There were a lot of dangerous toys in the mid-20th century that you won't find on store shelves today, but here's one we haven't posted about before. The Cox E-Z Flyer probably wouldn't kill you, but could injure you in a number of ways. This model airplane was marketed to children in the 1970s.
The idea was to hold onto a cord attached to the plane while it flew in circles around you. Right there you have the danger of tying yourself up, or wrecking the plane. But it also required a second person to start it, with little time to get out of the way when the plane took flight. And it ignited fuel by the heat of its own red-hot engine! That's just a brief overview, and far from including all the ways the flight could go wrong. Pilot and writer Mark Slavonia reminisces about owning the plane that every little boy wanted and the many horrible things that could happen at Why is this interesting? -via Nag on the Lake
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