Clackers

Click clack balls is the name for a game device that was popular in the 1970s in children and adolescents. The spread was so great that the game - was banned because of the risk of injury in schools - superficial. However, the main reason was the noise, the spread of this toy.

Inventor

Inventor of the click-clack balls was the then native of Hamburg -Eimsbuettel Hamburg CDU parliamentary deputy Hans Joachim Prahl. According to self-reported 10 million copies have been exported worldwide and sold 1 million in Germany (August 1971). Sold were the games between 1.95 Mark and three marks at a delivered price of 98 cent and production costs of less than 10 cents.

Game machine

The game device is composed of two equal-sized spheres of plastic A 40 grams of 40 mm diameter which are mounted on a centrally knotted cord to a thumb-sized ring.

Game Description

The task of the skill game is to move the balls first by uniform up and down movements in a pendulum motion, the gaming device is held on the ring and the balls hit each other rhythmically. Is a uniform pendulum movement reached, the player can cause by even stronger, sudden, jerky up and down movements that the balls above and below the hand is in motion bumping into each other. In this stage of the game, it is important to stay as long as possible while maintaining a steady rhythm of movement, which is accompanied by loud click -clack sounds.

Similarity

• The spread in the U.S. and there toss called the Ladder game takes place in Germany as a "ladder golf " more followers. Two balls, which are also connected with a cord are thrown at a distance of five meters on a dreisprossiges ladder rack. The aim of the game is to " store " with three litters of coupled spheres on the top rung. Due to the cord, the rotating flying balls wrap in Met rung to the selbige and stuck with luck there.
• The Bola has three connected balls with cords, which are thrown rotating, used for animal catcher.
• As Suruchin (Japanese rope with two weights at the ends ) is known a hitting and throwing weapon from Okinawa / Japan.
• Also found in South America, a representation of two balls on a string as early as 1603.