Clackers - Childhood Playthings/Hazards
Created | Updated Dec 18, 2007
In Great Britain and Northern Ireland they were known as clackers, but they were also known around the world as klick klacks, ker-knockers, bonkers, popper knockers or whackers. They just sounded like something that every child would need - and they did. In the long hot summers of the early 1970s the streets were alive with the click, clack, click of clackers. Unfortunately, the casualty departments of local hospitals were also alive - with the wailing of the victims of clackers.
Swinging Balls
Clackers were originally two huge acrylic marble-type balls on either end of a piece of string. How long is a piece of string? In this case about 14 inches. A holder, or ring, was attached perfectly at the middle of the string and the balls dangled from it. So far pretty inoffensive - right? The danger from clackers wasn't immediately apparent... until the action of clacking began.
How to Clack
The clackee1 placed a finger in the ring and began to swing the balls. This could be done by lifting one of the balls and dropping it pendulum style,
Clickthe balls meet, and they then swing up to reach their apex and swing back down,
Clickand so it goes on. Not all as easy as it sounds though; considerable wrist flexibility was required to maintain their momentum while keeping on target - and where's the clack? Harder and faster the balls click until, joy of joys, they swing the complete 180 degrees and meet above the hand. Clack above, click below, clack above, click below. That was one of the sounds of the 1970s. That, and children counting...eleven...twelve...thirteen, in accompaniment, trying to beat their own record. The manufacturers were well chuffed, but what wasn't taken into account by the producers of the new toy was that children are often relentless and unforgiving to their playthings, which brought about the considerable effect of unseen forces on the acrylic balls.
Clack Becomes Whack
Before too long the children of the world were feeling the true power of clackers. The persistent collision of the balls caused them to shatter explosively without warning. Spectacular as this may be to a child, it did cause considerable damage. Hospitals tended to children with serious eye damage, large bumps and knocks about the head, broken teeth, and the infamous fractured wrists, all courtesy of clackers.
In 1971 clackers were quickly withdrawn from the shelves of toyshops everywhere. Fortunately in the 1970s people weren't as litigious as they are today and the goods were speedily re-launched - this time in even tougher acrylic. Advertisements showed smiling children with perfect teeth clacking with glee on the new clackers, which were now available in 'DayGlo' colours, as befitted the era. What the advertisements failed to show were the many real children with smashed teeth and wrists in plaster.
The Back of The Drawer
Because clackers were cheap and cheerful, parents continued to buy them for their offspring - then bemoan the fact that the kids weren't more careful. Just about every child with a pair of clackers had a swollen bright pink, or even black and blue wrist bone, but still they practised. Eventually though, clackers made the news one too many times. They were also used as a weapon similar to bolas, so were quickly banned from most schools. Clackers were soon relegated to the back of drawers: however, some came to a more visible end. One h2g2 Researcher reports the demise of clackers thus:
One of the main things I remember about clackers was that telephone lines around our area were festooned with them, as kids hurled them in the air to get as many looped over the line as possible. There was a certain amount of pride if your street had more than the neighbours' streets2.
Clackers are still available in some toy shops, but if you truly love your children perhaps consider buying them something a bit safer - such as a skateboard.
Hear, hear!
There is, however, at least one legitimate use for clackers. An h2g2 Researcher has reported using them at work in order to test the hearing of children following cochlear implants. Just proves the point that nothing is all bad.
