Although one or two people have mentioned cap guns and cowboy
"paraphernalia", I think any exhibit on toys should explore the whole weapons
culture as represented in toys--from plastic gun replicas which didn't do
anything except click and others which had no moving parts at all, through
noisy cap pistols to the potentially dangerous "you-could-put-your-eye-out"
operating weapons such as B-B guns, pellet guns and other airguns, bows and
arrows with suction cups, etc.--not to mention water pistols, plus
realistic-looking joke guns which released a flag bearing the word "bang"
when the trigger was pulled.  And then there are plastic and rubber swords,
as well as plastic knives with retractable blades which provided a pretty
good illusion of mayhem when you appeared to plunge them into the other kid's
back.  I also remember "brass" knuckles made of rubber and rubber blackjacks.

Ah, yes, those were the days!

David Haberstich

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