Texas Toys and Games Page: 21
viii, 253 p. : ill., ports. ; 26 cm.View a full description of this book.
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KITES AND OTHER FLYING THINGS
thing about yardsticks is that the centers are already marked for
you. Cut it in half at the 18" mark. Now leave the center (the
9" mark) of each piece like it is and carve down each of the four
wings starting 1" on each side of the center. Give each wing its
bend. Wood bends when it is wet and warm. You can hold it
under a warm water faucet, or if the wood is clean, just lick it
on the 7" and 11" marks. Now bend it upwards and count to
twenty. It should hold its bend. Now connect the two sticks
together in the center to where they look like a cross or an X.
You can glue it, staple it, or use baling wire and wire it together.
Once it is connected, you can go fly it.
The big reason most boomerangs do not come back is be-
cause they are not thrown correctly. To make a correct throw,
remember that the 'rang will turn in the direction of the side
that was carved. Also, remember that the 'rang makes its turn
perpendicular to its own plane. When you throw it, it should
leave your hand perpendicular to the horizon. Make sure you
put lots of spin in it so that it can stay in the air long enough to
come back. The spin gives it lift. You should throw it into the
wind if there is any. It works best when there is no wind at all.
Any wind will cause it to land downwind from you. You adjust
your throw a little one way or the other from the perpendicular
to make it land in front of you or behind you.
There used to be this guy that lived on South Padre Island
that made his money selling boomerangs. He went by the name of
"Billy Boomerang." He would show up on the beach with a
bunch of boomerangs and stick them in the sand. Then he would
start throwing them out over the ocean to attract a crowd and
then sell his wares to the tourists. His personal record at consecu-
tive catches was 338! Charles Kuralt did a documentary on him in
his "On the Road" TV series. He was well enough known that
when he died, his obituary was carried by the UPI (Ruhe, 34).
* And then there are those angels aloft, the princes of all
fliers, the kites, of which Jack C. Phipps writes: "Because I was
born in March, the beginning of the windy part of spring, I
frequently received kites and kite string on my birthday. This
period of vernal equinox was an annual season for kite flying,
and merchants, cognizant of the market potential, always had a
supply on hand when it began. My enthusiasm was due to the
facts that building a kite required some creativity, flying it could
be done alone, and it was probably the most animated inanimate
object ever devised by man. The performance of a kite is prima-
rily a function of the force and gustiness of the wind, the angle
at which the wind strikes its surface, and the length of the tail,
which is the stabilizer of the aerodynamics involved. The various
combinations enumerated can cause the kite to dive, dance, be
almost motionless, and even appear berserk when the string
breaks. Sending paper 'messages' along the string to the kite and
releasing handkerchief parachutes as they went to the top of the
string added to the enjoyment of this pastime."a i
Cross-stick
boomerang
(Karen Haile).
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Texas Toys and Games (Book)
Collected information about popular toys and games relevant to the state of Texas, including folk toys, folk games, sports, dances, songs and other recreations. The index of contributors begins on page 245 and the index of toys and games begins on page 249.
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Abernethy, Francis Edward. Texas Toys and Games, book, 1989; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc67661/m1/31/: accessed April 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Press.