The Pop Can Cannon

Of all the dangerous and ill-advised things concocted in the late 70's and early 80's, I have to say that my favorite was the pop can cannon. I don't remember what grade I was in at the time, but sixth seems about right. At that time we visited my aunt and uncle and their three kids in Columbus, Indiana which was an hour or two drive from our town. Their oldest was my cousin David and he was in High School. He had his own newspaper route and a moped which meant that he was practically an adult in my eyes. He is the one who initiated me into the secrets of the pop can cannon.

In those days pop cans were made out of a metal significantly heavier and stronger than aluminum. The cannon was comprised of four such cans connected end to end with duct tape, three of which had had their top and bottom removed with a can opener. The fourth can attached at the bottom only had holes punched into its top and a single hole punched into its side at the bottom. A tennis ball was loaded into the top and the tube shaken until the ball rested on the perforated top of the bottom can. The next step was to squirt lighter fluid into the single hole in the bottom and place your thumb over it to prevent any vapors from escaping. The metal tube was then shaken vigorously for a few seconds.

[At this point I simply need to pause and say that I was a fan of anything that involved lighter fluid when I was a kid.]

The moment of truth came in the form of a lit wooden match. The bottom of the tube was placed firmly on the ground and in coordinated fashion the thumb was removed as the match was put near the hole. It did not need to be right on it because the fumes were quickly escaping from the hole and the flame instantly combusted it making a tremendous booming sound sending the tennis ball rocketing into the sky out of sight for at least a few seconds. You had to have your hand to the side of the hole with the match held at its end or a column of expelled flame would find your fingers.

To reuse the cannon you had to blow into the hole after it cooled down and evacuate any lingering vapors that were left over from the burnt gas. Failure to do this would compromise the explosiveness of the next use. My cousin told me that he and an overweight friend had engaged in a cannon war. He assured me that one shot had hit his friend in the chest and knocked him clean off of his feet. I was duly impressed! Incidentally, he was the cousin whom I'd followed out into the woods for a bb gun war and gotten some welts for my troubles (he was a very good shot).

So of course when we returned back to my town I created my very own pop can cannon and introduced my friends to its wonders. Some time in the next few years pop cans transitioned to being made of light weight aluminum and the era of the pop can cannon went out not with a bang, but a whimper.



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