Category Archives: Brooklyn
I grew up in Cobble Hill…
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I grew up in Cobble Hill Brooklyn in the 70’s. My Dad still lives there – he calls it God’s Country. Anyway, We called it Coco-leavio. Later as we got older, it turned into Manhunt. I remember my friend Lee ‘teaching’ me how to ‘blend in’ with the cars, so as not to be seen. That was a good time.
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 am a 23 year old member…
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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!!
The program on WNYC brought…
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The program on WNYC brought back many memories of Brooklyn, Quentin Road > between West 4th and 5th street. We played all the games you mentioned and > some variants. Playing Association with a rolled up Daily News or Mirror > for a football or square or triangle using a spaldeen. The dificulty with > square was that Mrs. Deutch had a window between second and third and we > had to avoid a tag as well as the water she threw at us. > We also played Chinese handball both with our hands and and our FEET. We > also had a novel form of stoop ball. It was played on Mr Bock’s “stoop” > with a spaldeen and invisible runners. The stoop was not steps but a > “correctly” slanted wall surrounding his lawn. Mr. Bock was also an a > constant thorn in our side by calling the police. > During WWII we play “Commando Tactics”. At dark we would meet and find a > route thru the yards of a neighborhood. It was more than once people in > their homes would come out to see who was there. It was a miracle that we > had no ‘wounded”. > Thanks for the memories!! >
We use to play a game called…
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We use to play a game called “Red Rover”. It was played with boys and girls. The player would make a line and join hands. The player in the line would call”red rover, red rover, we call ___ over.” The player called(not in the line) would run up and try to brake the line. Your arms would hurt for days. This was in Brooklyn in the mid 70s.
From Goldy (my street name)…
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From Goldy (my street name) Back in the forties in Brownsville in Brooklyn, we made our own scooter. We would get a crate from the fruit and vegetable store, a 2×4 was nailed to it and half a skate, one in front and one in the back nailed to the 2×4. If we could, we would make handlebars from 2 pieces of wood nailed in a “v” shape on top of the crate. We would then decorate the front of the crate with bottle caps. We could run errands for grandma by putting packages inside the crate. That was all we could afford for transportation.
In Bensonhurst Brooklyn…
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In Bensonhurst Brooklyn in the late 60s and early 70s we evolved our bottle caps from the traditional wax(or crayon) and penny filled ones to using medicine caps (pre childproof)filled with pennies and clay. We found that you could get a much faster smoother slide with better accuracy for longer shots. Has anyone used this type of cap?
I remember spending many…
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I remember spending many a summer playing in Brooklyn near the “safety zone” between Amersfort Place and E. 27th (?) Street near Brooklyn College. The “big boys” painted at least one, and possibly more, boards in the street on that bend – now, if anyone knows that neighborhood you can imagine how many times we had to get up to let cars pass in their search for the elusive thing known as a “parking spot” near the college. One thing no one else has mentioned is the sodder cap. We evlolved from empty caps to wax ones (I can still hear my mom yelling at me for using her good candles) to wax and penny ones and finally – the ultimate – sodder! What a blast you could get from that!
Who remembers Washington…
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Who remembers Washington Baths at Coney, and Bay 15 and 16? I had a friend whose mother nursed the mother of George Tilyou who owned Steeplechase. As a result we would get passes to the park often that entitled us to 12 rides. I was about 11 years old when my friend coaxed me onto the parachute ride one summer night. After the first couple of rides up and down, I got over my fear and rode all night until the park closed.