Author Archives: Streetplay Discussions

I’ve lately had occasion…

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I’ve lately had occasion to recall a few more fancies than these. Do you remember “Elevators”? After picking up the jacks and catching the ball, we’d throw the jacks up in the air as well as the ball, catching the jacks in the other hand and catching the ball in the throwing hand. How about “Around the World”? After picking up the jacks, we’d have to circle the bouncing ball with the throwing hand before catching the ball. As we got older, we played more challenging fancies like “Black Widow.” That was onesies to tensies without missing. If you missed, you had to start from the beginning. We also played a longer version (onesies to tensies and back again) which we called “Blue Widow.” Don’t ask me why this wasn’t “Black Widow;” it

I heard it a little differently:…

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I heard it a little differently: There was a jolly dutch boy, his name was Johnny Rabeck. He used to deal in Sausage meat and saurkraut inspect. He made the finest sausages that ever you did see. Until on day he invented the sausage making machine. Oh, Mr. Mr. Johnny Rabeck how could you be so mean. We told you you’d be sorry for inventing that machine. Now all the neighbours cats and dogs will never more be seen. They’ll all be ground to sausage meat in Johnny Rabeck’s machine. There was a jolly dutchboy, came walking in the store. He bought a pound of sausage meat and laid it on the floor. The boy began to whistle, he whistled up a tune. And all the little sausages were dancing round the room. Oh, Mr. Mr. Johnny Rabeck how could you be so mean. We told you you’d be sorry for inventing that machine. Now all the neighbours cats and dogs will never more be seen. They’ll all be ground to sausage meat in Johnny Rabeck’s machine. On day the thing got broken. The darn thing wouldn’t go. So Johnny Rabeck, he climbed inside to see what made it so. His wife, she had a nightmare, while walking in her sleep. She gave the thing a heck of a yank, and Johnny Rabeck was meat. Oh, Mr. Mr. Johnny Rabeck how could you be so mean. We told you you’d be sorry for inventing that machine. Now all the neighbours cats and dogs will never more be seen. They’ll all be ground to sausage meat in Johnny Rabeck’s machine.

I Think back often of my…

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I Think back often of my old friends who I hung out with on 105 street and 1st ave. Choo Choo’s ice cream parlor, Veto-Junior-Bulletthead-Mikey Sonny-Louie-Donnie I could go on and on with names of friends I think of often. I miss them and wish them the best that life can offer them. E.Mail

I came to this site, hoping…

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I came to this site, hoping to find the first line to a verse — someone typed it here, but the first line is still missing. ?? something-something-something-something ?? I met my boyfriend at the candy store. He bought me ice-cream, he bought me cake, he brought me home with a belly-ache. Mamma, Mamma, I’m so sick. Call the doctor – quick, quick, quick. Doctor, Doctor, will I die? Count to five and you’ll be alive. 1-2-3-4-5. I’m alive. 6-7-8-9-10. I’m dead again. But the missing first line is driving me crazy. Here’s a game we’d play where you would do these things actions to another person (on the back, or head, or whatever) and try to almost hypnotize them. Concentrate, concentrate, concentrate on what I’m saying. People are dying, little boys are crying, concentrate. Concentrate on what I’m saying. Crack an egg on your head and let the yolk spill down, let the yolk spill down, let the yolk spill down. Concentrate, concentrate, concentrate on what I’m saying. People are dying…. Stick a knife in your back and let the blood run down, let the blood run down, let the blood run down. Concentrate, concentrate, concentrate on what I’m saying. People are dying…. There were other versus too — but at the end you would sing: Put a rope around your neck and pull it, pull it. And, if the person was truly concentrating through the whole thing, they would subconsciously lean back when you were pretending to pull the rope. Now that I think about it — it’s a really morbid game.

There was a new girl in…

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There was a new girl in town (Lower East Side) that I’d welcomed into my fold of homegirls. When I returned from a short trip to Europe, my recent boyfriend informed me that one of my friends showed up on his fire escape at 3 a.m, the very night I left for the airport. He didn’t know her name but the description was enough. Her name was Helena, we used to call her “hell raisin’Helena”. After being hurt and then totally pissed, I went to the “watering Hole” that we young adults played pool at nightly. I told all of my friends of Helena’s indescretion and I informed her that I was as good-looking if not more so than she. She had a little boyfriend and I approached him. I asked him, that knowing now what kind of person Helena was, climbing a guy’s fire escape in the dead of night like some desperate “alley cat”, wouldn’t he rather be with someone more chaste like me? I told her in front of everyone that I can take any man she had because unlike her, my hair my nails, my eyes and everything about me was real. And I wasn’t so needy of attention. I never had a problem out of her after that, she left the neighborhood. What a verbal cat fight we had. The guys were lovin’ every moment.

We used to play a game in…

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We used to play a game in the i950’s in charleston s.c. and we called it half rubber or half ball. we didn’t know anything about pensie pinkey’s or spaldeen’s we would take any kind of solid rubber ball and cut it in half. Man, what a fun game, it was played on the order of baseball but no running to the bases. Has any one out ther ever played this game? If interested I can give you all the rules.

I wanted to drop you a line…

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I wanted to drop you a line and say how impressed I was with this web site. I know that it takes a lot of patience and perseverance. My hat is off to all who helped put this site together. I AM the Gringo that played in many of your tournaments since 1983. I Am a native New Yorker from Brooklyn and played with the Miami Sharks. I always felt comfortable and enjoyed the hospitality that New York has shown me and my family. I wanted to share my memories and web site with you. If you any suggestions and can help with promoting this lost game here in Miami, please don’t hesitate to contact me. WWW.STICKBALL.NET Ted Wozny 305-688-7464

I remember some of the levels…

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I remember some of the levels involved in Chinese Jumprope… Onsies, (regular- in, out, side, by side, on the ropes, in the middle, out. Joggies- same moves as above, but with a little jog step. Twisties-always the same basic moves, but twisting on each jump. Froggies-Jumping the moves in a frog-like position. Diamonds-crossing the ropes with your feet, and completing the moves. Groundies-touching the floor with one hand-with each jump. Blindes-doing the onsies with your eyes closed. Widsies-The ropes are spread really wide apart by the enders, and the jumper does the onsies. Skinnies-the enders use only one foot to hold the rope. Kneesies-the rope is moved up to the knees by the enders. We did the over twenty years ago, but this is what I could piece together for my daughter so she could enjoy the game. Hey, it works for her!