# Old Fashioned Bombs **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 28, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-bombs/508068 "2009-08-28T19:46:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-bombs/508068/1 "2009-08-28T19:46:47Z")
Staple of old time comic strips and movies. Round black objects, a bit smaller than a basketball or soccerball, with a wick coming out of them. Did such bombs actually exist, and if not, where did the image come from? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-bombs/508068/2 "2009-08-28T19:53:36Z")
See [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=443446&highlight=round+bombs). ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-bombs/508068/3 "2009-08-28T20:41:15Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > See [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=443446&highlight=round+bombs). And in that whole thread, no-one thought to mention that they were the bombs “bursting in air” in that song – you know the one, I’ll think of its name in a minute… ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-bombs/508068/4 "2009-08-28T20:45:08Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > And in that whole thread, no-one thought to mention that they were the bombs “bursting in air” in that song – you know the one, I’ll think of its name in a minute… AC/DC, right? ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-bombs/508068/5 "2009-08-29T00:41:31Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > AC/DC, right? Is it? That doesn’t seem right… hang on… _La la de da da Bombs bursting in air And tumty tum-tum Something something still there_ Does that sound right? I’ll have it in a minute… _La la de da da…_ ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-bombs/508068/6 "2009-08-29T03:20:45Z")
Oh yeah, the fourth verse goes: "And what of that band who so vauntingly swore a home and a country to leave us no more? Their blood hath wiped out their foul footsteps pollution, from the land of the free And the home of the brave." Yeah, love that one! And they say Rap has violent imagery! ! ! ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-bombs/508068/7 "2009-08-29T15:25:08Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Oh yeah, the fourth verse goes: > > "And what of that band > who so vauntingly swore > a home and a country to leave us no more? > > Their blood hath wiped out their > foul footsteps pollution, > from the land of the free > And the home of the brave." > Yeah, love that one! And they say Rap has violent imagery! ! ! Aha! You fell into my little trap! You see, no genuine American _ever_ knows the fourth verse of the Star Spangled Banner! Which means that you must be… A spy! What have you to say for yourself now, “TruCelt”? Or should that be… **Von TruArian?!** Oh, wait… that’s the third verse. And you got it wrong anyway. As you were, then. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-bombs/508068/8 "2009-08-29T16:01:21Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > Is it? That doesn’t seem right… hang on… > > _La la de da da > Bombs bursting in air > And tumty tum-tum > Something something still there_ > > Does that sound right? I’ll have it in a minute… > > _La la de da da…_ The Bar-Strangled Spanner? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-bombs/508068/9 "2009-08-29T18:59:38Z")
I’m not an expert on cannons but from what I’ve seen they started out as external paper fuses and then eventually morphed into the borman fuse which is to a metal capped groove on the outside of the cannon ball. The groove was filled with gunpowder and led to a hole drilled into the cannon ball. A metal cap was fitted over the fuse and allowed the user to poke a hole along the line where the fuse would ignite (from the cannon fire) and thus could adjust the timing of the explosion. They all did basically the same thing but technology made it more reliable. You can see a borman type of fuse [here](http://www.cwartillery.org/artammo.html). ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-bombs/508068/10 "2009-08-29T19:03:24Z")
The old fashioned bomb was the basis for a toy game when I was a kid. [http://www.bigredtoybox.com/cgi-bin/toynfo.pl?timebombindex](http://www.bigredtoybox.com/cgi-bin/toynfo.pl?timebombindex)