# Those big inflated balls w/ the handle that kids in the 70's bounced on - Name?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-big-inflated-balls-w-the-handle-that-kids-in-the-70s-bounced-on-name/78413>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 27, 2001, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-big-inflated-balls-w-the-handle-that-kids-in-the-70s-bounced-on-name/78413 "2001-08-27T21:47:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2001, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-big-inflated-balls-w-the-handle-that-kids-in-the-70s-bounced-on-name/78413/41 "2001-08-30T18:42:57Z")

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Maybe I’m thinking about something different but in the late 60’s or early 70’s we had two plastic/glass balls on a string that you hold at the midpoint and they meet on the up and downswing making a “clacking” noise. Hence the name: “Clackers.”

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**Author:** ![johnboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47c2d/32.png) [@johnboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnboy)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2001, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-big-inflated-balls-w-the-handle-that-kids-in-the-70s-bounced-on-name/78413/42 "2001-08-30T21:08:33Z")

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Lieu, I believe the toy you are referring to is the Knicker Knocker (at least that is wht we called them) They came to my neck of the woods (Midwest USA) in the mid 70’s. The glass ones had a nasty tendency to shatter and were pulled off of the market.

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**Author:** ![jack\_ss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c77e96/32.png) [@jack\_ss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack_ss)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-big-inflated-balls-w-the-handle-that-kids-in-the-70s-bounced-on-name/78413/43 "2001-08-31T03:43:55Z")

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Yeah, I remember clackers. I don’t remember them being made of glass, but plexiglas-type resin. I heard they were taken off the market because they could be used as a weapon.

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**Author:** ![Sultan\_Kinkari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7bcc69/32.png) [@Sultan\_Kinkari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sultan_Kinkari)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-big-inflated-balls-w-the-handle-that-kids-in-the-70s-bounced-on-name/78413/44 "2001-08-31T03:49:15Z")

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But almost every kid in America owns a baseball bat…

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**Author:** ![discombobulator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6f9a4e/32.png) [@discombobulator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/discombobulator)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-big-inflated-balls-w-the-handle-that-kids-in-the-70s-bounced-on-name/78413/45 "2001-08-31T03:59:27Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Booker57 \*  
> \*\*Didn’t Pheobe on “Friends” use one recently? She commented to the other girls that is was great for releving tension. “If you know what I mean”. \*\*

Actually I saw a rerun of an episode today, where Rachel turns 30 and they have clips of the other freinds’ 30th birthdays. There was a clip of Pheobe (Phoebe?) bouncing on one for one mile, which was something she wanted to do before turning 30. I beleive I heard her call it a “Hippity Hop” later in the show.

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