<story><title>In 1951 there was a children&apos;s U-238 Atomic Energy Lab playset for $50</title><url>http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/atomictoys/GilbertU238Lab.htm</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>pavel_lishin</author><text>An official lead casting kit? That&apos;s pretty neat. I just pulled cells out of discarded car batteries that I found while playing on a construction site, and melted it in bottle caps over the kitchen stove.&lt;p&gt;I cannot believe my parents let me do ANY of that. The joys of growing up in the USSR.</text></item><item><author>jpdoctor</author><text>My grandfather worked for AC Gilbert, which made the Erector Set, and American Flyer trains.  I had rather complete sets growing up, and couldn&apos;t figure out why my erector set and toy trains were so much better than everyone else&apos;s.&lt;p&gt;But another toy was a lead casting kit:  You would melt lead in a crucible, which would then pour into a mold.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.girdersandgears.com/kaster.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.girdersandgears.com/kaster.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Never had the atomic energy kit, probably because I was already too stupid from the lead fumes out of the crucible.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>powertower</author><text>When I was growing up in the former USSR, we used to sometimes enter the decommissioned parts of a nuclear plant / research station.&lt;p&gt;One day we found what was a deuterium/water solution (&quot;heavy water&quot;) in a storage locker and took several gulps of it to prove something stupid.&lt;p&gt;Beat that!</text></comment>
<story><title>In 1951 there was a children&apos;s U-238 Atomic Energy Lab playset for $50</title><url>http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/atomictoys/GilbertU238Lab.htm</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>pavel_lishin</author><text>An official lead casting kit? That&apos;s pretty neat. I just pulled cells out of discarded car batteries that I found while playing on a construction site, and melted it in bottle caps over the kitchen stove.&lt;p&gt;I cannot believe my parents let me do ANY of that. The joys of growing up in the USSR.</text></item><item><author>jpdoctor</author><text>My grandfather worked for AC Gilbert, which made the Erector Set, and American Flyer trains.  I had rather complete sets growing up, and couldn&apos;t figure out why my erector set and toy trains were so much better than everyone else&apos;s.&lt;p&gt;But another toy was a lead casting kit:  You would melt lead in a crucible, which would then pour into a mold.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.girdersandgears.com/kaster.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.girdersandgears.com/kaster.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Never had the atomic energy kit, probably because I was already too stupid from the lead fumes out of the crucible.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>bigohms</author><text>I remember collecting and playing with mercury from thermometers (here in the US), probably why I can&apos;t recite PI to anything more than 6 places :)</text></comment>