Saltpeter? Sulphur? Ether? Pharmacy Trip Today
I rarely go to the "pharmacy" the RX whatever you want to call it, luckily I haven't been sick often and don't normally "shop" those places or even speak to the pharmacist when I am in there, however......
Today while getting a prescription filled I had to kill some time wandering around. As a kid I would ride my bicycle to the drug store and buy saltpeter, sulphur and ether. I used ether in a bug jar to knock out/kill the bugs I would collect and I used the saltpeter & sulphur for homemade fireworks.(I assume the statute of limitations has run out) Needless to say none of those items were on the shelf.
When my prescription was ready I asked the pharmacist about if they carried it behind the counter now or what the deal was. I figured the dogs could use a sulphur bath if they had it and would have purchased that but just wondered about the other items. They had neither suplhur nor saltpeter but could get it, it was on some ordering list she had. But the ether was a scowling "NO". I realize now that's due to the meth/crack situation like the Actifed behind the counter.
Did any of ya'll have fun with this stuff in your mis-spent youth?
Has she turned me in? Should I worry about black helicopters now?
Today while getting a prescription filled I had to kill some time wandering around. As a kid I would ride my bicycle to the drug store and buy saltpeter, sulphur and ether. I used ether in a bug jar to knock out/kill the bugs I would collect and I used the saltpeter & sulphur for homemade fireworks.(I assume the statute of limitations has run out) Needless to say none of those items were on the shelf.
When my prescription was ready I asked the pharmacist about if they carried it behind the counter now or what the deal was. I figured the dogs could use a sulphur bath if they had it and would have purchased that but just wondered about the other items. They had neither suplhur nor saltpeter but could get it, it was on some ordering list she had. But the ether was a scowling "NO". I realize now that's due to the meth/crack situation like the Actifed behind the counter.
Did any of ya'll have fun with this stuff in your mis-spent youth?
Has she turned me in? Should I worry about black helicopters now?
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I use to buy saltpeter and sulphur as a teenager.I use to also buy sulphric acid and nitric acid.I had found a book on chemisty and was trying to bring back the dead.Bought the stuff myself and never a question was asked.This was in the early 1960s before all the hippie crap started.
EvilDr2350 -
shhhhhhhhh,i'm already in bed but thank the lord you didn't ask for oder eater's with the charcoal in them you might make gunpowder? 0 -
I blew the windows out of my basement, and removed my eyelashes and eyebrows when I was about 8 - making black powder by candle light.
I do not recommend that procedure.
Doug0 -
We used to make out black powder outside.[;)] 0 -
...Ether is at any auto parts counter...(starting fluid).
..Sulfer and saltpeter were always on the shelf with other stuff you don't see much anymore, like gentian violet, water glass (sodium silicate), clove oil and such. They never blinked an eye, selling fun stuff to a 10 year old in the sixties.0 -
...Landscape supply or Tractor Supply, Farm & Ranch Store, Feed Store...should have granulated or powdered sulphur...no "list" that I know of....50-100lb bags.
Sulphur has many uses, among those are;...greens up pastures, runs off chiggers and other "nasty" little bugs...don't kill 'em I dont think; but they dont like the stuff and skidaddle.[^]
...Have no idea where to find salt peter...know the formula for making a psuedo "willie pete", great for starting camp fires even with damp wood...or melting steel...[:D]
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http://www.firefox-fx.com/
http://www.unitednuclear.com/supplies.htm (great site!)
....Have fun....be safe. The second one has stuff I've never seen before.0 -
I can remember going to the pharmacy in 1961 and buying "Flowers of Sulphur." That pharmacist gave me a funny look, he knew damn well I was making black powder.
I had some fun with homemade black powder, until I discovered I could get powder by disassembling black cat firecrackers. It was a fine, grey powder and it was really hot.
I imagine a kid doing that today is begging for a visit from ATF and Homeland Security. In fact, that Homeland Security guy up in Maryland would probably shoot an 11 year old kid with his Beretta and call it a good day's work.0 -
...Oh! Is THAT stuff really in that "meth" stuff??? IF it is,
...Good God almighty! ...and them dope heads put that stuff in their bodies...[:0]..no wonder after they have used it for a few years and their only 30, looking 50 with no teeth and weighing like 80lbs...[:0][xx(]0 -
Ahh yes .
I remember taking the skin off my fingers many a time making charcol powder on a belt sander . Never got any dirty looks buying it . Haven't tried in years though .
Small bit of advice .
Never , and I mean never place a homemade device in the sewer .
Seems there is sewer gas down there and...........[:0]0 -
No problem getting the components in the early 50s, either.
Although, I would buy each chemical from a different pharmacy, and get the charcoal from the corner store.
This was before briquets, and the charcoal looked like chunks from a black tree, and was much softer than what we get today. I'd rub it across an old window screen to powder it.
Times have changed, and not for the better.
Remember the stuff you did on Halloween ??
Doug0 -
"Flowers of Sulfur went into our socks at blackberry time to keep away chiggars and ticks. Worked too.
I also bought Carbon Tetracloride for my insect killing jars.
sodium hypochlorite and powdered aluminum for ad hoc fire works.
My Gilbert chemistry set had stuff in it now known to the state of California to cause cancer, communism, atheism, and running for governor.0 -
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D.0
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