. He can’t win because the games are set against him.
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