Updated July 27, 1997... Go to the bottom of the page for my latest additions, ok?
We never had television till the summer I left to go to college, in 1969. So we kids had to be content with thousands and thousands of books, on every imaginable subject, from the early 1800's till the current time, multiple newspaper subscriptions, and a number of magazine subscriptions, along with archived magazines dating back to the 1800's. A huge power woodworking shop, a coal-fired iron forge in the back yard, and tons of various materials and equipment all added to the effect of a rather wide-ranging education.
We were encouraged to tinker and experiment, as long as it wasn't with certain things, like the furnace, the telephone, the big old floor monster radio, basics that were actually in use. My oldest brother, in fact, had an operating radio station of his own when he was sixteen! It only broadcast a couple blocks, but still...
We were encouraged to read anything we wanted, as long as it was done with an open mind. I still remember a walk back to the library with my mother, who LOUDLY pointed out to the librarian that if she wanted to interpret the first amendment, she'd better have some Supreme Court ID...
I'd attempted to take out a book, but was advised by the librarian that I wasn't old enough to understand it. I think I was about ten at the time, and the book was one of the few classics we didn't already have at home.
We took the book home.
Kids being kids, we naturally loved to make loud noises of various kinds. Those days were a little less politically correct than today. Although the family cannon (Picture coming soon) in the front yard was only fired for 4th of July and New Year's Eve, we delighted in manufacturing other little explosive and incendiary devices. Black gunpowder was a staple in the household, as well as handy chemicals like Potassium Nitrate, Sulphur, and a few other odds and ends. So every now and then, there'd be an explosion of one kind or another, the neighborhood would cloud over with smoke, and the neighbors would smile indulgently, get their sheets off the line, and chuckle, "Well, sounds/looks like the the Peters boys are at it again.."
Nowadays.. I can't comprehend what the same thing would lead to... fire trucks, SWAT teams surrounding the place, Medevac helicopters overhead..
Definition of a cannon: something tubular, with an explosive inside it, some wadding to keep the explosive together, and maybe a projectile if it's supposed to make more than just a noise.
Although we lived in town, it was in a big old Victorian mansion, with a livery stable in the back yard. This was before the days of bed and breakfast ideas, when all our friends just felt sorry for us, stuck with such a big place. The natural place to experiment with our creations was the back porch, and the natural target was the side of the livery stable (Yes, you could say it was the broad side of the barn.. :) Years later, after our parents had passed away, I'd be showing the place to prospective buyers, and all had the same general line of questioning.. (Pointing to various holes in the door and lower walls.. lead pellets, bbs, nails, etc. still protruding from some..) What happened here?
Dad was probably the biggest instigator, considering he bought the family cannon from a scrapyard around the time of WWII, brought it home, and put it on mounts in the front yard, aimed at the courthouse across the avenue. (Don't worry, nothing but blanks ever were fired during those years) It's only a little over 3 feet long, designed to shoot a two-inch ball, but it makes an incredible explosion with a quarter pound of black powder and some newspaper rammed down the barrel. It was probably a signal cannon, from around 1800 or so, and is believed to have come from Fort Michilimackinac (Mackinaw, if you want to use the modern term) up by the straits between the lower and upper peninsulas of Michigan. It became a family tradition, well-tolerated by the locals, to fire a charge or two or more after the fireworks on the 4th of July and at midnight on New Year's Eve.
There was an accidental double-loading a time or two.. then it REALLY was loud.. I was only a kid, but I remember one time the recoil blew it right out of its carriage, leaving it lying on the ground behind, and all of us wondering if we'd ever hear anything again..
Of course, if Dad had had his way.. I've heard stories he tried to get Mother to let him bring home an army tank his friend Henry had in his scrapyard after the war, but she put her foot down... ah well.. she put up with enough from us as it was.
We also liked to make rockets. Sometimes they even made it off the ground before they exploded! This was in the days before modern model rocket kits. We just had to figure out how to make something that would act as a propellant, and something else to put it in, then hope it didn't get us in too much trouble (None ever did).
Oldest brother John was a member of the local Rocket Club. They launched several out in the country that went up a few thousand feet, even sent along a mouse in the nose cone of one, with a parachute. I don't remember if the mouse survived or not. This was in the days of Sputnik, so the in thing of the day was live payloads!
Of course, experimenting with electricity and so forth was important too. So much to learn, so much equipment to do it with, and all those Popular Mechanics magazines on hand. I built a Jacob's Ladder with a block of wood and a couple pieces of coathanger wire when I was about 12. But somehow I also came in contact with it. I was using a 9,000 volt neon transformer to run it, and the result was bouncing off the bookcase on the opposite side of the room, and my mother getting a little shook up. Live and learn. The print of my index finger is still pretty funny looking from that little mishap.
Just a basic report on the LOUD NOISE Department.. haha..
4th of July was pretty good, we had a fantastic fireworks show at the beach, courtesy of the local Jaycees, as usual.
I didn't get back here till after Midnight, so didn't feel it would be right to be making big booms and bangs with the cannon, etc. Therefore, my next-oldest Bro, Alan, and a few friends came out Sunday afternoon, and we had a REAL GOOD TIME! We shot the main family cannon 2-3 times, and a little model cannon from early in the century also went off several times. Bro brought his cannon out here, one he'd built in a hurry, on wheels (Towed it out here with his Mountainbike, in fact!) and we shot that several times, and a crazy friend of ours from downstate, a total fireworks addict, who makes his own, came over also, and shot off a bunch of his wildest stuff too! Hopefully my neighbor the cat-killing jerk was terrified.. for sure, he didn't show his face till Bro and I were riding out (I'm commuting into town on bike for now) the next morning, when he made an obscene comment.. who cares? We had FUN!
Again, I'm still working on this, so lots more will be forthcoming..