Guest guest Posted December 30, 2007 Report Share Posted December 30, 2007 Subject: The Mercury Maze Dear Group: While doing my never ending research, I stumbled upon an entry for a toy that was sold in England in the 1970’s called “The Mercury Maze”. I put the description below for your reading pleasure (or horror). I am researching all the toxins in children’s toys. But I remember as a kid growing up in the 1960’s, there were these glass mercury thermometers (we also called it quicksilver) that my Mom would use to take our temperature either orally or “the old fashioned way”. In my house, the only difference between an oral and an anal thermometer was the taste. Anyway… my siblings and I would break open the thermometer to play with the delightful silvery grey blobs inside. I wonder how many of my and my son’s current health issues are related to that bit of misguided play? Yours, Regina Cioffi Mercury Maze Discontinued plastic labyrinth Of all the toys in the catalogue, this is the one we can guarantee they’ll never bring back. The kid’s-plaything equivalent of a CFC-coolant fridge or leaded-petrol engine, the Mercury Maze was so-called because it contained a measured blob of everyone’s favourite poisonous liquid metal. As with pretty much every maze puzzle since the dawn of time, the object was to steer this blob along the correct path to the centre of the board whereupon it would fall through a hole and return to the start at the outside again. The unique selling point of the game, of course, was the increased difficulty posed by mercury’s predisposition for splitting in two and heading off in different directions. Essentially, the game was a boiling down of man’s age-old struggle to maintain a steady hand whilst compensating for the surface-tension and viscosity of a base element, although they didn’t think to write that on the box. In the catalogues of the day, they used to stock these in the same section as the desk-based Newton’s Cradle, magnetic sculptures and so on, which added the Mercury Maze an air of laissez-faire sophistication that was perhaps undeserved of a potentially lethal toy. Of the few varieties we recall, the most memorable was the hexagon-shaped maze, manufactured in regulation matt black plastic with the very minimum of extraneous markings and a transparent cover. Outside of the last day of term classroom, the only place these rare creatures could be found was in the toy department of British Home Stores, where it became quickly apparent that if the game was held upside down the mercury would collect in the lid, reform into one blob, and the maze itself could be bypassed. We are sure that this, as much as the toxic qualities of the game, served to ensure its short-livedness in the affections of the nation’s youth1, although we’re similarly surprised it wasn’t revived in the mid-Nineties to cash in on the then-groundbreaking Terminator 2 film, which it clearly influenced. No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.12/1202 - Release Date: 12/29/2007 1:27 PM No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.12/1202 - Release Date: 12/29/2007 1:27 PM No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.12/1202 - Release Date: 12/29/2007 1:27 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 30, 2007 Report Share Posted December 30, 2007 Is this it? http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rapidproto/students/bha/Project1/concept2.html > > Subject: The Mercury Maze > > > > > > Dear Group: > > While doing my never ending research, I stumbled upon an entry for a toy > that was sold in England in the 1970's called " The Mercury Maze " . I put the > description below for your reading pleasure (or horror). I am researching > all the toxins in children's toys. > > > > But I remember as a kid growing up in the 1960's, there were these glass > mercury thermometers (we also called it quicksilver) that my Mom would use > to take our temperature either orally or " the old fashioned way " . In my > house, the only difference between an oral and an anal thermometer was the > taste. Anyway… my siblings and I would break open the thermometer to play > with the delightful silvery grey blobs inside. I wonder how many of my and > my son's current health issues are related to that bit of misguided play? > > > > Yours, Regina Cioffi > > > > > HYPERLINK " http://tvcream.squarespace.com/toy-list/mercury- maze.html " Mercury > Maze > > > Discontinued plastic labyrinth > > mercury-maze-2.jpgOf all the toys in the catalogue, this is the one we can > guarantee they'll never bring back. The kid's-plaything equivalent of a > CFC-coolant fridge or leaded-petrol engine, the Mercury Maze was so- called > because it contained a measured blob of everyone's favourite poisonous > liquid metal. > > As with pretty much every maze puzzle since the dawn of time, the object was > to steer this blob along the correct path to the centre of the board > whereupon it would fall through a hole and return to the start at the > outside again. The unique selling point of the game, of course, was the > increased difficulty posed by mercury's predisposition for splitting in two > and heading off in different directions. Essentially, the game was a boiling > down of man's age-old struggle to maintain a steady hand whilst compensating > for the surface-tension and viscosity of a base element, although they > didn't think to write that on the box. > > In the catalogues of the day, they used to stock these in the same section > as the desk-based Newton's Cradle, magnetic sculptures and so on, which > added the Mercury Maze an air of laissez-faire sophistication that was > perhaps undeserved of a potentially lethal toy. Of the few varieties we > recall, the most memorable was the hexagon-shaped maze, manufactured in > regulation matt black plastic with the very minimum of extraneous markings > and a transparent cover. Outside of the last day of term classroom, the only > place these rare creatures could be found was in the toy department of > British Home Stores, where it became quickly apparent that if the game was > held upside down the mercury would collect in the lid, reform into one blob, > and the maze itself could be bypassed. We are sure that this, as much as the > toxic qualities of the game, served to ensure its short-livedness in the > affections of the nation's youth1, although we're similarly surprised it > wasn't revived in the mid-Nineties to cash in on the then- groundbreaking > Terminator 2 film, which it clearly influenced. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > No virus found in this outgoing message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.12/1202 - Release Date: 12/29/2007 > 1:27 PM > > > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.12/1202 - Release Date: 12/29/2007 > 1:27 PM > > > > No virus found in this outgoing message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.12/1202 - Release Date: 12/29/2007 > 1:27 PM > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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