Category Archives: Bronx

I “invented” the glass bottle…

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

I “invented” the glass bottle cap described in earlier messages (i.e. the glass ring at the lip of a bottle which can be broken off if scraped just right over a sewer cover) Actually, it was discovered by accident, but as soon as we saw the glass ring we knew it would be perfect for Skully. This amazing discovery occurred on Walton Ave. in the Bronx circa 1965. Of course, it is possible that others developed this technology independently. Does anyone recall seeing a glass bottle cap in use pre-’65?

did anyone else have trouble…

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

did anyone else have trouble getting the parkie to open up and hand out the balls and other equipment (checkers and stuff like that)? there used to be 2-3 parkies in the house who would be playing cards and wouldn’t open up unless you got a mom to go over. our park was not too close so we didn’t go very often. we had see saws (see saw margery daw), sliding ponds (i’d forgotten that term!), monkey bars (wish they were still around), a ‘pool’ (just a bunch of sprinklers in a recessed area. the only way you got a ‘pool’ out of it was to plug the drains with tissues), skully board (bottle caps), sand pile and a big grassy area. it was up the hill from ps11. can’t remember the street name but the carmelite convent was up there, too. (da bronx) we did the swing tricks, too. one standing, one sitting, ducking under, standing up for maximum ‘pump’. would we kill our kids for doing this now? thanks for the memories!!!

hi! another highbridger…

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

hi! another highbridger checking in. i went to sacred heart and moved ‘upstate’ after 8th grade. anyone out there remember the ‘board’ and rules for bottle caps? you had to shoot your bottle cap from box to box and try to keep your opponents from doing the same. want to teach my nephew who will never know the joys of street games! 1360 ogden ave. where are the rest of you???

We always used Spaldeens…

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

We always used Spaldeens in the Bronx– One day, Willie’s candy store had Pennyslvania Pinkies for sale — no spaldeens! We bought one to play SLUG with — it was horrible. Later we did the Spaldeen/PP test — droppping them both to the ground at the same time. Spaldeen won — it just had that extra zip to it!

My mother in law grew up…

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

My mother in law grew up in the Bronx and sings a song like that to my daughter. She used to sing it while jumping rope- “A my name is Anna, I come from Alabama & I eat apples”. You’d then continue through the entire alphabet…X must’ve been a hard one!

My name is Charles Petersil….

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

My name is Charles Petersil. I grew up in the Bronx, in an area called Highbridge. I was called Husky as a kid. I played stickball on a regular basis on Nelson Avenue, and I used to hit three sewers. I also belonged to a group known as the Satanic Dukes. If anybody remembers me, send an e-mail to me at jcpetersil [at] worldnet [dot] att [dot] net.

I grew up in Queens. My…

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

I grew up in Queens. My mom, who was from the Bronx, taught us a great game called Sardines. It was the opposite of hide and go seek. The person who was “it” would go out and hide somewhere. Everyone else counted to 50 or whatever, and when time was up, we all went out in separate directions and tried to find the person who was hiding, and when you found the person, you hid with them until everyone eventually is there hiding. The last person to find the group is “it” next. The name of the game makes more sense if the person who is “it” hides in a phone booth or something. Eventually everyone is packed in like a can of sardines!

We used to play stickball…

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

We used to play stickball all the time at ps85 schoolyard on Webster Ave. and 187 st.in the Bronx Most of the time we did’nt use any gloves but we made some pretty spectactular catches with our bare hands.There was one occasion I will never forget,this one day we were playing in the street at 182 st.We were getting a game together and we kept asking this guy (Ithink his name was Red) if he wanted to play. He said no thanks because he usually would end up breaking the ball. Well we all thought he was bragging and we finnally got him to play.When it was his turn to bat,he tossed the ball in the air and swung at the ball so hard and you guessed it he broke the ball in half. My mouth dropped in awe,Ihave never seen anything like that happen before or sinse.