Another Mays Blast

Save your eyes.

I remember the same Public Service Announcement (PSA) that Bob mentioned in the previous post. I, too, thought it an odd announcement. It seemed to me that it didn't make sense, that it wasn't relevant in my world. Blasting caps? I had never seen one. I almost felt deprived and wanted to go and actively search for blasting caps. Then I could tell the police where I found them and I would be a hero, 'The Boy Who Found the Blasting Cap'. It would probably get in the Branson Beacon and you could never get in the Branson Beacon enough.

The other thing that always caught my eye was the baseball action, of course, featuring Willie Mays. I was young, but I knew who Mays was. I seemed to understand that this blasting cap issue must be a big deal because Mays was telling us about it.

But mostly I noticed the halting and stiff delivery of his lines. I wondered if Willie Mays really talked like that and, if so, that was strange. Now I know that he was obviously reading his lines and it was probably filmed in about two takes. It's hard to tell color on the old footage, but Mays is wearing a uniform that says 'San Francisco' instead of one saying 'Giants', so I would guess it was before a road game. The presence of a significant crowd in the background would also suggest that it was nearing game time and they were just trying to get Mays to say the lines. I would say Los Angeles or New York would be likely spots for filming.

Anyway, the cadence for "but you protect your arms and hands and legs, and save your eyes" always struck me a really odd and I remember listening for it, especially 'save your eyes', as if it was the highlight of the spot.

Say hey.

Blast from the past

It's funny what you think of during the course of a day. Today I happened to remember an old public service announcement that I used to see every so often on television back in the 1960's and '70's. A serious warning about the dangers of...yes, that's right...

Blasting Caps!

What I recalled was that while the spokesman warned about being careful when you play outside, the camera would zoom in and someone would point out three blasting caps laid out on the ground - don't touch! Then the scene cut to a movie of an explosion. I had forgotten who the celebrity spokesman was until I checked online...well, Youtube to the rescue!

I won't make light about the safety issue, apparently those things were / are dangerous enough. But I'm curious about the background of this. Why this particular warning? And why don't we see this PSA today? Are the cleanup procedures at construction sites better now, so it's no longer an issue? Were they lax about such things 40 years ago? Was there a theft of blasting caps, with some being found in vacant lots? Or did a crew that filmed Public Service Announcements sit around one day...

"Cuthbert": "Guys, we need to make one more PSA to complete our contract, and frankly I'm stumped. Got any ideas?"

"Frank Lee": "Hmmm...what about we do one on blasting caps? Those suckers could really hurt a kid."

(Assumed names to protect the innocent.)