Big Bang Cannons: the Heavy Artillery of Vintage Toys

[@robertbenzon6941]

I purchased a very old Big Bang and to demonstrate its safety and impress my friends with my bravery, I held my palm about 6 inches from the muzzle and fired away. I was picking flecks of rust out of said palm for almost two weeks. I was such a fool when I was only 42 years of age.

[@babboon5764]

The *worrying aspect* is we suspect you will *still* do such things 😋

[@thegregofficial]

Anything is safe till you have fun

[@bshoke]

Farmers used to have larger carbide cannons to scare birds out of orchards and vineyards, they later changed to propane, my grandfather was still calling them carbide cannons in the late 1980s

[@AndyHullMcPenguin]

Generally no longer carbide, but more likely propane gas cannons are still very much a thing. One of the farmers round here has one nearby and it scares humans too if you are not aware it is there. If you want one (in the UK) google for "Gas Bird Scarer - Portek Scatterbird MK4 - Gas Banger with Remote APP Control."

[@jlGenozzV]

And of course the cannon has a app 🙃​@@AndyHullMcPenguin

[@datadavis]

@@AndyHullMcPenguin we load them with grapefruit and call it grapeshot.

[@AndyHullMcPenguin]

@@datadavis😋Really... now there's a video I think we might all watch.

[@cr1424]

To this day I still call them carbide cannons, I use them to keep the wild hogs out of my oats field here in Texas.

[@embreeja]

I am 72 now.... but weren't we all kids once. We used to shoot crickets out of our big-bang cannon. We could get carbide at the local hardware store (much cheaper than the official tube). This was so good that I used it in small plastic/rubber pill holders (that my orchid-growing father had hundreds of). Add a little water and a piece of carbide --- and the snap-on top would 'pop' off. No flame, but it did give a nice pop.... I sold these at school as 'poppers' (of course!) for a dime. This did not go off very well with the teachers/principal --- maybe this was the first of my trips to the principal's office, or maybe not....... maybe some crickets were harmed in our exploits --- and maybe some animals were scared by the sound of the cannon, but somehow we all made it through the journey.

[@cr1424]

I can relate to your experiences, I heard it could be used in deep catfish holes in a slow moving river

[@whereswaldo5740]

My uncle is only a couple years older than me. When we were kids he had one. He lived on a farm at the edge of town. Although his mother bought it for him she drew the line eventually as it was very loud.

[@AishaShaw-cl6wc]

Noisy Cricket 🦗 Gun.

[@TheDevice9]

What happened to the Earth shattering kaboom? There was supposed to a be an Earth shattering kaboom.

[@w8biatvrepeater638]

The microphone was shunting the report.

[@rtod4]

lolol!

[@justanotherarmchairgeneral4240]

It was so powerful it traveled backwards in time to Jerma's DMC3 stream.

[@rtod4]

It wasn't a Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator

[@mrthwibble]

Moar boom! Moar boom! Take it outside and let's have a listen. 😁

[@ukar69]

The number of eccentric Canadians in my KZbin subscriptions has been severely lacking the last few weeks.

[@ericm381]

Aye. Glad to have him back!

[@redtarget5275]

Canadians? Lacking? We call that a blessing.

[@wornoutwrench8128]

I’m 66 years old. I have never heard of these. I really want one now.

[@noyb7920]

Thanks to bad microphone choice, we've still not heard it.

[@wornoutwrench8128]

@@noyb7920 😂

[@mplsmark222]

They are loud, but take some skill to get the biggest sound consistently.

[@RobCamp-rmc_0]

I think my dad (born 1950) had one; I remember him talking about having a toy cannon when he was a kid, but I assumed it was like some plastic proto-GIJoe kind of thing. Having seen this video, I get it now, and I’m going to have to ask him if this was it.

[@lawrencemartin1113]

Me too! I'm 61!!😊

[@Themanwithnoscreenname]

The phrase "blast from the past" taken to it's literal conclusion, I see.

[@Elephantine999]

I had a Big Bang cannon in the 1960s. Even then a cast iron toy that went boom seemed like a remnant of a bygone era. It was fun! If you put in multiple doses of calcium carbide, instead of an explosion you'd get a big burst of sooty, flaming acetylene gas. Fun!

[@rtqii]

I had a couple of them. They were great toys. We put cotton in the barrel, a palm full of popcorn kernels and a cork.

[@mrgruisinge]

Remember the ads from every magazine or comic I read back in the fifties. Thank you.

[@vovochen]

If museums did this with real artillery, more people would visit !!!!!!!

[@Skorpychan]

The Bovington tank museum does it with their tanks occasionally, but that's more running them around their arena while giving a lecture on the history, with the occasional reenactment battle.

[@typograf62]

The frigate "Jylland" in Ebeltoft, Denmark, does that. And some middelage reenactment shows fires rye bread from breech loading old guns. Terryfying!

[@dennisyoung4631]

Firing Corncobs out of muzzle-loading guns?

[@highloughsdrifter1629]

Fort Nelson, Portsmouth.

[@mplsmark222]

Historic Fort Snelling in Minnesota has a real cannon firing everyday they are open for visitors. Not a large piece, but it makes a bigger boom than any Big Bang canon.

[@FinnleysAudioAdventures]

As a kid I got the Johnson Smith Catalog and saw these. No matter how often I asked my dad the answer was always no.

[@rogerxiao4458]

this is exactly what i was like but with my mom on LEGO sets. sometimes i get lucky though and she relents or maybe those were just my birthdays

[@whiskeymonk4085]

I recently bought my niece and nephew each BB g***. Now they are proficient in accuracy and giving each other grief for not having proper g** safety. (It's a shame we have to regulate basic conversation so it doesn't get nixed by this once great platform)

[@whiskeymonk4085]

Of course yt nixed my comment about getting my nice and nephew red Ryder thingamabobs. This sin sure Ship is getting completely out of control. Even the most mundane and vanilla words are being..... I can't even say the next word. Remind you of any historical societies that have ended up in a bad way?

[@FIREBRAND38]

I miss that catalog. 1914-2019

[@marqsee7948]

wise man.

[@MichaelLeeOne]

I hear no kaboom. There is supposed to be an earth shattering kaboom!

[@kidmohair8151]

do you like your speakers? they wouldn't like the (I assume gated*) report. they would be shredded. say "thank you Gilles". *gating is an audio term for automatically and quickly reducing any noise that would overload the system.

[@MichaelLeeOne]

@@kidmohair8151 That was a reference to the Marvin The Martian cartoon, but you would have to be really old to get it, lol

[@kidmohair8151]

@@MichaelLeeOne it was was it...or should I...it was saw ti

[@ManMountainMetals]

The space modulator!

[@ShaunieDale]

@@MichaelLeeOne”where is the Alludium Q35 explosive space modulator?”

[@motnosniv]

My oldest brother had one of these in the 1960s. He was a teenager and myself about 9 yrs old. Lots of fun we had then. Followed up by a tennis ball cannon made with three steel beer cans and some lighter fluid.

[@leonardlakey7779]

When I was a kid I saw these advertised in the back of comic books but they sold for $10 which was way over my budget. Finally, sixty years later I bought one from the Conestoga Company. It was only $200.

[@scottgorman6738]

As a kid I had what is the 60mm gun in green; it was as loud as a firecracker but much safer to use. Thanks for taking me down memory lane!

[@AhnkoCheeOutdoors]

My dad gifted me a new Conestoga Cannon back in the early 1980s along with several tubes of Bangsite. I still have this cannon. I live in suburbia, so the only time I can set it off without freaking out my neighbors is New Years eve, and July 4th. I ran out of Bangsite years ago, but located a seller who sells calcium carbide in 1 lb. cans. Maybe Iʻll be able to let it boom this upcoming July 4th. Thank you for the history of this "toy". I believe my dad owned one while growing up in the 1930s. He passed away in 2007, so this cannon is very sentimental to me.

[@savage22bolt32]

In the late 50's, my uncle had one, two of my cousins had one, and in the 70's, my little brother got one. Wish one of us still had one of these.

[@michaelnickerson7601]

As a Mechanical Engineering student 40 years ago, I took a couple of courses in acoustics. For a room, one of the important things to know about it is its "acoustic decay time." (Which is the time it takes a sound's reverberation to decay 60 dB,) One day, we brought our "Nagra" (high end) tape recorder to the University's largest auditorium (to later playback an "impulse" sound). Yep, we used one of these cannons to make the sound.

[@daveboatman4024]

I had the 60mm one as a kid in the 60’s. About 30 years ago I found one in a thrift shop for 5 bucks and couldn’t pass it up. It was missing the igniter but I was able to get one from Conestoga and it works great! Thanks for posting this

[@whereswaldo5740]

I’ll give you $10 for it!

[@FaithyJo]

Oh how we've missed you!

[@fredblonder7850]

These were always advertised in the backs of comic-books along with the X-Ray Spex and Sea Monkeys. When I was in Junior High School in 1967, a standard gag was to put a couple lumps of calcium carbide into the water fountains in the halls. An unsuspecting mark would lean over the fountain and turn on the water, which would hit the carbide, releasing a cloud of acetylene in their face. Acetylene smells like a fart. The serrated wheel against a flint to ignite acetylene, is also used in acetylene houselights. If you find a gaslight in an antique store, and it has one of these igniters, it’s designed for acetylene and likely also has a burner similar to those on a miner’s Lamp. I once tried using acetylene to launch a metal-can by placing it open-end down and making a small touch-hole in the other end, to which I held a match. It launched with enough force to deeply cut my thumb, still holding the match, on the way up. I did not repeat that. Exploding acetylene generates a lot of carbon soot. Once, while engaging in yet another dumb experiment involving it, I had it explode in my face, leaving me looking like Wile E. Coyote after an adventure involving dynamite. The Forest Glen Seminary outside of Washington DC once had an elaborate acetylene system. The gas-generator house still stands, and has been converted to a private residence.

[@alanrkanter]

I had two of these as a young kid in the early 1960s. I added a longer plumbing pipe to one and used to "fire" cotton balls soaked in gasoline. Evidently, I survived with both eyes hands and until more recently all my hair. I still have them !

[@Sergei_WHY]

Oh wow; never would have guessed that acetylene powered toys were still manufactured to this day! Very cool, I want one.

[@graemezimmer604]

Fascinating! There was also a calcium carbide "bird scarer" which was used by archadists to scare away birds. Could be heard for miles, and it would bag away for hours each morning and evening. Very unpopular with the neighbors. The local kids took great delight in filling the barrel with mud or sand.

[@michaelmoorrees3585]

I still have carbide cannon, a smaller model, that I bought from a fireworks stand, back in 1969 (at 10 yo) for $10. Still pop it off, at times. Use to buy Bangsite (a carbide brand). Later just used larger generic carbide lumps. The "spoon", on the breech block, is for the smaller, cheaper model, like the one, I own. The bigger, more deluxe models, have the carbide charger. Mine is the 60mm. The 6F with rubber wheels.

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

I remember seeing adverts in print for these little cannons for YEARS. This is the first time I've ever seen one demonstrated.

[@kencochrane8795]

I had one as a kid in the 1950’s. Much fun and defiantly a big bang when fired!

[@curtw8827]

As a kid in the 50s I had a smaller olive green one with the rear spoon loader. Thanks for bringing back that memory.

[@cbroz7492]

..ahhh that 'spoon loader'...

[@AdullFiddler-ez7tm]

I remember these and the lamps. Our local Farmers Exchange had a bunch of carbide and related equipment in the 1960s. Very ingenious.

[@mirandahotspring4019]

At a pressure of around 2 atm acetylene will spontaneously explode. A trick when I was caving (we used carbide lights) was to put a bit of water in a plastic drink bottle, fold the bottle in half, and put a few lumps of carbide in the folded down top and screw the cap on. You could carry it around like that until you spotted your victim, someone so busy with something they wouldn't notice a bottle behind them. All you had to do was unfold the bottle, give it a good shake, place it and walk away. 20 to 30 seconds later there was an impressive bang! Anyone bent over working on their car's engine was fair game. Unfortunately that was before cameras in cellphones and KZbin. So many wasted opportunities for great KZbin videos! I can't ever remember seeing those cannons here, maybe they were never imported, or maybe just too expensive for me at the time.

[@lawrencelaird2919]

I still have my cannon, from 1967. It’s the smaller model with rubber tires. The neighbor kid had the “Big” cannon, much envy on my part😅

[@MichaelEdelman1954]

When I was a kid in the early 60s, comic books were full of ads for these.

[@alancranford3398]

Thank you so much for sharing your toys with the world. I first found out about these carbide cannon from ads in comic books during the Sixties. I lacked money, so all I could do was look at the ads and be grateful that I had comic books to read. You've provided far more information that I had before watching your video.

[@tomd804]

I still have a Big Bang cannon from my childhood. My brother and cousin also had them and we would shoot these things off for hours at a time! (Somehow our parents and neighbors didn't think anything of the multiple explosions emanating from our back yard....) Thanks for bringing back great memories!

[@wurlitzer1100]

I have a 15 AC (pedestal mount) since I was 6 y.o. Yes it its unstable, but I love it! I still fire it on 4th of July and New Years Eve. Much to the neighbors chagrin. As a kid we had an apple tree in the yard and by July 4th the apples were just the right size to jamb in the barrel and shoot. Its a shame you didn't us real Bangsite for the demonstration, it makes a big difference. If too much calcium carbide it used (the problem with the demonstration I believe) it put out a big flamey flash but only a funny 'BLOOP' sound.

[@mplsmark222]

I own one of the biggest cannons Big Bang makes. One thing not mentioned, when firing multiple charges and if you have one of the bigger models with the plunger type loaders, It makes a big difference to blow in air between firings. If you don’t, there won’t be much oxygen and the net result is a muted explosion, just like if you have too much acetylene. These are great fun and take some skill to make the biggest bang consistently.

[@davidburke8838]

The 1976 film "Logan's Run" used practical effects prop guns that used carbide and water ignited by a battery-powered glow plug at the muzzle end. The blast was directed out of slots at the muzzle end of the barrel providing four jets of flame. I believe that these props were also used in the 1977 TV series.

[@brianingle7535]

You and the history guy are two of my favorite creators. Well done friend, well done indeed.

[@dannmarceau]

One of my brothers had one of them in the late 60s.

[@Supercohboy]

They had one of these on an episode of Pawn Stars, and they did a decent job of talking about the product. Very cool concept for a toy, pop-caps from wayyy back in the day essentially.

[@joek511]

Long time no see. I played with one in the 70's. I also have a very close freind who has a 24 inch model. He's had it longer than I can remember, and uses it every 4th of July. We live on a lake, you can hear that thing from miles away.

[@smithno41]

In the greater Los Angeles area, fireworks were and still are illegal. But the Big Bang Cannons were legal to have and use, and one of the neighborhood kids had one. We would set up between our houses and shoot it off when a car drove by. Sometimes the driver would stop thinking they had blown out a tire. Great fun for kids back in the early 1960's

[@joehopfield]

In 1975 or so my HS chem teacher demonstrated one in class... I don't remember how it was integrated with the curriculum, but I remember the bang. :-)

[@danhunik7949]

I bought one over 50 years ago out of a comic book order form and still have it on a shelf in my shop.

[@UTubeRangerBob]

Last year I inherited my uncles Big Bang cannon, and it's the same one as in this video. He was a Vietnam-era Navy veteran, and I remember him firing it in the early '70s during holidays such as the 4th of July and Veterans Day. It was kind of grimy by the time it came to me, having been stored in a flooded basement, and there was some sort of organic debris in it, either from a mouse nest or maybe insect carcasses. But it cleaned up easily. There were about 6 tubes of Bangsite with it, but they had all cracked open and the Bangsite was rendered useless by moisture. The tubes seem to be made from lead foil. Anyway, ordered 3 new tubes from the BigBangCannons website for $25, good for 300 shots. Haven't fired it yet as I'm in a quiet neighborhood and don't need SWAT showing up to shoot my dog and kneel on my neck. Hope to take it out to the countryside soon.

[@RichFoster-zk3jo]

I still have my smaller Big Bang cannon with rubber wheels that I bought in the late 60s for the princely sum of around 5-6 USD. The Conestoga Company is still in business and the same model cannon goes for $100 USD. I had loads of fun on the 4th of July. I rememer the fireworks stands used to sell the cannons, Bangsite and sparkplugs although I bought mine at a favorite toy store. I also found out that if you overloaded the calcium carbide - 4-6 scoops vs one the cannon would shoot out a flame rather than the usual report.

[@tootired76]

A piece of 4 inch by 4 foot ABS (black) pipe and plug is what I use with carbide and water! Blows the fuzz of of a tennis ball!!

[@Couchflyer-NY]

One of my favorite toys as a kid. I just ordered a new one. I’m happy they’re still around.

[@dark2023-1lovesoni]

26 comments in an hour? You've made it relatively big, my friend. We always just called these a "carbider" or "carbine gun/cannon" in the Appalachian mountains. I've also heard an elderly man once call it a "carbide/bine" (pronounced "Kar-BYde-bean"). They were surprisingly common out there, at least a generation or 2 back; so it was almost guaranteed you'd find a few in most antique shops

[@wackyvorlon]

I’ve been wanting one of these since I was a little kid.

[@douglaseuritt3919]

My grandfather gave me one of these (against my grandmother's wishes) and I still think it was the coolest toy of my childhood. I have no idea what happened to the cannon (Parents may have been involved in it's disappearance) but I still have a tin of calcium carbide in the garage...just in case I stumble across another one. Now that I'm retired and live in the country, no one could tell me when I could-or could not-fire it now. Thanks for dredging up some long dormant memories...

[@rodmena3404]

Back in the fifties my grandparents had an auto garage and we had an acetylene generator that used calcium carbide for oxy acetylene welding

[@earlthepearl3922]

Back and looking dapper, my man. Good to have you back!

[@nashrust]

We had one of these growing up in Washington D.C. and was the only .device that was legal to make loud noises on the 4th of July since firecrackers and cherry bombs were outlawed. I can still hear the sound and smell the calcium carbide as it hit the water and then...BOOM! Since he was not using Bangsite nor metered correctly you get a dud and flash rather than ...BOOM!

[@mitb]

Thanks to your video my children and I are having a blast with our cannon. Thank you for all your wonderful videos!

[@jackwood8307]

I have one! Great fun on holidays!👍

[@Miata822]

Mine was a 6f in the late '60s. Seriously loud. Overcharging with carbide produced a muted bang with flame as in the video above.

[@Alchemetica]

This is my first time of learning about the Big Bang Cannon. Very neat indeed. 🔫

[@scratchdog2216]

Bought used, had fun, and sold a 50's vintage cannon years ago complete with Bangsite. Sometimes they just farted but usually quite loud.

[@Stroopwaffe1]

Great upload,. Glad you survived youre trip to the states, stay safe

[@jonlong4866]

In the 60s I worked at a toy store that sold them. Now 78, I think I may still have mine packed away. They were such fun.

[@johns.matty.632]

I used to have an OD green military one with the rubber wheels. The big Bang carbide powder which I used to put into the hopper. Fired from the back porch out in the country used to give a good flame and a loud report!

[@JeffFrmJoisey]

Funny, in the past day or so, I recalled a memory of a carbide cannon from years ago. Thank you for explaining f the science behind the cannon.

[@rodmena3404]

I had one of these toys back in the 50s

[@frogz]

i always wanted one of these when i was a kid, i saw them in science magazines in the mail order section but i wasnt a rich 3-10 year old :(

[@dpeter6396]

And after lusting for one for almost 65 years I finally splurged and bought a 60 five years ago at the age of 72. Geez, it's as much fun as I thought it would be and now I can't believe I waited..... $$$ Until I retired.

[@svgalene465]

I had two of those when I was a kid and wish I had still had one that I could as a signal cannon on my sailboat.

[@GregMcCoy]

I got the 25 inch and did an unboxing video with the grand-kids today. It went well.

[@1978garfield]

I had head of the pistols that looked like a space blaster but never the cannons. Super cool. I really want one of the guns made by Smith.

[@markbecker71]

My neighbor growing up had one ,very fun..😅

[@nickjohnson410]

I hope you enjoyed your vacation. You deserved it. You posting this morning really makes my day better, Thank You! The cannon is either so loud it completely clips out or the barrel is an integral supressor... dunno That smile at the end is priceless

[@ThePhoenixcompanies]

My grandparents had carbide lighting in their home. There was a tank in the ground about 40 feet from the house. They quit using it during the depression and just went to kerosene.

[@ritaloy8338]

I remember taking bagsite and a coffee can with some water and igniting the gas while getting a bang blowing the lid off the coffee can.

[@jasonwood6570]

My Grandpa had one of those, that my brother's and i played with. While it was a pretty safe toy, upon stuffing a piece of banana in the barrel it definitely could deliver a nice painfull blow. Love you Grandpa.

[@manatoa1]

Very cool. I'm pretty sure I've seen these in some old disney cartoons.

[@2400Baud]

Many moons ago, myself and a few of the other guys at a family picnic (after more than a few beers) discovered that many of the grapes in the fruit salad were the perfect size to fit the bore of our Big Bang cannon. Much fruit salad was launched that day. Good times.

[@fopjn01sendsit]

I still have my grandfather's. Havent used it in a few years.

[@ge0arc244]

what a BLAST! 💥

[@alisteeaiken7667]

Coming from N Ireland I've never heard of these, sounds like a lot of fun, we now need permits for fireworks so no chance I'll never see one of these cannons

[@bellakaldera3305]

I've fired one of these, they are quite a hoot!

[@yakacm]

Sooooo here's a funny story. A few Christmases ago, for no other reason than I just fancied doing it, a got an empty ice cream tub, made a wee hole in the side stuck 2 wires thru and hot glued them. I then I connected one of those 'Taser' units that you can get from Amazon and eBay, and connected it to the wires. I then put some calcium carbide in the tub put some water in it and put the lid on. I then brought the contraption to my wife attention, and told her to watch. I put the tub on the floor in the living room, reeled the wire out so I was a safe distance away and pressed the button. There was a satisfying pop, and then a kind of crackling noise, and my missus shouting, you've set the Christmas tree on fire you effing idiot, which was true. As it was a real tree it offered good kindling. Lucky enough I was able to put it out with my can of coke. I actually have a video clip of it, but like a lot of ppl, when an event happens, the camera person, my wife, panicked and messed the shot up, so after the tree caught fire you could only really hear it and not see it burning, not that there was much to see as it only lasted a second or 2 before it put it out.

[@iskandartaib]

Never saw one myself, but I'd heard, from multiple older people (teachers, uncles, etc.), that in the generation before mine, "bamboo cannon" (meriam buluh) were commonly made and set off, usually during festival days (Chinese New Year, the Eid, Deepavali, etc.). They were usually a length of bamboo, often wrapped with wire to keep them from exploding. As with this cannon, you'd drop in a few chunks of carbide, pour a little water in after it, wait a few seconds for the hissing to start and then set it off with a lighted stick at the mouth. They were reportedly far louder than the usual firecrackers, and were said to be quite dangerous, since they sometimes blew apart. This must have been in the 1950s and earlier.

[@samiam5557]

One of my friends Dad had one of those when I was a kid, they're pretty loud! Every 4th of July he would use it.

[@duncanstone8758]

I grew up in the 50's and 60's and saw these in Christmas catalogs and comic book ads. This is the first time i have seen one in operation. So neat. This video was like watching a hoity-toity version of "Forgotten Weapons". I would love to see Ian McCollum take one of thse to a BUG match.

[@dopedreamz]

You remind me so much of “technology connection’s” channel, his is amazing and informative, which is the sense I get from your video so far. It would be so cool if you could do a video together. Either way instant subscriber! Great video

[@babboon5764]

*FINALLY I fully understand the tale my Grandpa (born in the late 1890s) told me* As a lad in Accrington, Lancashire, England.... When he & his friends bicycle lights went out because the gas was used they used to urinate into the water tank *NOW I know why*

[@coloradod3649]

I had one of those, but a little smaller, when I was a kid, probably 8 or 9 years old. As a Gen X kid we had awesome toys!

[@Rickinsf]

I had one, it was great...we learned to "tune" the explosion...we could get it to make it go "poop," or crack like a deer rifle.

[@RyuAzuku]

Huzzah a new video! Can't wait to see what else you picked up!

[@stefanschleps8758]

Well done, kudos!

[@deadphishcheesespread]

I grew up in Bethlehem PA and I had one. We called it bangsite though

[@jeffclark2725]

Thumbs up great video, glad you vacation went well 👍

[@ExtraThiccc]

Need me one of these. Love big booms and these will help me

[@lkmh3223]

glad to see you back.

[@RobertvandenBurg]

Rumours goes that the host still wearing his earplugs.💥 But without the fun, what an amazing toy, I definitely want one.

[@cbhlde]

Welcome back; I was just thinking about the channel yesterday! ;)

[@jeffbrinkerhoff5121]

In the 50s my best friend's dad used a pipe tobacco can, resealable lid, pinhole punched in the bottom, calcium carbide with a few water drops inside. Foot held on it's side a lit match near the touch-hole resulted in a huge pop. Perfect for young boys..

[@peterd9940]

I had several as a kid

[@lodragan]

My dad had one of these kind of canons when he was a little boy circa 1930s.

[@ZachTheRipperTV]

Glad to have you back

[@Angelina-xj5zd]

I had one as a kid.