A Clothespin Popper

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Provide your young 'uns with hours of enjoyment by creating this simple, old-fashioned toy.

One sultry summer's evening about 20 years ago, my grandfather—who was quite an ingenious old gentleman—sat whittling away on the back porch while Grandma cooked supper for the family. When Grandpa turned his finished handiwork over to me, I found it was a new plaything . . . and one that kept me fascinated for days afterward.

Granddaddy's clothespin popper is an easy-to-put-together homespun toy that you can make for your youngsters (or your grandchildren) in just a few minutes . . . using only a handful of common household items. All you'll need to fashion one of the child-pleasers are two spring-type clothespins, a pocketknife, and a strong rubber band.

First, remove the spring from one of the clothespins, pick up your whittling knife, and square off the rounded inner notch on one of the halves (see the accompanying diagram) . . . and on the same wooden piece use the point of the knife to deepen the outside notch just a bit. Then put the two sections back together . . . wrap a rubber band several times around their tapered ends . . . and mount the spring, as in the drawing, so that its round coil is on top of the toy.

The other clothespin, when it's taken apart, will provide two rounds of "ammunition" for your popper. Simply whittle away about 1/8" from— and square off—the tapered end of each piece, and you (or an eager youngster) will be able to wedge the stick into the popper. Cock the "trigger"—or spring coil—by sliding one of the tapered pieces, as in the illustration, into the popper until it pushes the inside lever of the spring into the square notch you whittled out. (If the spring won't stay in place, you'll have to take the device apart and carve the "catch" a little deeper . . . so that it's closer to a right angle.) Then position the popper's "ammunition" Justin front of that ledge. (Wrap the rubber band tightly enough to lodge the "shell" snugly between the jaws of the popper.)