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no longer have the object, just vivid memories of it.
When I was 7 or 8 years old, my friends and I used to play cowboys
and crooks, and soldiers - we played soldiers far more often (must
have had something to do with the movies like Battle of the Bulge),
but I cannot recall it ever being that we were fighting a specific
enemy. We would dig foxholes and camouflage ourselves. My parents
often travel overseas, and more specifically to the USA. During
this time period, we would all read the latest comic books (my father
used to import all comics and magazines into South Africa from the
USA). Mattel manufactured a toy machine gun called a Fury F500 Cap
Machine Gun, which was the coolest thing you ever could own. After
much begging, smarming, groveling and pleading, my father agreed
to buy one for me on his next trip to the USA. Boy oh boy, did that
time drag!
The great day eventually arrived!!!!! The gun needed 4 D cell batteries
which were housed in the butt, and took special rolls of caps. When
fired, it sounded like the real thing, smelled like the real thing
and was the envy of the group. You had to be a REALLY special friend
in order for me to let you even hold it, let alone fire it! Never
really figured out if some of my "friends" were there
for the fun or the gun! I recall rather vivedly sleeping with the
gun in the bed with me, just in case we suffered a surprise attack
during the night!
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