It’s a fairly short recollection this time, but exactly why do I have fond memories of the sound of bouncing ball bearings ?…
1972:
The trivia:
- Biologist Ivan Sanderson was one of the founders of cryptozoology - the study of unknown, extinct or legendary animals, such as the Yeti, Bigfoot or Loch Ness Monster. He wrote extensively on the subject, but his credibility was damaged when he claimed to have discovered the footprints of a fifteen foot tall penguin - something that later was proved to have been faked. In subsequent years he identified twelve areas around the world which he named "Vile Vortices" and which were apparently the sites of unexplained disappearances and mysterious phenomena. This was all published in a 1972 collection of essays under the title “Investigating the Unexplained”. The best known of these “vortices”, centres of magnetic or space time disturbances, is of course the “Bermuda Triangle”.
- Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard used globally to regulate clocks and time zones. Everyone knows about the addition of a leap day every four years, but most will not be aware that UTC has had to be adjusted by “leap seconds” several times in recent decades, due to changes in the Earths rotation. Since 1972 has a leap day and two extra leap seconds, it is officially the longest year in history.
- The first ever stuffed toys based on Paddington Bear were created in 1972 by Shirley Clarkson as Christmas presents for her children. When interest in the toys increased, Shirley and her husband Eddie started selling them in local shops - even though they didn’t have the rights. Threatened with an expensive lawsuit, a chance introduction to author Michael Bond in a lift resulted in him granting them a licence - which they kept for many years. It made the Clarkson’s fortune, a fact which has always been cited as an important step in the career of their son Jeremy - presenter of "Top Gear" and “The Grand Tour”.
Cascade
In the days before computers, consoles (or pretty much any type of electronic device beyond something with a few beeps and flashing lights), toy manufacturers were always looking for the next thing to keep kids entertained. One could argue that this led to some of the most innovative and unusual toys and board games ever released. Sure there was the usual stuff like Lego and Barbie and Monopoly. But the 70s also gave us such oddities as “Stretch Armstrong”, the interchangeable world of the “Micronauts” or Airfix’s plane on almost invisible wires that could decapitate a sibling “Flight Deck”. Kids were encouraged to put plastic in the oven with “Shrinky Dinks” or poor oozy “Slime” into the gaps between the sofa cushions. Plus tie-in toys abounded including the classic “Six Million Dollar Man”sets, Evel Knievel’s Stunt Cycle and personal favourite “The Game of Jaws”.
But along with these were also things that were less of a game and more of…an experience - and this brings us to “Cascade”, released by British toy legends Matchbox. It’s…well, I could try and describe what it looks like but it's far easier to just show you a picture:
At its core “Cascade” is a form of perpetual motion machine and it makes for a highly unusual toy for kids. Once the pieces were out of the long box, it only took a few minutes to spread out the yellow plastic sheet, slot the red pieces together, plug in the tower section (with accompanying spinning 'flag') and finally place the three drums on their designated spots - oh and don't forget the *huge* battery to power the thing. But everything had to be exactly right or the "magic" wouldn't work.
As you flicked the switch, the yellow screw started to turn with a slightly grinding noise. Slowly you fed in the ten steel ball bearings provided to the bottom of the tower and watched them rise to the top - where they would drop off the steep ledge. If you had placed the drums correctly, the ball bearings would then bounce once on each drum and then clatter into the receptacle at the end. Some would be captured in the scoring slots and others would escape and flow down the slide and by force of gravity, run along the thin strip and back to the tower for another journey. By use of a second switch, you could also control the flow of the balls - either letting them go from the tower one by one, or releasing all ten for a full "cascade".
Eventually all the balls would be caught, at which point you could release them for another round. There were various basic games described in the accompanying leaflet but alternatively you could remove the scoring plate and the balls would continually run up the tower, bounce off the drums and then go round and round and round again. As the blurb says "It's baffling, it's fascinating, it's soothing... it's Cascade".
To be honest it took a lot of trial and error to get the full effect. Although there are circles on the base sheet to indicate where the drums should go, just going with the default often meant that the balls bounced correctly on the first drum and then went everywhere as they spun off on drums two or three. Slight tweaking of the positions and many reattempts later, suddenly the fates would align and all ten balls would bounce perfectly across and clatter into the end container - cycling round again and again. It was wonderful to see.
I don't ever remember really playing the "games", just letting the balls bounce endlessly and hypnotically until my brother and I got bored or (more likely) the batteries ran out. Eventually after a couple of years either something plastic broke or the battery was left in too long and ruined the compartment and that was then end of that.
As you can see from the pictures I've managed to find, there were a couple of different versions (possibly UK and US) - one made of red and yellow plastic with a yellow base sheet and one made of blue and red plastic and a blue sheet. Nowadays complete and fully working versions are very rare and enthusiasts have had to cannibalise parts from multiple purchases to experience the joy of the bouncing balls. There are even a handful of videos online showing everything in motion. It’s probably a long shot after all these years, but I’d love to get my own set and relive the childhood excitement of “Cascade”.
Honourable mentions:
- The Amazing Mr. Blunden - Based on Antonia Barber’s 1969 book “The Ghosts”, this charming Dickensian-style mystery film was Lionel Jeffries directorial follow-up to all-time classic "The Railway Children". It’s a period tale of time travel, ghosts, of paths not taken and the chance to right wrongs. Apparently beating the likes of Peter Cushing and David Niven to the lead role, veteran actor Laurence Naismith puts in an unforgettable performance as the titular mysterious old man with a twinkle in his eye. Although I didn’t realise it at the time, he had supporting roles in two other of my favourite films - “Scrooge” and Harryhausen skeleton-fest “Jason and the Argonauts”. The other actor of note is Diana Dors who genuinely frightened me as odious housekeeper Mrs Wickens. It's a truly wonderful film, oozing with heart, atmosphere and enough cheer to melt even the hardest of hearts - plus like “The Railway Children” they all wave goodbye at the end! I was utterly captivated the first time I saw it. For many years it was unfairly forgotten except by die-hard fans, which include Marks Kermode and Gatiss - the latter of whom had a pretty reasonable go at a remake in 2021. The original is still the best though.
- The Burke Special - This BBC series focussed on various aspects of modern life and (amongst other things) how changes in society and technology affected the individual. James Burke (by this point well known as a presenter of science show “Tomorrow’s World”) would wander round a studio full of members of the public, pulling them into sometimes odd experiments related to the topic of the week and explaining how things worked. It was both entertaining and educational - distilling down complicated ideas for the man or woman on the street. It’s hard to give a full description because although I definitely recall watching various episodes between 1972 and 1976, sadly almost none exist in the BBC archives. It’s included here because it was my first exposure to Mr Burke - who I consider an absolute genius and one of only two scientists (the other being Carl Sagan) who genuinely changed my life and how I think about the world. Burke would go on to create “Connections” (perhaps his finest work) but let’s end with a clip of the great man in action in one of the “Specials”, explaining how the economy works…
- The Poseidon Adventure - I love disaster movies and the 70s had more than its fair share of great ones. An all-star cast coming together to face great adversity as something generally goes horribly wrong - with the audience playing detective to try and work out who will live or die. But as far as I am concerned this capsized luxury ocean liner tale is the daddy of them all. Produced by “Master of Disaster” Irwin Allen (also responsible for genre classics “Lost in Space” and “The Time Tunnel”) its incredible sets, non-stop action and thrilling moments of peril make it a real treat. I may have been drawn by the appearance of SF favourite Roddy McDowall as ship’s waiter Acres, but I stayed for the heartfelt perfomances from Gene Hackman, Shelley Duvall and the rest. Even now when I know what’s going to happen, I still enjoy it just as much. A poor sequel followed in 1979 (starring Michael Caine no less) followed by a pair of remakes in the early 2000s - the latter of which is only worthwhile for Richard Dreyfuss.
- Silent Running - The directorial debut of special effects guru Douglas Trumbull, this post-apocalyptic science-fiction movie has an environmental message that is as important now as it was then, even if it is framed by the US counterculture movement of the time it was made (the phrase “global warming” was 15 years away). It made a huge impression on me, not just because of the themes, or the superb central performance by Bruce Dern, but also because of the three robots his character worked with. Played by bilateral amputees, Huey, Dewy and Louie had real warmth and personality and play more and more of a role as the film progresses. I'd take them over R2-D2 anytime. While it has a downbeat, melancholic ending it’s still full of awe-inspiring imagery - the beauty of nature contrasted against the vast blackness of space - plus the unmistakable voice of Joan Baez singing “Rejoice in the Sun”…
- Watership Down - Rabbits are deeply embedded in human culture. Symbols of fertility or good luck. As tricksters or agents of chaos. Plus they are hugely popular in British literature. Lewis Carroll, Beatrix Potter and AA Milne have all created rabbit characters that are beloved the world over. But for me, it’s Richard Adams’ magnificent story of Fiver, Hazel, Bigwig and their friends that captured my imagination like no other. Their world felt totally real - no walking on hind legs and wearing waistcoats here - and the dangers both animal and man-made were terrifying. It was the first fictional story to make me properly cry with the power and emotion of the story. I read it over and over again, each time discovering something new. Yes, the 1978 animated version is rightly lauded and it’s images scarred a generation, but General Woundwort was even scarier in my imagination.
- Rainbow - Just the first Bungle. The stuff of nightmares. What were they thinking?.
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