Speaking of dynamite.
I grew up in the town of Napa California until i was 32 years of age.We had several hardware stores in town.They sold dynamite in the stores.It was in a large plywood box painted red and marked explosives.It sat just inside the front door.I ask someone there one time why is was by the front door and was told it was there so firemen could remove it in case of a fire.Both stores burnt down just a few years apart.I believe the dynamite had been removed by that time because of all the nut jobs coming out of the woodwork during the 1960s.I remember going in the one hardware store that was right across from the high school during the early 1960s and looking at the surplus guns they were selling.I remember M1 carbines were $79.00 plus tax.Just remembering the good old days.Opps,I am on the wrong forum.Maybe a mod could move it ?
EvilDr235
EvilDr235
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Evil- the early Sears catalogs had dynamite and caps that you could order- had to be shipped by express freight, not mail. Until the widespread availability of power equipment, dynamite was THE farmer's way of clearing large stumps and boulders, and creating large drainage ditches.
As far as fire hazards, despite all the "No smoking" regulations, the standard means of disposing of old dynamite was to burn it. Lay out a bed of highway flares, lay sticks of powder out in a SINGLE layer, light flares, retire to shade on far side of hill, drink a beer while the dynamite burned. Once in a while a stick MAY shoot, but not often.
BTW, a bit of trivia from the Institute of Makers of Explosives- in the US, we consume ABOUT 33,000 lbs of explosives each DAY- 365 days a year- about 12 million pounds of explosives a year. Almost every bit of concrete and every bit of asphalt paving you will see was made with crushed stone- mined with explosives.0 -
Heck back then you could buy M 80s ,2 and 3 inch crackers and other great fireworks at the local Fireworks stand. Gone are the good-old days[:(][xx(] 0 -
Under federal law, prior to the time period of the OKC bombing (or maybe 9/11[?]) dynamite could be bought by filling out paperwork not all that different than a 4473. No special licensing required.
In fact, the government even offered instruction materials on how to make ANFO using fertilizer.0 -
quote:Originally posted by TooBig
Heck back then you could buy M 80s ,2 and 3 inch crackers and other great fireworks at the local Fireworks stand. Gone are the good-old days[:(][xx(]
When I was a kid, a local grocer stocked the original M80's. I remember them being packed 72 to a brown box. We would pool our money and buy a box, and have 'mortar wars' using 2 or 3 inch capped pipes and whatever rocks and stuff we could throw in on top of the M80's. We had 'long range' battles, with bows of around 30 pounds, by taping the M80's to the ends of old arrow shafts. Gone are the good-old days, but we were lucky that we weren't gone with them, LOL. I've never met anybody around my own age who didn't do just the same stuff when they were kids. I think M80's were outlawed, to preserve the tax base.0 -
Dare I say it?? When I was a kid we used what we called a "Wyoming spinner" for catching fish in a small creek. What this was was a M-80 wired on the end of a long stick. How it worked was we crept up to the bank of the creek, lit the M-80 and watched the fuse. Right before it blew we jambed the stick into the deepest part of the hole and hoped for the best. Right after the blast, we then ran to the end of the hole and scooped up any stunned fish.
Timing was everything with a "Wyoming spinner." If it was on, a limit or two of trout was ours in no time. If we played it safe and stuck it in too early, the fish spooked and got away. Bummer. If we waited too long and it blew before we got it in the water, not only would we still spook all the fish, but we also had to contend with shattered ear drums and flying splinters.
I dunno, but I don't think we had emergency rooms and personal injury attorneys back then either!0 -
Met a one armed blind guy one time.Told me he got that way fishing with dynamite.Seems he held on to one of the sticks too long after lighting it.Same guy was a top notch early Corvette restorer after the accident.
EvilDr2350 -
Back in 1990 when I first moved to Marin county CA I started reloading.Went to a gun show in San Rafael picked up a Hodgeson reloading manual but on the way round I also picked up a Speer #8 manual.The reason I purchased it was stamped on the edges of the pages was Fortuna Union high school Fortuna California.Opened it up and found it was an ex library book.How times have change.It was dated 1971. 0 -
Back in the 1960's, foreign and domestic military surplus guns could be ordered through the mail. A friend and I ordered German Lugers by sending in money orders. Received them in the mail. Ads for these guns were common in magazines such as Guns & Ammo, Shooting Times, etc. Cherry Bombs and M-80s were available at local fireworks stands, but we got M-200s from a guy that worked for a fireworks manufacturer in New Orleans. These could do some serious damage. I also remember my uncle buying dynamite so we could blow up beaver dams. We were logging in the swamps and the beaver dams had caused creeks to flood large areas of timberland. We did have a guy with experience in handling dynamite set the charges and hook up the caps. I got to set them off with a battery. Lots of fun, but those days are gone. Maybe for the best, with all the domestic terrorists running around today. 0 -
When I was a kid in the Bay Area my buddy and I regularly took BART to San Francisco and head to Chinatown with an empty backpack and 20 bucks. We'd walk about until we got hit up by Asian kids asking if we wanted fireworks. We'd say a gross of bottle rockets, black cats, whatever. They'd take our pack and run around the corner, then retun with our order. We'd pay up, and BART back home. No plastic Armyman or ant hill was safe until we ran out of rockets and 'crackers.
I went to college in Humboldt a few miles North of Fortuna in the mid-1980's. When I checked into the dorms I placed my .338 Browning A-bolt and 1894 Winchester in the safe in the dorm office, as firearms were OK if they were stored in the office when not taken on a hunting trip. Just try to get a rifle on a campus now...0 -
Back in the late 1960s one of our local feed stores carried cherry bombs.They sold them by the gross only.The label on the box said pest control bombs.I believe the price of them was about $7.00---I also remember some kids had firecrackers about the size of a big cigar.
EvilDr2350
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