Wartime toy shortages didn’t mean a shortage of war toys 80 years ago. And even if our leaders get us into another war, Junior can still have the coolest (but most politically incorrect) toy on the block, courtesy of this homemade sidewalk tank from the May 1943 issue of Popular Mechanics.

Realistic machine gun sounds are courtesy of a hardwood ratchet hitting two bamboo splints. Four roller skates are pressed into service as the wheels. Even Fido gets in on the action as these two young soldiers go after the enemy.