Remember ‘Klick-Klacks’? The Banned ’70s Toy That Was Fun, Noisy and Could Take an Eye Out (Yikes!)
They clacked, they cracked—and sometimes they exploded. Klick-Klacks were banned for a reason
Picture this: a suburban cul-de-sac sometime around 1970. No tablets. No TikTok. Just the rhythmic sound of plastic spheres colliding like distant thunder—echoing down driveways, bouncing off garage doors, pulsing with the hypnotic chaos of childhood. You’re not dreaming. You’ve just crossed over into… the world of nostalgia.
In a time when the concept of a playdate was still a couple of decades away, kids were told to “go outside and play” with the only demand being that they be home in time for dinner. And that’s exactly what they did, amusing themselves in all sorts of ways and finding a wide variety of toys to do so with. One of the more unique was Klick-Klacks (aka Clackers, Ker-Bangers, Zingers… whatever).
From the late 1960s to the early 1970s, these things were all the rage, which seems so bizarre when you consider their relative simplicity. Two acrylic balls, on average about the size of golf balls, were suspended by either end of a string or durable nylon cord, which was tied to a small plastic finger loop in the center. The player would use the loop to get the balls swinging in rhythm so that they would knock together, making a click-clack sound. From there, they would accelerate them into full arcs to clack over and under, striking loudly in a mesmerizing way.
If you were successful, you’d really get those things moving and amaze your friends. If you weren’t… well, more on that in a bit.
An orphaned toy
Interestingly, there is no real inventor for Klick-Klacks, the item just kind of appearing out of the ether. Its origins can be traced back to Europe before arriving in the United States in 1969, where it became a true craze the following year. And because there was no real inventor attached to it, a number of toy companies jumped on the bandwagon and created their own versions. This resulted in a variety of looks, some of them being brightly colored, others transparent or psychedelic. And they were made from glass-like acrylic, Lucite or polycarbonate.
Unfortunately, this is why we can’t have nice things, like non-broken bones or both of our eyes. In other words, there was an inherent problem with the klicks and the klacks that would result in these toys being taken off the market.
Safety first
A common thread about toys in the ‘60s and ‘70s is that there always seemed to be some kid getting into trouble or injuring themselves with them. It was the kids, right? It couldn’t have been negligent manufacturers, could it? Whatever the answer, we digress.
Whether you were great or awful at Klick-Klacks, there were instances of kids over-accelerating the balls and losing control, turning them into flying weapons that would slam into the face of someone watching and… well, the laughter and applause of a moment earlier would give way to shrieks and tears. Sometimes the hard acrylic balls shattered on accelerated impact, shards flying everywhere and resulting in eye injuries, facial bruises and even chipped teeth. And for the people who could not get the rhythm going, oftentimes the balls would smash them in the arm, the hand or even their own faces.
By 1971, consumer protection agencies began raising concerns publicly, and within two years Klick-Klacks and their ilk had been pulled from the majority of store shelves, the item finding itself the poster child for dangerous toys. But the greatest loser in all of this? Those poor kids who were going to have to find other means of inadvertently doing themselves or their friends some harm.
A toy born of chaos, fueled by rhythm and silenced by regulation. Some say its echo faded long ago. But others… others claim that if you stand still on a quiet street at dusk, you can still hear the distant clicks and clacks… coming from a place just left of memory. Somewhere we call… Nostalgia Korner.
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