Category Archives: Bronx

I guess I will be considered…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
[e-mail]"; } ?>
 

I guess I will be considered the “old fogey” compared to those who have submitted their messages here. I found this site by accident and read all the letters posted here. I was born Oct 24,1921 in the very old original Bronx Hospital on corner Fulton and 169th St. It originally was a beer brewers mansion. Lived at 813 E 170th St (which does not exist anymore) around the corner from the Loews Boston Road Theatre. Schools: PS40, PS61, PS98, Morris H. S. The Bronx will always remain the great passion of my life. The memories that have been stated by others here are equal to mine. Its not easy to erase the past when it was the best time of our lives. and I grew up during the depression whose only silver lining was that folks had more respect and showed more kindest to each other. That we had less is the reason we created those great games like stickball, stoopball, johnny on a pony, kick the can, hide-go-seek, even potsie, I played that too. Nice talking to “ya old Bronxsites” and thanks for the memories Max

I remember these huge acorn…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
[e-mail]"; } ?>
 

I remember these huge acorn trees that circled my old elementry school, (p.s. 105, Bronx), my sister and I would collect all the acorns on the floor, we had bags and bags full. Than we would go to war with the boys who lived on our block. That’ll teach them not to put hair removal cream on the eggs that they would throw at us on Halloween. Anybody ever play asses up? Well, if you dropped the ball, you better run to the wall because if someone threw it faster than you could run you get a letter, and if you got all 3 letters, everyone got a chance to throw the ball at your ass. OOUUCCHH!!!!

Hi to all: I grew up…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
[e-mail]"; } ?>
 

Hi to all: I grew up in the East Bronx on Hoe Avenue & 173rd Street in the early 50’s. My friends and I treasured the experience of playing stickball. You guessed right. We dismantled a sturdy mop (usually found on the closest fire escape), together with a Spaldeen(usually a high bouncer)we were then prepared for the choosing up of sides. If I remember correctly on our shoestring budget we weren’t too choosey as to what we really used. It was great fun full of memories.

I grew up in the West Bronx.University…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
[e-mail]"; } ?>
 

I grew up in the West Bronx.University Avenue and Tremont Avnue from 1941-1955. I went to PS 26 and then onto JHS 82′ Macombs JHS. I remember the long trip every day to De Witt Clinton H.S. in the North Bronx. taking 2 busses.the first to Ft. Independence and then chaging to go onto Clinton by the reservoir. I had a great growing up in the Bronx and wouldnt change it for anything. Playing ball and playing in the snow on the Aquaduct right across from my bldg’ 1865 University Avenue. I remember the Park Plaza Theater every Saturday morning for the serials and movies all day long. I remember the NYU campus and “chickee” the cop and the Hall of Fame. Sunday morning bagels and “a rye sliced without seeds”. I also remember the Paradise theater where you took that “special” date to and across the street to Krums Ice Cream Parlor. The stars above at the Paradise and the drifting clouds were mysical to me. So many great memories that I cant begin to enumerate here.

I grew up playing stickball…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
[e-mail]"; } ?>
 

I grew up playing stickball in the bronx. I bought my bats at the sports store right at the 242nd street station. We played a great games with simple rules: Fast Pitch (balls and strikes like baseball) Strike zone drawn on a wall – from the shortest mans knees to the tallest mans numbers and as wide as the broadest man. We played on a very narrow field. about 40 degrees between the lines. The outfield wall was about 200 feet away and about 10 feet tall. Three outs an inning. Any ground ball fielded by the pitcher before the mound (except weak hits) were outs. Any fly or line drive cought was an out. Ground ball past the pitcher was a single. Liner or po that landed in front of the outfield was a double. Off the wall was a triple. Over the wall … gone! Ghost runners would advance on every hit – they did not need to be forced. A double scored a man from second even if no one was on first. And we developed as many rule as possible to make the game as much like baseball as possible. A foul tip strike three was an out if it hit the zone. With a runner on third you could tag up on a fly to the outfield, the runner scored if the outfield did not throw a strike from wherever he cought it. A wild pitch was a pitch that hit the window on the wall with the strike zone. etc… These were the rule that we spent days playing by and making up. They made for a great way to spend summer afternoons. Thanks

I’m from “Da Bronx.” We…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
[e-mail]"; } ?>
 

I’m from “Da Bronx.” We lived at 500 Trinity Avenue, directly across the street from Saint Mary’s Park in the 50s and 60s. This is close to 149th Street and Jackson Avenue. I attended St. Anselm’s Catholic School until 1968 when my family moved to Miami, Florida. I have great memories of all these games, especially skellies, king queen and ringolevio. I often think of the other kids who grew up in my neighborhood. We’re all in our 40s now.

I am a 23 year old member…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
[e-mail]"; } ?>
 

I am a 23 year old member of the United States Air Force, and I am from New York. While “surfing the net”, I happened to come across your website. For years, i thought I was the only person who might remember “skelsies”. I used to love this game when I was younger!!!!! I have tried to explain this game to my friends, and they look at me like i’m crazy. Skelsies is by far the greatest street game of all time. I’m glad to see that the older crowd is teaching the younger kids about this game at the Brooklyn festival of ’99. Maybe one day I can get some formidable competition.(HA!) Here’s an addition to your list of tops to use: When i was coming up we would the hold portion of a meat tenderizer shaker. They are so skinny and flat that it was easy to fly over the top of them if your top was not weighted down. They also glided well also. Another popular one was the Kodak film cap. These gray tops had a section in the middle where we would put our clay to weigh the tops down. In my area, in the Bronx, these tops were known lovingly as the “meaty” and the “Kodak” respectively. Keep up the good work and don’t let “skelsies” die!!