I’m from Bay Ridge Brooklyn and remember the Spalding being the better/best ball to have and play with. I vaguely remember that if a Spalding ball was not there was an inferior ball we played with and it must have been the “pinkie” ball, but the Spalding was the best and more expensive of the balls to play with.
when I was younger about 10 of my friends and I palayed ARMY we had helmets ,hand granades, guns binoculars and we made all the noise with our mouths ,we would play like playing strutigo or act as if every car comming down the street was the enime. we had a 100 yard football field spraypainted on our street, 22st in brooklyn. we would build human pyramids on the grass , I was the center bottom kid. aaahhhhh memories of growing up in brooklyn.
Hey Bob. Saw your message about playing stickball with fading fuzz tennis balls prior to WWII. I’m a 30’s guy who played in the streets of Jersey City and scattered with the rest when the “Mickey Mouse” popped in. Great times,guys and memories there.I just found this site as I’ve been trying to find a place out here that sells those balls we used so I can infect some grandkids with those old street/school yard games. My recollection is that we used a pinkish ball which I then understood to be manufactured by the companies that manufactured tennis balls. What they purportedly did was stop the process before putting the fuzz on to make our ball. At least that’s what my understanding was. They stopped making them, I was told, in the fifties. I’ve not been able to find anything in the San Diego area yet that is described as a Pensie Pinky or Spaldeen to compare it with what I knew as THE BALL.
I’m a gal who was born & raised in B’klyn.(1953)& lived entirely in Brownsville, ENY for my entire life. You name the street game, I played it, & if it involved a ball, it was a SPAULDING,,(aka as we called it “SPAUL-DEEN”..) & I cant eva recall a “Pensie Pinkie.” There was several balls we called “Flat Balls”..but (maybe pensie pinkies..??) but were quickly replaced if somebody came in with a “Spauldeen”,cause they just didnt have the bounce. Long Live BK, BROWNSVILLE, B.R.C, BETSY HEAD, were we played like no tomorrow.