"The Toy That Kills" article - 1950

[button_man]

Luke ~ I got to page 3 but did not see anything relevant to knives and was unsure how to proceed.....?

[Luke_of_Mass]

Luke ~ I got to page 3 but did not see anything relevant to knives and was unsure how to proceed.....?

Page 3 is my sourcing on the fact that the author of The Toy That Kills was a former ghost writer for Harry Truman, just to point out that he who composed the "Socialist claptrap," according to Fishtail was actually writing Truman's speeches for him at one point.

[button_man]

Oh, I see..... thanks for the explanation ~

[Peiper]

I have two theories as to why this article was printed. In 1950, "Woman's Home Companion", was a dying magazine. They needed extreme journalism to bring back circulation (fake news!). The magazine finally stopped its last issue in 1957. The other idea is that the author was also a known politician who often supported his fellow colleagues and their policies. Many politicians like to create a scare and then tell the public they have a solution (ban) in order to gain public support. It's all about votes. We have seen this over the years with butterfly knives, nunchucks, and now assault rifles.

Notice in one picture, the switchblades cost between $6.50 and $8.50. It does not seem a lot, but it was in 1950. I looked on the internet and $7.50 in 1950 is equivalent to $81.67 in 2020. So where are all these 13-year-olds and "youngsters" getting their money? They were too young to work and paper routes did not pay much.

[button_man]

If a kid saved his Xmas and birthday money, and got an allowance (or was paid for doing chores), plus picking up soda and beer bottles for the deposit, and maybe did a little horse-trading of baseball cards and other kid stuff..... yeah, I can see a kid coming up with $8 over six months or so.... a kid who really has his heart set on that very special pig-sticker will find a way to scrape together the necessary cash....

[Chris51P]

If a kid saved his Xmas and birthday money, and got an allowance (or was paid for doing chores), plus picking up soda and beer bottles for the deposit, and maybe did a little horse-trading of baseball cards and other kid stuff..... yeah, I can see a kid coming up with $8 over six months or so.... a kid who really has his heart set on that very special pig-sticker will find a way to scrape together the necessary cash....

I totally agree. Those r all the things I did to get money. You left out selling shirt hangers back to the cleaners. We recycled before it was cool.

[Fishtail Picklock]

Luke ~ I got to page 3 but did not see anything relevant to knives and was unsure how to proceed.....?

Page 3 is my sourcing on the fact that the author of The Toy That Kills was a former ghost writer for Harry Truman, just to point out that he who composed the "Socialist claptrap," according to Fishtail was actually writing Truman's speeches for him at one point.

Truman was full of $#it about half the time anyway. He couldn't make an intelligent, well-informed decision without having some committee hashing it out, processing it, and pulling out of their @$$.

[Luke_of_Mass]

Oh believe me, I'm no truman fan - his warcrimes speak for themselves. Hardly a socialist, though..unlikely to pick one to write for him, especially in those times, but i digress.

[Peiper]

What war crimes?

[Luke_of_Mass]

What war crimes?

slaughter of civilians is in direct violation of the Geneva Convention, seldom are these occurrences more famous than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan. Although Hitler's crimes come to mind..

[Luke_of_Mass]

However, that's another topic entirely, my point being that I highly doubt that the original author of this piece was part of some socialist agenda...

[Fishtail Picklock]

However, that's another topic entirely, my point being that I highly doubt that the original author of this piece was part of some socialist agenda...

Anyone that restricts, or seeks to restrict, our right to keep and bear arms, is patently unamerican. (Period, end of the sentence). I don't trust anyone that doesn't support the US Constitution as it was originally written, with no exception or reservations.

[Luke_of_Mass]

Not that I necessarily disagree with you there, apart from the original constitution, you know, not really considering women or nonwhites as people, though I'd personally chalk up the ban of switchblades to a bunch of career politicians who wanted their name on a bill that supposedly kept America's youth safe, not a communist infiltration or agenda.

[Peiper]

slaughter of civilians is in direct violation of the Geneva Convention, seldom are these occurrences more famous than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan.

It stopped Japan from killing Asians and continuing their war crimes. Saved many American lives by avoiding invasion.

[Fishtail Picklock]

slaughter of civilians is in direct violation of the Geneva Convention, seldom are these occurrences more famous than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan.

It stopped Japan from killing Asians and continuing their war crimes. Saved many American lives by avoiding invasion.

BINGO!