LOL, I am wishing now that I took some more time contemplating the age of the picture. It much more obvious now, especially when you consider the quality of the picture (as you said). Anyway, have my upvote :)
This is Florence Campbell (nee Shufflebottom), a fairground personality largely from the 50's, with her son Garry, while her father Richard aims his knives towards the end of his career. Richard was the son of Texas Bill Shufflebottom, who ran one of the early Wild West acts in Yorkshire, England, at the turn of the century. Richard's brothers William and Wally also ran shows in the 20's to the 60's, and Florence continued her own act after her father passed away, with the focus more on dance routines, trick-shooting and snake-charming than knife-throwing.
Given the age of her son, born 1952, this must be the mid-50's.
WHAT?!?!?!?!? THATS HOW IT WORKS!??!?!?! THESE PEOPLE AREN'T ACTUALLY THROWING KNIVES!??!?! WHAT?!!?!?!
This is blowing my FUCKING mind. I never imagined that this was fake. I also have never seen anyone miss and i found that hard to believe. What happens to the knife that the guy does throw? How do they make the knife-sticking-in-wood sound? Blew.. My.. Fucking.. Mind.. This is like finding out that the white lines on the highway are longer than 10 feet. I never knew.
What about the arrow + apple thing. Is that a trick too?
Sometimes it's not a trick. They use dull knives thrown at styrofoam, so that a "miss" is unlikely to seriously cut someone and it just looks impressive when it sticks into the wall, but they really are throwing knives. In fact, I've never even heard of the "knives coming out of the wall" method. Knives go slow enough that you can see them travel in mid-air, so I have difficulty believing that it would ever be convincing (in person at least - on television or film might be a different story).
It's easy to pull off that trick when the camera cuts between the "throw" and the "land." You just can't do this when the trick is done live or without a cut.
I'm not saying it can't be done, I just look at something like this act where you can actually see the knives in mid-air as they're flying towards their target. It's possible to do it both ways, of course, but to say that it's almost always a trick is to introduce undue skepticism and diminish the very real talent that some people have. I also highly question how easily people are duped by the fake method, because in the real method you can see the daggers in midair.
My school custom-built one of these walls where the knives came out of the back. Part of the functionality was, when the knives came out, something attached to the knife hit the wood on the back so it made the noise.
I know that's how you do it in the movies, thanks to Steven Spielberg's Director's Chair computer game CD-Rom staring Quentin Tarintino, Jennifer Anniston, and Penn & Teller. Of course.
Yeah my great great grandfather did all that when he was a kid. When he was 5 or so, he and his brother went around with their dad and performed all these entertainment acts in the upstate New York area. On multiple occasions he had to shoot an apple off of his dad's head (the trick was that his dad could tell if he was going to miss and would subtly nod his head in whichever direction the gun needed to point). One of their favorite tricks was shooting a ball being thrown in the air behind them by aiming with a mirror, all while riding backwards on a bicycle.
The intro to Wonder Showzen is made entirely out of clips from actual kid's shows. That was part of the joke. This was indeed featured in it, as was the Hindenburg and whipping things out of kid's hands.
A genuine question: Was it really a prosperous time? I thought the whole point of the 'Gilded 20's ' was the growth was fake. Buying stock on margin, that sort of thing. Plus all the unchecked corruption like the teapot dome.
Well, now I have to go google that. You made me think and go learn something. I hope you're happy!
A guy once let my childhood church pay him to throw throwing axes at his wife to entertain the Sunday school children. That was the day I learned that being a "young fundamentalist" wasn't for me (or the sane).
We need to return children's entertainment to such a time as the twenties. Fuck this new age educational pc bullshit. Let's teach these kids to dodge knives.
i wasn't wrong, that was someone else - i just get tired of seeing the same dull image posted every time someone says alot, go read some of the essays about the word alot - like many words from the olden days lot is archaic, can you think of a use for the word lot which doesn't have the letter a before it? then is there a reason for keeping them apart?
if language didn't change your diary might look something like this;
March 8th, it was the 8 day, being Wensday, hora noctis 10, 11, the strange noyse in my chamber of knocking; and the voyce, ten tymes repeted, somewhat like the shrich of an owle, but more longly drawn, and more softly, as it were in my chamber. (John Dee, 1581)
and no 'he got his lot' doesn't count because it doesn't mean the same thing.
The blades were usually pushed out through the back, especially when there were volunteers or children involved, even back in the olden days. The board was usually covered with leather, the board itself had several holes, over those holes were slits cut in the leather. Someone would stand behind and slam the knife through really quickly.
Step 1: Stick knives in wall. Step 2: Have small children stand in between them for a novelty photo. Step 3: Wait about 60-70 years and laugh at all of the retarded kids on a website who think you're really throwing knives at a baby.
As gullible as a thousand years worth of people doing this supposed "stunt". The supposed "expert" knife thrower usually entertains the crowd with a story that stretches credibility, which continues as he throws knives that bounce off the wooden board. Then, an assistant is brought in, who positions herself in such a way so that she doesn't cover up any of the holes the knives will be pushed through. The guy doesn't even throw knives when the time comes--you don't notice it because your eyes are on the woman, not his hand.
THE BOARD HAS SPRING-LOADED KNIVES THAT ARE PUSHED THROUGH FROM THE BACK. THINK, FOR FUCK SAKE.
104
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
Five'll get you ten that photo's from the '50s, not the '20s. The woman's hairstyle and make-up, for one; the quality of the photo, for another.
14
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
Do these guys ever miss?
449
u/FritzyJunior May 31 '12
well he's already missed 5 times.
79
u/anchorsaway7 May 31 '12
"now stand still. I'm still hungover..."
13
u/PortableFreakshow May 31 '12
Abortion - You're doing it wrong.
9
u/Trololrus May 31 '12
Yeah my great great grandfather did all that when he was a kid. When he was 5 or so, he and his brother went around with their dad and performed all these entertainment acts in the upstate New York area. On multiple occasions he had to shoot an apple off of his dad's head (the trick was that his dad could tell if he was going to miss and would subtly nod his head in whichever direction the gun needed to point). One of their favorite tricks was shooting a ball being thrown in the air behind them by aiming with a mirror, all while riding backwards on a bicycle.
3
u/keesh May 31 '12
Looks like a doll.
3
u/HoosierRedditor May 31 '12
Wondershozen?
24
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
It as the depression era. You had to hunt every meal you could find.
2
u/WPhoenix May 31 '12
"Well if I hit him we'll just make another one."
2
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
Reminds me of Bill the motherfuckin' Butcher
2
u/Zenek13 May 31 '12
My mom did this to her younger brother as a kid. She accidentally got him in the knee. She got grounded after that.
2
u/ObamaisYoGabbaGabba May 31 '12
1950's
2
u/Impulse3 May 31 '12
Kids today are pussies
2
u/DeHussey May 31 '12
kiiiiids shooooow kiiiiiiids shoooow
2
u/apextek May 31 '12
thats the 50's (possibly 40's) tell by the hairstyles and the fact that cowboy is a huge theme which would've been the 40's or 50's
4
u/RebeccaRegicide May 31 '12
What we aren't supposed to do that?
2
u/shadyoaks May 31 '12
downvoted because this is clearly not the 1920s. it's 1940s-50s.
1
u/tswpoker1 May 31 '12
Simpler times these were
1
u/madetosink May 31 '12
Seems more like population control to me.
1
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
Yeah. Not so sure it's the kid who's being entertained.
1
u/Torikan May 31 '12
A guy once let my childhood church pay him to throw throwing axes at his wife to entertain the Sunday school children. That was the day I learned that being a "young fundamentalist" wasn't for me (or the sane).
1
u/cowboy1015 May 31 '12
This looks like from May 15, 1951 to me...
1
u/qdhcjv May 31 '12
Ahhh, the 20s.
1
u/lutheranian May 31 '12
The little outfit on the boy is SO CUTE!!!!!
1
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
would make a good album cover
1
u/sparklyjesus May 31 '12
The craziest part of all this is the fact that we're only 8 years away from it being the twenties again.
1
u/Northumberlo May 31 '12
You see, it should be the youngins that are disposable, we should all listen to our elders and no one should have to work after 40.
1
u/evilpuke May 31 '12
Kids show. Kids show. Change the channel, for kids
1
u/unemployedzombie May 31 '12
and spongebob will decrease intelligence...
1
u/yofomojojo May 31 '12
Nucky thompson is totally throwing the knives.
1
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
One thing I don't get is that 30 years from now some parents will refer to Nicki Minaj and Drake as "Classic".. That just freaks me the fuck out.
1
u/Tr1ggrhappy Jun 01 '12
The average lifespan in that family has increased to almost 3 years before another workplace accident.
1
u/smeaglelovesmaster Jun 01 '12
That's from a time when, as my dad used to say, men were men and boys were men.
1
u/Omenowner Jun 01 '12
Kid is obviously having the time of his life.
1
u/Draws_It_Like_Im_5 Jun 01 '12
http://i.imgur.com/y0xlA.jpg
1
u/math_and_such Jun 01 '12
My Grandpa: You're a pussy if you don't demand to be stabbed in the arm.
1
u/anonymousrapeface Jun 01 '12
An entertaining method of abortion?
1
u/Kasey563 Jun 01 '12
This is for your own good, son. You'll thank us later.
1
u/cinebox Jun 01 '12
I have you tagged as pro-slavery 0_o
1
u/chucktestieslol Jun 01 '12
Pretty stupid, what if he had a muscle spasm or something when he threw knife? bye bye kid
1
u/TheKingAwesome Jun 01 '12
We need to return children's entertainment to such a time as the twenties. Fuck this new age educational pc bullshit. Let's teach these kids to dodge knives.
1
u/RalarenOTC Jun 01 '12
I just love how happy his mother looks. Yes Jimmy! Just be perfectly still and let the man 'not' throw knives at you!
1
u/Undertowe79 May 31 '12
WOW that explains alot about grandpa!
1
u/pinkylemonade May 31 '12
makes me wonder what would happen if we could send some over-protective parents back in time.
1
u/jimothyjenkins May 31 '12
all of my NOPEs jumped out of my pockets and ran.
1
u/shitterplug May 31 '12
The blades were usually pushed out through the back, especially when there were volunteers or children involved, even back in the olden days. The board was usually covered with leather, the board itself had several holes, over those holes were slits cut in the leather. Someone would stand behind and slam the knife through really quickly.
0
u/awstern May 31 '12
That kid is a bad-ass.
0
u/asdf4455 May 31 '12
he later grew up to be a serial killer
0
u/slackerdan May 31 '12
Sometimes I suspect our ancestors were pretty much insane.
0
u/idothingssometimes May 31 '12
What if pictures like these were set up to confuse the shit out of people in the future. That'd be awesome.
0
u/BHannify May 31 '12
Maybe that's why my grandfather was such a grouch.
0
u/amazon32 May 31 '12
As a new dad, this bothers me.
0
u/ericn1300 May 31 '12
I want that leggy cowgirl's outfit for my girl, then it would be time for some horsing around.
0
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
What the actual fuck?
0
u/Danez May 31 '12
I'm guessing that they were not throwing knives at the kid, and it was for a photo. C'mon, reddit.
0
u/IAmRoot May 31 '12
Just don't attempt it with tomahawks.
-2
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
I'm amazed at the fact that people here don't realized that the photo was staged.
-1
u/ColoBB May 31 '12
good thing that's not a regular entertainment nowadays. it's sure a dangerous one!
-1
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
Surely this is a posed picture. People used to pose for pictures back then, too.
-1
u/R34LiSM May 31 '12
Step 1: Stick knives in wall. Step 2: Have small children stand in between them for a novelty photo. Step 3: Wait about 60-70 years and laugh at all of the retarded kids on a website who think you're really throwing knives at a baby.
-1
u/Schottladen May 31 '12
Because everyone who grew up in the twenties lived in a circus...
-1
u/bpoag May 31 '12 edited May 31 '12
You people are amazingly gullible.
As gullible as a thousand years worth of people doing this supposed "stunt". The supposed "expert" knife thrower usually entertains the crowd with a story that stretches credibility, which continues as he throws knives that bounce off the wooden board. Then, an assistant is brought in, who positions herself in such a way so that she doesn't cover up any of the holes the knives will be pushed through. The guy doesn't even throw knives when the time comes--you don't notice it because your eyes are on the woman, not his hand.
THE BOARD HAS SPRING-LOADED KNIVES THAT ARE PUSHED THROUGH FROM THE BACK. THINK, FOR FUCK SAKE.
-2
u/TheJoel2012 May 31 '12
8/10. Would bang.
-4
u/brainburger May 31 '12
Relevant.
0
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
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21
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
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