Category Archives: Hopscotch
THE RUBBER HEEL WAS THE…
THE RUBBER HEEL WAS THE BEST THING TO USE. HOW I LOVED THAT GAME. I AM 60 YEARS YOUNG AND MY NAME IS LINDA. I PLAYED IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE AT 1537 EAST 7TH STREET BROOKLYN
We used rubber heels if…
I remember especially liking…
I remember especially liking to throw the chain kind of key chain. They didn’t bounce too much, they kind of slid into place. There were times throwing to the high numbers that all the keys would fly off because the chain would open. Did your hopscotch board have a rounded part on top that you would reach for the thing you threw with your back turned? You hoped it landed in the center so that you wouldn’t touch any lines and be disqualified.
We threw anything we could…
We threw anything we could get our hands on. I loved this game growing up on the Lower East Side because you didn’t need to find a playground that already had a hopscotch “board”. Anyone who wanted to play would just go to the store and get a piece of chalk and draw right on the ground. We used bottle caps (when we weren’t playing skully with them), rocks, even pieces of glass in a pinch. – webdiva
That double dutch was not…
That double dutch was not so easy to jump – maybe it is just a coordination issue, because I remember girls complaining about the way I turned the ropes too – back to the ball bouncing – I was really clutsy at that one too and was quickly too embarassed to even try. Hopscotch became my game of choice very quickly.
What kinds of things did…
I remember potsy. In Woodhaven,…
I remember potsy. In Woodhaven, Queens – the game was hop scotch but the peice we played with was called a potsy. We made them by letting trucks and cars run over peice of metal. It was a treasure and you never let anyone get your potsy.
Hey, what about us girls??…
Hey, what about us girls?? You guys may consider our games wimpy, but we hung out and played on the streets and stoops too! My memories are hazy and I haven’t thought about those days lately, so I can only provide titles and brief descriptions — perhaps it will jog someone else’s memory: I moved away from Brooklyn when I was 7, so I played the following at a tender age: 1. Red Light, Green Light, One Two Three 2. Giant Steps 3. Statues I can’t recall, though, just what these games entailed! Anyone remember? Of course, our basic sidewalk game was Potsy. Although it is generally known as Hopscotch, in Borough Park, Brooklyn it was always Potsy. And it was still Potsy when we moved to Old Bethpage, Long Island (of course, many suburbanites had emigrated to Long Island from Brooklyn…) Girls were into Spalding balls too. We bounced ’em off stoops and against walls, and of course did the classic “A, my name is Alice, and my husband’s name is Andy, we come from Atlanta and we sell anchovies…” You were supposed to go through the whole alphabet, but I don’t think I ever did. And now, a confession: there were times when I could be the annoying kid sister: Sometimes when my older brother played stickball or wiffle ball in the backyard with his friends, if I felt mischievious, I’d skip across their playing field, calling out in a sing-song voice, “Interference! Interference!”
Good games, Red Light Green…
Good games, Red Light Green Light and Red Rover. And I was a hopscotch expert. Remember kickball? We played it at school, especially the girls, who were not as good as the boys at softball. Then when we were at home, in the absence of a team for kickball, my brother and I used to play “Kick the Ball Over the House”. I’m not sure how many windows we broke (at least one, I’m sure), and it was murder on the roof shingles and yard plants. What fun memories.