15 Everyday Products That Started Out Way More Hardcore
![15 Everyday Products That Started Out Way More Hardcore](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/8/2/883082_320x180.jpg)
If you have access to an electronic device on which to read these words, odds are pretty good that you’re entirely too safe. These days, we’ve got all kinds of government agencies and legislative bodies dedicated to making sure we don’t accidentally poison or maim ourselves through anything but our own stupidity. You’re comfortably cocooned within the nice, warm bubble of the nanny state.
That’s nice and all, but it can make you long for the days of the industrial wild west, when everything was made of sharp, rusty metal and you could buy Schedule II controlled substances at the local soda shop, or even antiquity, when we thought germs were ghosts. Sure, literally everyone from that time is dead now, but only some of them were killed by early versions of stuff you probably have in your home right now. What didn't kill our forefathers only made them stronger, and now they are unstoppable.
Now It’s Just Meth
![CRACKED COUGH MEDICINE WAS HEROIN. In the 1890s, Bayer (yes, the aspirin people) sold bottles of heroin as cough medicine, even for children. In other words, everything that would get you banned from playgrounds today.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/0/0/883100.jpg)
Medicine or Kidnapping?
![CRACKED SURGEONS WOULD LITERALLY CHLOROFORM YOU. The first surgeries performed under general anesthesia involved chloroform, which had to be dosed extremely precisely to not kill you, or ether, which had the added bonus of being extremely flammable. Chlorofor Calorid Chloroform ED & S by A ARED ARED SOL & O! RITTE by New BRO The - the NOT d THO! Slip, RITTER New Yes Slip,](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/9/9/883099.jpg)
The Alleles on the Bus
![CRACKED SCHOOL BUSES USED SUPER TOXIC YELLOW PAINT. When school buses were first painted yellow, it was with a kind of chromium paint that caused genetic mutations and cancer, but don't worry. It was just kids! SCHOOL BUS STOP 54 SCHOOL DISTRICT 54](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/9/8/883098.jpg)
Unchained Radioactivity
![CRACKED POTTERY GLAZE USED TO CONTAIN URANIUM. From ancient times all the way through the '70s, attempting a Ghost could have really killed the mood (and also you).](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/9/2/883092.jpg)
It’s Toasted
![CRACKED THE FIRST ELECTRIC TOASTER WAS A FIRE TRAP. It had iron wires, which is probably not what you want to use for heating bread, given that it melts so easily. It caused a bunch of fires and not even very good toast.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/8/8/883088.jpg)
Out in the Cold
![CRACKED EARLY REFRIGERATORS USED TOXIC GAS. The ammonia, methyl chloride, and sulfur dioxide used as refrigerants sometimes leaked and killed someone, which is why people started keeping their refrigerators outside the main home (and your grandma still has one in the garage).](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/9/1/883091.jpg)
Blow It Up Your Ass
![CRACKED EARLY TOILETS EXPLODED. Before we figured out how to deal with the buildup of flammable gas that results from hiding our poop, our earliest forays into indoor plumbing resulted in tons of wounded butts and pride.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/8/7/883087.jpg)
Doctor My Eyes
![CRACKED THE FIRST EYELINERS WERE MADE WITH LEAD. Ancient Egyptians shoved a number of toxic metals that lead to irritability, insomnia and mental decrease right into their sight holes. No wonder the political climate was so tense.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/9/0/883090.jpg)
Smooth At Any Cost
![CRACKED THE FIRST HAIR REMOVAL CREAM WAS MADE OF ARSENIC. Causing hair loss is usually a pharmaceutical nightmare, but in the 1800s, it was rebranded as a benefit. After all, were those filthy, stinking peasants supposed to walk around with hairy legs?](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/9/6/883096.jpg)
Turning Green
![CRACKED GREEN DYE USED TO CONTAIN ARSENIC. In the early 19th century, Europe was dazzled by the advent of a dye that made their dresses greener than any green they'd ever seen. Sure, it gave them open sores, made their hair fall out, and killed them, but anything for... beauty?](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/9/3/883093.jpg)
Somebody Stop These Things
![CRACKED THE FIRST ROLLER SKATES DIDN'T HAVE BRAKES. It took 100 years for someone to invent the toe stop. In the meantime, a lot of Victorian nogs got bonked.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/9/7/883097.jpg)
Glow in the Dark (of the Grave)
![CRACKED GLOW IN THE DARK PAINT WAS MADE WITH RADIUM. It was especially popular on watch faces, which killed, just, so many people. On the other hand, you could tell time in the dark! So neat!](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/9/4/883094.jpg)
As If Decaf Wasn’t Bad Enough
![CRACKED DECAF COFFEE WAS MADE WITH BENZENE. In the early 20th century, scientists figured out they could strip the caffeine out of coffee with benzene. It also happened to be capable of stripping paint.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/8/6/883086.jpg)
Sugar High
![CRACKED COCA-COLA CONTAINED COCAINE. It was actually a brand of coca wine, which is known in some circles as a great Saturday night. Coca Cola TRADE MAME RO LCA PAT OFT Delicious and Refreshing](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/8/9/883089.jpg)
Definitely “Up”
![CRACKED 7-UP USED TO CONTAIN LITHIUM. Before 1948, when the FDA banned the drug in soft drinks, it was marketed as a mood stabilizing beverage, which it arguably still is. YO 7up, sh 7up . with is ! 7up REC. U.S. PAT.OFF.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/9/5/883095.jpg)