DO YOU REMEMBER?

Every once in a while a game or toy is released with all the good intentions in the world. Popular as it may be, however, it must be reevaluated for unforeseen safety reasons. Having said that, it is somewhat hard to believe that nobody noticed the potential for injury that accompanied a game called Lawn Darts. Throwing heavy pointed objects in the vicinity of others might seem like fun and games – until someone ends up in the emergency room, and enough people were unlucky enough to meet this fate to actually get legislation passed and ban them permanently from existence. It all started innocently enough when Lawn Darts were introduced in the 1960s. Numerous companies manufactured them, including Sears which had their own version. Measuring a foot long, these pointy metal projectiles were adorned with plastic fins that helped them glide through the air and find a nice clump of grass to pierce. They weren’t sharp by any means, they were just made with enough of a point to do what they were supposed to do. Taking turns, two teams consisting of two players each would stand on opposite sides of the playing area and attempt to toss the darts underhand into the farthest of two circles that were spread thirty feet apart. Land within the ring and three points were scored, get it within a foot of the ring and one point was earned. The first team to score eleven points emerged victorious. If you can imagine a cross between horseshoes and darts, you can pretty much envision the game. And for some time, everyone seemed to love playing Lawn Darts. It was a nice outdoorsy activity that was fun for the whole family and perfect for picnics, barbeques, the beach, etc. Of course, during the course of all this “fun,” almost seven thousand people would end up in the emergency room as a result of Lawn Dart injuries between the years of 1978 and 1987 – 75 percent of which were children. Complaints from parents started pouring in and, initially, stores reacted by moving the darts from their toy sections into the sporting good sections. Still, kids couldn’t manage to keep their hands off of the adult toys and eventually, more drastic measures would be taken to put an end once and for all to the Lawn Dart carnage dotting the neighborhoods across America. Today, not only are they not sold anymore, they are actually illegal to even possess. And yet, search around long enough and you can still find enthusiasts of the game, who, granted, have to keep their activities a little more secretive for legal reasons. Give up their lawn darts? Sure, you when you pry them from their cold, dead hands. These rebels act as a testament to the popularity of game that was a heck of a lot of fun, until a few (thousand) people had to go and ruin it for everyone.