GISMO, The Boy Scouts’ Custom Existential Crisis Robot
What kid has never dreamed of building a robot? All the kids who actually had friends of course, but there were still a lot of us in the “I need to build friends” camp. The Boy Scouts official magazine has published variations on their own personal home-built scrap metal Frankenstein, which they call GISMO, since the 1950s. Looking over its evolution is really bleak.
GISMO1: The Death Trap
Great start, exactly as terrifying as could be imagined for an Atomic Age home-made robot. Also literally designed by a kid named Fuehrer, because being a seven foot tall monstrosity screaming for a lack of soul isn’t grimdark enough. Technically this one was called GISMO THE GREAT, presumably because GISMO THE FIRE HAZARD just didn’t quite have the same ring to it. The Boys Life version of the model should already be making you nervous.
I literally cannot imagine where they expected these kids to keep these things but God bless them. The 1950s were clearly completely…
