Clackers, the popular late 1960s and early 1970s toy made of two hard acrylic balls attached to a string, became a global craze before being abruptly banned because their design turned out to be far more dangerous than manufacturers expected. The toy worked by swinging the balls up and down so they struck each other rhythmically, creating a loud clacking sound that made them addictive to master, but the repeated high impact collisions caused the acrylic spheres to weaken and sometimes shatter. W

#OnThisDay 1971: Modern kids can keep their Pokémon! Back in BBC Archive's day we had Clackers. Good, old-fashioned, potentially deadly Clackers. | BBC Archive

#OTD 1971: Modern kids: You can keep your Pokémon, your Wi-Fi devices and your 'video' games! Back in BBC Archive's day we had Clackers. Good, old-fashioned, potentially deadly Clackers. | BBC Archive

Clackers - or “ker-nockers” - were two balls on a string which made a very satisfactory sound when knocked together. They were later taken off the market for safety reasons, but in 1971 our reporter Ken Rees took a look at the new craze sweeping the country. Watch the full report from our archives on ITVX: https://tinyurl.com/3ew2zr9h | ITV News West Country