Anvil Shooting

Writing yesterday’s post, “Chrome OS Video is Missing an Anvil,” got me wondering how the decades old “falling anvil” meme started.

A little research on anvils revealed its rich history as the primary tool of blacksmiths, and about a practice known as anvil shooting.

Anvil shooting is where one detonates black powder under an anvil causing it to rocket up in the air, and eventually crash into the ground. It’s pretty amusing.

It seems that anvil shooting was the original inspiration for some of my favorite Wile E. Coyote and Animaniacs gags.

(Source: Wikipedia)