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The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid

Bill Bryson

1950's as a halcyon time - last time people thrilled to own a new toaster or a waffle iron - if you bought a major appliance, you invited the neighbours round to look at it

And we were indestructible - didn't need seat belts, air bags, smoke detectors, or bottled water - we knew without warning labels that things like bleach were not refreshing drinks.

And didn't have to worry about what you ate because everything was good for you - sugar gave you energy, red meat made you strong, coffee kept us alert and productive.

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"In Detroit, Mrs Van Doren, suing for divorce, complained that her husband a) put all their food in the fridge b) kept it locked c) made her pay for any food she ate d) charged her 3% Michigan sales tax"

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Everyone, from Senate Committees on down, were deeply concerned about teenage delinquency. In fact, teenagers were just as conservative as their parents, and worked hard at part-time jobs. But still, when you look at them now, there's no question but that they should be put down.

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Describes a trick he and brother came up with to fill in time while they waited in their car for dad to return - rotate the windscreen washers so that they pointed to the sidewalk. Then every time someone walked past they'd get a squirt. The victims would stop in dumb-founded amazement, but we'd have the windows up and seemed completely oblivious to them. So they'd turn and look at the building behind them - and Willoughby would drill them in the back with another soaking blast.

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Great story about trying to steal choc bars from vending machine in cinema. His friend was an expert at the internal architecture of the vending machine and he peruaded a kid with very long skinny arms to reach up into the machine. But he got stuck and they had to call the manager to unlock it. The manager was extremely angry. For the first time the inside of the machine was revealed to the kids - 200 candy bars, each nestling in its little slot. As the manager bent down to disentangle the kid's arm and shirt from the door, 200 hands reached past him and emptied the machine of its contents. The stuck kid took advantage of the commotion to wriggle out of his shirt and flee, barechested, never to be seen again. Bryson's mate got to study the internals and figured out how easy it was to steal whatever you liked. All round, it was a rare victory for the inhabitants of Kid's World

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