Category Archives: Manhattan
The Stickball Classic is…
I grew up on the lower east…
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I grew up on the lower east side of Manhattan in the late 50’s early 60’s. I am sure we called the game SKELLZIE. Our day would start off with a visit to the A&P on Bleecker and Leroy st. There we would, err……… borrow a cap from a Prell shampoo bottle, (it was plastic and tappered from top to bottom). It held lots of wax and your favorite, lucky penny. We would then go to the public park on Carmine street and play the game. The guy that worked for the parks deptartment, Rocky, was good enough to paint a Skellzie board on the ground for us. As I can remember, Rocky was a great guy always willing to do things for the kids in the neighborhood. I can’t remember the size of the board, although I’m sure what seemed very large back then probably wasn’t so. I don’t think the board could have been much more than 5’X 9′. When we tired of playing the game we would play Buck-Buck, Box Ball, Stoop Ball, and maybe if it was hot enough go for a swim in the Hudson. Things have certainly changed in 40 years, oh well! Any way, looking forward to seeing the final version of the Skellzie board. Keep the faith. Mike
Growing up at Inwood Hill…
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Growing up at Inwood Hill Park, at 204th and Vermylea, the king of all bikes was the Ross Apollo 3 speed; courtesy of Wonderama. We had our share of Stingrays and Crates, but the Ross Apollo had the neat frame, the 3 speed shifter, the slick tires, it was the bike with the mean looks! Add baseball cards to the spokes, the high sissy bar with leather tool pouch, a dogbone wrench,and a Screecher( that thing on the handlebar post with the crank that made that screeching noise;;see Pee Wee’s Big adventure, the bike used there has one!)and you were king of the block!
I grew up in Greenpoint…
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I grew up in Greenpoint Brooklyn on Manhattan Ave. I was making my communion in May of ’61. Before we went to church my buddies Kevin and Rob were on India Street playing stickball. There was still an hour before we had to leave, so I snuck out of the apartment while my mother wasn’t looking. I didn’t have time to change out of my suit. We were winning by 1 run until I tripped on my way to second, and shredded the knees right off my communion pants. I had ten minutes before I had to be at St. Cyril’s to make my communion so I rushed home, picturing my mothers angry expression when she’d see my torn suit. My mother was furios, but we got to church only a couple minutes late.
I can definitely relate…
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I can definitely relate to the “search for the roller skate key” scenario! There were five of us at home (not counting my mother), so we never knew who had it last or where they put it. I loved skating so much on the Lower East Side that I did it well into my adult years when I moved to Brooklyn at the Empire Roller Skating Rink and the Park Circle Roller Skating Rink, dancing to the music on my skates! I think I stopped going when I was around 35. Don’t ask me about roller blades — I put those things on once a few years ago — one ankle went in, the other went out — I took them off and haven’t been skating since. – webdiva
Thanks to all who posted…
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Thanks to all who posted — NOW I know what this game was about! Kids who were a little older (faster? smarter?) played this game on the Lower East Side when I was about 8 or 9 (36 years ago), and I remember mostly the guys yelling, “Ringolevio, caught, caught, caught, caught!!” I wondered what the heck was going on, but they thought I was too young to play so I never knew much about this game — until now. – webdiva
SORRY it took me so long…
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SORRY it took me so long to get back here! I lived in the projects in a building right near the corner of Houston Street and FDR Drive. The thing I loved most about the Essex Street Market was that there were so many buildings and so many different sections selling everything from soup to nuts. When I was in high school (Seward Park on Grand Street), I used to buy vanilla sandwich cookies from one of the vendors at Essex Street almost every day on my way home from school… – webdiva
Born in Brooklyn in 1959…
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Born in Brooklyn in 1959 and grew up in Sheepshead Bay around Ocean Parkway between Y & Z (Manhattan Court). I moved to Rochester, NY in 1980 after graduating from college to work for Eastman Kodak. I am 39 now with two kids and my boy is 9 years old. We where home (I still call Brooklyn home) this weekend and I played stickball with my son. The school yard (PS 209) I used to play in is under some kind of destruction/construction so this was just an introduction. It was great to be out there again. Can’t wait until I get my hands on a Spalding though. Pensee-pinkie’s where better. The Spalding’s used to crack in half. I still have my stickball bat from the 70’s so I remembered to bring that along. Remember how many sneakers we used to go through because the toes would be gone from pitching. I remember begging my Mom to buy me PUMA’s when they first came out. I never liked those heavy ADIDA’s. They where $20.00 back 25 years ago. After our little stick ball game I introduced him to PUNCH BALL. We then went home and played “HIT THE PENNY”, “5 boxes”, and “Box Tennis”. I even had a chance to grab a Nathan’s frankfurter and a BAG of fries in Coney Island. I think they still use the same grease for the fries.
As a 42 year old parent…
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As a 42 year old parent one thing i never hear anymore kids calling each other out. What i mean is one or more kids standing just outside the front walk or back gate of a friends house singing out their name with a high note for the first syllable and first part of the second then dropping low. Nice and loud until some response from the home was achieved. Kids with 1 syllable names were made to sound like two. Either the kid came or some one would yell back. Boy you were gauranteed a reponse if you had three or more singin it out. Sometimes from a neighbor telling you to shut up! This was the lower east side of Detroit with most of the kids being 1st or 2nd generation American with the parents or grandparents being born in Europe. I don’t know if it was fear of who you would get anwering the door or what. But it was pretty common and something my kids would never do today!