Horrace:

You are so right. Back when I was a kid, we were coming out of the worst recession this country had ever experienced. Nobody had any money, my family included. When we kids wanted something that cost a dollar - we went out and earned it. In 1941 my two brothers and I started a paper route over a three mile section of country road, that had about thirty houses. We earned one penny for each paper delivered, and we either rode bikes to deliver - or in the wintertime we had to walk. A round trip was six miles. That translated into ten cents per day, or seventy cents per week for each of us. Besides that we mowed lawns with a push mower (reel type) for a quarter, and we picked blackberries to sell. We did whatever we could to earn additional pennies to keep us in the hobby. Back then, a penny was worth something, believe it or not. A 10 x 4 prop cost 35 cents, so we learned to splice two broken ones into one good one; it was a matter necessity.

I saved the pennies and bought my first gas model kit in 1941 - the Comet Zipper, for $3.95. My parents scrimped to buy me an Ohlsson 23 engine for $16.95 to put in it.

We cut rubber-bands from old innertubes. As you say, we drilled holes in wooden engine mounts by bending a nail to 90 deg., then holding it with a pair of pliers in the gas cooking stove to heat it red hot, and burned the holes through the wood. The only cutting tool we ever had was a single edge razorblade, because back then, every part of the model was printed on wood that needed to be cut out, exactly on the line. There wasn't any room for error, as the parts were printed very close together. X-acto knives hadn't been invented yet. The sandpaper was of extremely poor quality, but it was all we had.

We only use airplane glue, Ambroid, Testors, or Comet for everything, which came in 5 cent and ten cent sizes. Epoxies were non-existent. So were the white and yellow glues. Our smaller models were covered with Jap tissue and coated with bananna oil. Does anybody else remember bananna oil? Bigger models were covered with silkspan or bamboo paper. Anybody remember bamboo paper? It was heavy and hard to work with.

Compared to the models I build today, those olden models must have looked like they were built with a hatchet and a cross-cut saw. Even so, we marveled at the workmanship, and the way they flew. Back then, there was nothing to compare to, so a finished model was considered a job well done, no matter how it looked.

When we went to a free-flight contest, there was a "builder of the model rule". You built what you flew. If you didn't build it, you were not allowed to fly it in competition. Even as a junior, eleven years old, I not only had to build the model, I had to start my own engines, adjust the needle valve and spark acvance, and launch the model. All you helper was allowed to do was to hold the model while you worked on it.

Those were the days. Kids were never in trouble, for they were too busy earning pennies to satisfy their thirst for things they wanted, knowing that was the only way they would get it. It's a different world today, and I'm not sure it is all for the better.