Author Archives: Streetplay Discussions

We liked to use spaldeens…

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We liked to use spaldeens for stickball, pensie pinkies for punchball, king queen, handball. They had a smoother feel. Also, back in the day, Spaldeens cost 25 cents and Pensie Pinkies cost 30 cents. As I recall, Pensie Pinkies had the Keystone symbol of the State of Pennsylvania stamped on it. Can someone please confirm that for me. Hey, back in Flatbush in the late 50’s early 60’s, there wasn’t much car traffic to deal with, so we really got a lot of use out of our block.

Hello Don’t know…

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Hello Don’t know if many remember me, but I am Pete’s x girlfriend Maritza. Just have been wanting to give my sympathy to his family. My heart goes out to you. He was a good stickball player and fun to hang out with. I never thought i would know someone in a tragedy as this one, but when i found out about Steve my insides went numb. But i believe he was just to good to be on this earth and our Lord just wanted him all to himself. God Bless You Maritza

Did anyone else sing this…

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Did anyone else sing this clapping song, which some might feel sounds racist, but was really a cross-cultural part of my childhood: Chinaman, had a wife led him such a miserable life. Led him to the top of a hill, led him down like a rolling pill (?) Chickalaka-chee-chi-cho-chikalora etc etc imitating “Chinese language sounds” (at least to little kids) We sang this with our Asian friends, and were fascinated with Chinese culture. Thanks.

Does anybody remember the…

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Does anybody remember the Betsy McCall paper dolls that were in each issue of McCall’s magazine? My other paper doll sets were Dinah Shore and Annette. My friend had Gisele McKenzie. I also had a real Betsy McCall doll, about 8 inches tall. I had a “model” doll that pre-dated Barbie, was a little smaller and had a less exaggerated figure. She looked a little bit like Marilyn Monroe or Kim Novak. My Baby dolls were Betsy Wetsy and Tiny Tears. I had a ballerina doll with jointed legs.

Flea (flea), Flea-fly (flea-fly),…

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Flea (flea), Flea-fly (flea-fly), Flea-fly-flo(flea-fly flo), Vista (vista). Kumalada, Kumalada,Kumala-vista (repeat). Oh, no, no, no, not the Vista(repeat). Eeny-meeny, dessa-meany, ooh wah wahla-meany (repeat). Dessa-meany, sala-meany ooh wah wah (repeat). Beat Billy oten, boten, bo-boten, beaten-botten Shhh (repeat).

My gosh but this brings…

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My gosh but this brings back memories. While attending Holy Cross school, Church Avenue and Rogers Avenue, early 1940’s, we played this game. I remember when you cracked the other persons chestnut you became a “killer”. The purpose was to “kill” as many as you could, then you became the target of others who could claim all your kills if they broke your chestnut. I also remember getting wacked in the eye when I didn’t hold my chestnut out with my arm fully extended. When the chestnut was wacked it tended to swing vertically in an arc. Ouch.

In Dundee, Illinois (near…

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In Dundee, Illinois (near Chicago) in the 1930’s and ’40s, we played a similar game called Holly. We usually played at an intersection of two streets. Some of the differences with Ringoleavio were: each team had a “goal” (usually a telephone pole) on the corner; while you were tounching your own goal you were in a safe area where you couldn’t be tagged/captured; the jail was called “stink”; object of the game was to touch the other team’s goal and say “Holly”. Either “Holly” or “Kick the Can” were our favorites, especially after dark but with the corner streetlights providing illumination.

I was teaching my granddaughter…

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I was teaching my granddaughter how to play hopscotch and I can’t remember what happens when you reached 9. Since I think that was the last number do you hop over to a non-numbered area on 2 feet, turn around and then pick up your marker, hop over 9 and come back down? The instructions at this site don’t talk about my dilemma. I’ve asked many of my friends and no one seems to remember. Thanks for any input.