I grew up on New York’s Lower…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by

I grew up on New York’s Lower East Side 80 years ago. About 40 years ago, I was amazed when a woman friend, reminiscing about her childhood in Winthrop Mass., north of Boston, sang a group street game chant: “Oh, Oh, the ring we leave-o!” It struck me immediately that her “Ring we leave-o” was obviously the phrase that somehow morphed into the Italian-sounding “Ringoleavio” in the streets of New York. It may or may not have been exactly the same game. Does anyone know? How did they play The Ring We Leave-o in Boston in the 1930s?

I’m a woman who grew up in…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by

I’m a woman who grew up in Queens in the ’50-’60s, actually in Forest Hills. I’m a manuscript editor who’s just come across the name Pensie Pinkie in a book I’m editing. As a kid I had a number of spaldeen balls, but I never heard of the other, so thanks to all the posters who helped me verify that Pensie Pinkies not only existed, but were rather in vogue, at least in certain circumstances!!