Finally, a toy that can entertain you and catch your supper! The slingshot—not to be confused with a sling—is the trademark accessory of young rascals and troublemakers: think Dennis the Menace and Bart Simpson. It uses small projectiles like steel balls or pebbles and has a range of about 80 feet but newer, more advanced models can hurl their payloads five times as far.

The basic slingshot consists of a forked frame with a rubber band or any elastic material—an inner tube split down the middle work great—attached to the ends of the frame and a pocket situated in the middle of the rubber band for gripping the projectiles. One hand grasps the handle of the frame keeping the arm fully extended away from the body while the other hand pinches the pocket and draws as far back as possible. You can take aim by moving the hand holding the frame.

Rubber wasn’t very common or easily obtainable by young scamps until the 20th century but once those neighborhood terrors got hold of the recently invented inner tubes, all that remained was to find a sturdy piece of wood and whittle it into a fork shape. Back then everyone passed their time whittling, television not having been invented yet, so that step in slingshot manufacture wasn’t too difficult. Armed with a slingshot, you could wreak havoc on the native rodent and bird population, not to mention defenseless windowpanes and cans lined up on a fence.

In the early 1950s, various entrepreneurs released new and improved models of the slingshot. One of them affixed the frame to the wrist so the hand wouldn’t strain to hold it extended and another model added a wrist brace to the frame for better control and stability. Kids proceeded to pelt each other with slingshot pebbles and the bird population continued to live in fear. The wrist brace proved a very popular addition and those slingshots are widely available today. Still, true satisfaction can only come from finding the perfect piece of wood and carving the slingshot yourself.