This is one of those odd toys that we had lying around as kids – a Snoopy Sno-Cones Machine.

Source: gadgetshop.com

I’m not sure where it came from but I remember using it and failing each time – yet just like the Teletubbies, it was a case of “Again! Again!”.

The mechanism was simple. Lift up Snoopy and put food into the tube under him. At the bottom of the tube is a barrel grater that you turn using a handle. You push the food down while turning the handle and the ice “shaves” and comes out the front where you collect it in a cup.

The best I remember achieving was about a teaspoon of shaved ice. All the rest just sat there – too hard for the grater to do any damage. Maybe I had weak girl arms, dunno.

I tried shoving various fruit down there too but that didn’t work either – you get a whole lot of pulp that gets stuck on the outside of the barrel, going nowhere. And for your information, bread + Snoopy Sno-Cones != breadcrumbs…

I just can’t believe they still sell them! Terrible, but awesome at the same time :)