I was a skelly adict. In…

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I was a skelly adict. In Starett City, Brooklyn in the late 70s, clay was the only choice. I remember using milk tops with wax, but I could never be competitive. It would end up rolling down the sidewalk. Clay was great because you could swirl the color. I would eat a Push-Up every week to get a new top. It was embarrassing to use anything put a push-up top with clay. please include clay in the survey! The only downside was worn out fingernails. I tried to alternate between two fingers to spread the wear-n-tear. We usually played on chalk boards, unless someone had the courage to spraypaint one. The painted ones would usually be cleaned away, and the dimensions were usually off.

In Jersey City, we played…

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In Jersey City, we played a little “tougher” version of Ringoleario, as we used to call it, called “Manhunt.” Same rules as ringoleario except that when you caught someone, you had to physically take him into custody. In other words he could fight you to keep you from “arresting” him. You could beat him until he “gave up” and walked quietly back to jail. Then of course, he could be freed by someone on his team landing on the jail block and yelling “Free All!” Tony C

Hi. I live in Sydney and…

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Hi. I live in Sydney and am keen to re-introduce Marbles to our local primary schools. Aussie kids play outside lots, but computers,game boys et al are diminishing this. Nevertheless, soccer and cricket and handball are very popular. I also intend to write a book about marbles to help the kids (and dads)learn how to play. I am thinking reintroducing marbles will require the process to be somewhat sophisticated, using marble mats and cd roms to show how games are played. Aussies, in particular…contact me. Does anyone know if there is an actual “international book of rules”? Michael

From: Marvin Lerman. My…

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From: Marvin Lerman. My memories of stickball go back to Flatbush, Brooklyn from the 40’s to mid 50’s. The playing fields were on East 4th St., East 5th St, both narrow and one way and on the wider two way Ditmas Ave. We used a spalline and improvised bats: broom handle, sawed off handle of an old, or not so old rake, hoe or shovel and once a thichish wooden rod that one of us found in a clothes closet, it was the best but he got into much trouble at home. The rules of play were as follows: …………. I had just completed E 4and 5 Street and was about to go on to Ditmas Ave. stickball which was much different but seem to run out of space and lost all of E 4th and E5th. Can someone please help. Reminiscing about my boys of summer was comforting,making me feel warmer and less gloomy while sitting out the Massachuttes Blizzard of 2003. Learned of the streetgames websight in William Safire’s On Language collumn in the NT Times 2/16/03 mag. section. Can’t find on the screen much of my earlier stuff. HELP!!! I East 4th St.: Home plate was painted on the road next to a friend’s house, as was a line designating the pitcher’s rubber. 2-3 players on each side. The ball was pitched on one bounce hard and with possible spin. 3 strikes, 4balls. No ump to call the balls and strikes, but we usually managed to agree. Singles were based on whether a ground ball hit within the curbs was cleanly fielded. 2,3 or 4 base hits depended on how far we’d hit the ball on the fly, under, over or through the branches of trees that overhung the road and where it would land, near a parked car or other designated landmark. A batted ball that hit on the fly a parked car or a house was an out. We’d often start on summer mornings, break for lunch and resume until suppertime. Sewers never came in to play. East 5th Street: Same rules as E 4th, except that there were 4-5 players per side, we ran ’em out, there were no automatic designated extra base hits and there were hardly any trees within 150 feet. Those games were usually played in in the early summer evenings.

From: Marvin Lerman. My…

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From: Marvin Lerman. My memories of stickball go back to Flatbush, Brooklyn from the 40’s to mid 50’s. The playing fields were on East 4th St., East 5th St, both narrow and one way and on the wider two way Ditmas Ave. We used a spalldeen and improvised bats: broom handle, sawed off handle of an old, or not so old rake, hoe or shovel and once a thichish wooden rod that one of us found in a clothes closet, it was the best but he got into much trouble at home. The rules of play were as follows: …………. I had just completed 4and 5 Street and was about to go on to Ditmas Ave. stickball which was much different but seem to run out of space and lost all of E 4th and E5th. Can someone please help. Reminiscing about my boys of summer was comforting,making me feel warmer and less gloomy while sitting out the Massachuttes Blizzard of 2003. Learned of the streetgames websight in William Safire’s On Language collumn in the NT Times 2/16/03 mag. section. Can’t find on the screen much of my earlier stuff. HELP!!! I East 4th St.: Home plate was painted on the road next to a friend’s house, as was a line designating the pitcher’s rubber. 2-3 players on each side. The ball was pitched on one bounce hard and with possible spin. 3 strikes, 4balls. No ump to call the balls and strikes, but we usually managed to agree. Singles were based on whether a ground ball hit within the curbs was cleanly fielded. 2,3 or 4 base hits depended on how far we’d hit the ball on the fly, under, over or through the branches of trees that overhung the road and where it would land, near a parked car or other designated landmark. A batted ball that hit on the fly a parked car or a house was an out. We’d often start on summer mornings, break for lunch and resume until suppertime. Sewers never came in to play. East 5th Street: Same rules as E 4th, except that there were 4-5 players per side, we ran ’em out, there were no automatic designated extra base hits and there were hardly any trees within 150 feet. Those games were usually played in in the early summer evenings.

I played punchball in the…

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I played punchball in the early 1950’s in Brooklyn, New York. We played in the middle of the street. Home plate was one sewer (manhole cover) with Second Base the next sewer down. First and Third bases were halfway between home and second next to the curbs. We chalk marked First and Third bases. There were usually 3 – 5 players on a team, no pitcher or catcher. We had a first, second and third baseman, with the extras either in the outfield (beyond 2nd base) or playing a rough shortstop position (either between lst and 2nd or between 3rd and 2nd. The batter would throw the ball up in the air high enough that he could hit it with a clenched fist when it came down. Baseball rules were followed. I can recall being good enough to hit a scorcher which would just clip the corner of First Base just out of reach of the first baseman while a buddy could hit the ball beyond second base. If the ball landed on the sidewalk on the fly, it was either a foul ball or an out (I can’t recall which). It was a grand game! Too bad today’s youngsters can’t play without being in organized teams with uniforms, etc.

regarding the 3 sewer question…

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regarding the 3 sewer question vs. 4 sewers: i played stickball in Holliswood Queens NY in the late 50s and I was taught by my late father. he once took me back to the South Bronx where he played in the late 1920s and early 1930s. 3 sewers was the furthest for a homerun and the ball had to pass three full sewers. he never mentioned 4.