The Gilbert Glass Blowing Kit for Boys

The Gilbert Glass Blowing Kit, one of the Most Dangerous Kids Toys of All Time, was designed for you if you thought your child could benefit from a new activity and you needed some new glassware around the house. This horrific toy was promoted as an essential tool for youngsters to learn an important skill. Glassblowing was something of a practical skill needed for persons interested in studying chemistry in college when it was published in 1909. That's fine and dandy, but we're talking about giving kids a device that can use an alcohol-fueled flame to heat up the associated glass tubes.

The package included 80 experiments for youngsters to do in order to understand the fundamentals of scoring, blowing, and sculpting glass objects. It was certainly more dangerous than a typical plush animal, and it would never be sold to children today, but it sure seems like a lot of fun. Because the kit didn't come with any protective clothing, it was sold primarily to guys, which may have saved many a young woman from burning herself on her handcrafted glass cup. When working with glass at around 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, it encourages children to use their bare hands. Can you imagine not burning down the house at that age? We are unable to do so.