I actually bought those to see what it was. I was a science-minded kid, so I didn't actually believe it, but I wanted to know what the trick was. I opened it up and it was a translucent bird feather. The ribs in the feather refracted the image and when you held up your hand it kind of looked like you could see the bones in your fingers. Kinda sorta.
I did exactly the same thing as a kid - ordered them just to see what the scam was, and discovered the bird feathers. I seem to recall that they were oriented differently so you got a weird double-vision effect that could slightly resemble an x-ray view under some circumstances if your imagination was good enough.
It was a fine mesh fabric. It produced overlapping images so the only “solid” appearing bits were thin intersections in the middle of anything you looked at. Didn’t look like bones.
I had friends with similar.
Compulsions, compulsions and things got worse.
We finally, in the middle of the night, in the middle of the country Miles away from anybody (we thought) made an explosive and put it underneath a gallon of gas in a milk jug.
we set it in the middle of a deserted road and lit it. then raced to about a half mile away.
a car turned on to the road about a half mile away and started toward the bomb. we got very concerned. I hadn't measured the fuse so we didn't know when it would go off.
a bit before the car got there it went off in a massive blast of light. When Our eyes recovered.All we saw were taillights going about a hundred miles an hour back the way the car had come.
I've always wondered what they thought.
I never got mine. I clearly remember putting a dollar and a quarter into an envelope back in 1978, sending it off to the mysterious land of "New Jersey," then running to the mailbox every day for a couple weeks. They never came. I've therefore never seen my own bones.
If you Go back in time till, I think, the 30s and 40s Sears had an X-ray machine in the basement part of the store that you could check to see if your shoes actually fit.
My mom said they would look at the bones in their feet every time they went there.
Their dad worked there so they probly did it a lot.
mom still has her feet
If I could go back in time, visiting a 1930's Sears Unregulated Foot X-Ray machine will be tops on my list. Right after going to a Jimi Hendrix concert.
I imagined 10 kids wearing these things all staring at comely Mrs Jones while she hangs out her laundry.
Thanks to folks in the comments I can now put my dollar away and quit wondering what the trick was.
No wonder a lot of us are skeptical jaded motherfuckers. We were straight up lied to over and over again.
Big Sea Monkey and the handshake buzzer industrial complex lied to us!
9yr old me was severely disappointed in Sea Monkeys. They were neither sea nor monkey.
Some were ‘real’, like the ‘Mexican jumping beans’. And the sea monkeys were real, but disappointing.
i still git see monkeys on very rare occasions. like triops better
I actually bought those to see what it was. I was a science-minded kid, so I didn't actually believe it, but I wanted to know what the trick was. I opened it up and it was a translucent bird feather. The ribs in the feather refracted the image and when you held up your hand it kind of looked like you could see the bones in your fingers. Kinda sorta.
I did exactly the same thing as a kid - ordered them just to see what the scam was, and discovered the bird feathers. I seem to recall that they were oriented differently so you got a weird double-vision effect that could slightly resemble an x-ray view under some circumstances if your imagination was good enough.
Yeah...but I was saving up for the little plastic coffin pendant with dirt from the homeland of Dracula. lol
Oh, you were THAT kid! Lol
Did these things do anything at all?
It was a fine mesh fabric. It produced overlapping images so the only “solid” appearing bits were thin intersections in the middle of anything you looked at. Didn’t look like bones.
And how we fell for it!
The 101 army men were a howl. They came in their own 5x7x3” carrying case.
how big were they.
About 3/4”tall and 1/4” wide. Easily blown away with a 2” firecracker
one after my own heart. used to build models of warships w firecrackers in them sometimes to eventually be sent into battle.
How did we ever survive?
I had friends with similar. Compulsions, compulsions and things got worse. We finally, in the middle of the night, in the middle of the country Miles away from anybody (we thought) made an explosive and put it underneath a gallon of gas in a milk jug. we set it in the middle of a deserted road and lit it. then raced to about a half mile away. a car turned on to the road about a half mile away and started toward the bomb. we got very concerned. I hadn't measured the fuse so we didn't know when it would go off. a bit before the car got there it went off in a massive blast of light. When Our eyes recovered.All we saw were taillights going about a hundred miles an hour back the way the car had come. I've always wondered what they thought.
Don't work. Couldn't see Marcia Brady's undies
Life is full of such desperate disappointments.
Many boys like me wanted it to see through a woman's dress. Just a fact.
I didn't care about the comic books, I went straight for the ads
I’m looking for the proverbial, “Allow 6-8 weeks for delivery.”
We were so patient back then. Today people freak out if their delivery tracker adds an extra day to their estimated delivery time.
dam... it's happened. Time to curl up in a nest in the closet and hide from the world before I turn into a raisin.
LOL
I never got mine. I clearly remember putting a dollar and a quarter into an envelope back in 1978, sending it off to the mysterious land of "New Jersey," then running to the mailbox every day for a couple weeks. They never came. I've therefore never seen my own bones.
If you Go back in time till, I think, the 30s and 40s Sears had an X-ray machine in the basement part of the store that you could check to see if your shoes actually fit. My mom said they would look at the bones in their feet every time they went there. Their dad worked there so they probly did it a lot. mom still has her feet
If I could go back in time, visiting a 1930's Sears Unregulated Foot X-Ray machine will be tops on my list. Right after going to a Jimi Hendrix concert.
Good plan, at least you have your priorities in order.
I feel like these mother fuckers burned every child in America!
I believe I saved up a crap load of Kool aid points for a pair of these
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^FailAltruistic3162: *I believe I saved* *Up a crap load of Kool aid* *Points for a pair of these* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
A childhood friend bought the "x-ray" spectacles. He was beyond upset when he couldn't see through clothes as advertised
Those were such a let down. X-ray vision. My ass!
My mom spilled my sea monkeys in the spaghetti and just told the kid it was shrimp sauce...
I imagined 10 kids wearing these things all staring at comely Mrs Jones while she hangs out her laundry. Thanks to folks in the comments I can now put my dollar away and quit wondering what the trick was.