Clackers

Clackers

Clackers (also known as Ker-Bangers and numerous other names^[1]) are a toy popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s.^[2] They consisted of two plastic spheres suspended on string which, when swung up and down, banged against each other, making a clacking sound. Clackers are similar in appearance to bolas, the Argentinian weapons.

They are formed out of two hard plastic balls, each about two inches (5 cm) in diameter, attached to a tab with a sturdy string. The player holds the tab, with the balls hanging below. Through a gentle up-and-down hand motion, the two balls swing apart and back together, making the clacking noise that give the toy its name. With practice, it is quite easy to make the balls swing so that they knock together above the hand as well as below.

Safety hazard

Clackers were discontinued when reports came out of children becoming injured while playing with them. Fairly heavy and fast-moving, and made of hard acrylic plastic, the balls would occasionally shatter upon striking each other.^[3] In the United States, they were classed as a "mechanical hazard" in United States v. Article Consisting of 50,000 Cardboard Boxes More or Less, Each Containing One Pair of Clacker Balls.

Renewal

The toy enjoyed a brief renewal of popularity in the 1990s with clackers consisting of a handle and plastic triangles with the plastic balls at the end giving weight to the free moving toy. It was played the same way and sold in bright neon colours. Clackers were also briefly featured in the 2007 Drake & Josh episode "Megan's First Kiss," in the 2008 Zoey 101 episode "Rumor of Love", and in the Sam and Cat episode "#MadAboutShoe", which increased interest in the toys. Clackers were also used as weapons by Joseph Joestar, the protagonist of the "Battle Tendency" arc in the anime and manga of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure; their appearance here is anachronistic, as "Battle Tendency" takes place in 1938.

See also

• Newton's cradle
• United States v. Article Consisting of 50,000 Cardboard Boxes More or Less, Each Containing One Pair of Clacker Balls

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Clackers.

• "1971", I Love Toys, UK: The BBC .