His tagline was “because the average kid picks up glass everywhere anyway, so why not package it and give them what they want?” Dangerous Toys?Įgyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi did not find Sisi's balls very funny. Saturday Night Live found the clacker hand wringing so funny, they wrote a skit with Dan Ackroyd selling a bag of glass. A number of committees and organizations sprang up around the perils of clackers according to an essay by Sarah Slobin at Quartz, paranoia about unsafe toys became a pervasive feature in the childhoods of American Baby Boomers, ultimately sowing the seeds for the helicopter parenting style of today. The agency also announced they would be testing clackers from more than a dozen companies to determine “velocity and shatter potential before deciding whether to ban the toy.” This ban caught the attention of the Society for the Prevention of Blindness who became champions against the dangers of clackers.

12, 1971, “Citing at least four injuries, the Food and Drug Administration issued a public warning yesterday against the “clacker,” a toy enjoying a popularity surge similar to that of the hula‐hoop in years past.” You know America was in a good place when “at least four injuries” stirred the FDA to issue a national warning on the dangers of a toy.

(pinterest)Īs the New York Times reported on Feb. SNL's take on clackers and helicopter parents.

Red ball to bounce on from the 70s