Slingshot
Young boys have always been fascinated with war toys, but most were just that: toys. No matter how fancy that BB guns
and air rifles were a step up for kids who were allowed to play with
them, but even these were mere kid-sized copies of the real thing. Not
so with the slingshot. This was the heir to the sling that killed
Goliath, an upgrade to the very weapon used by Roman armies and other
warriors all the way up until the 16th century. The slingshot wasn’t
just a war toy; it was a real man’s war machine (so play carefully,
kids, or you’ll put somebody’s eye out).
It’s difficult to pinpoint the origin of the slingshot. Surely some
enterprising hunter or warrior looped a sun-dried intestine onto a
forked stick long before the advent of modern elastic and
industrial-strength rubber, but the idea of a slingshot as a child’s
toy didn’t really arrive until the 20th century. With the invention of
the inner tube, kids found that they could make their own slingshots
with a slit length of tube and a sturdy, whittled branch. Before long,
the slingshot was the official icon of juvenile delinquency,
responsible for nearly as many broken windows as errant baseballs.
By the late 1940’s and early 50’s, the slingshot was helping build
the business of several companies. Business partners Dick Knerr and
Spud Melin designed a slingshot to hurl meatballs for the falcons they
were training. When the slingshots became more profitable than falcon
training, Knerr and Melin formed a company to produce the wrist
rockets. They took their name from the sensation of hitting something
with a slingshot: Wham-O! Meanwhile, in Columbus, Nebraska, Howard
Ellenburg and his sons made the slingshot sturdier and a more accurate
by fastening a metal brace and a wrist support, the better to hurl
large snowballs at enemy snow forts. Ellenburg founded Trumark to
market his “Wrist-Locker Slingshot,” and the company remains one of the
leading slingshot manufacturers today.
Today, slingshots come in several shapes and varieties, with some
models firing projectiles in excess of 200 miles per hour.
Manufacturers are careful to remind youngsters that these pro-grade
models are “not a toy,” but in spite of the danger (okay, let’s be
honest: because of the danger), the slingshot remains a popular plaything for would-be warriors.
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