Category Archives: Locales

I grew up in the 50’s in…

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I grew up in the 50’s in Brighton, a part of Boston. We played 2 versions of halfball, usually with 2 players per side. There was a wall version where anything off the wall was a hit, depending on height. However, if a fielder caught a line drive or a rebound off the wall, all baserunners were erased. In the street version we hit for distance. Strikes and fouls were outs. Believe it or not, there was a front page story in the Wall St. Journal in 1985 about the summer joys of halfball.(I still have it). It claimed that the game was only played in two cities: Boston and Philadelphia, and the best teams from those areas were about to play the 1985 “World Championship” tournament in a schoolyard in Charlestown, Mass.

And of course there were…

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And of course there were all the infamous places to park. In Northeast Philly, that meant Krewstown (does Stan still love Rosalie Winkler?!) and Shady Lane. For my guy and me, it also meant finding any one of several new housing developments in our area. We’d drive into the up-and-coming complex, head for a dead end street, and watch the car windows fog up. Only problem is– it undid my Curl Free!

..born: bronx maternity…

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..born: bronx maternity hospital (long gone)… ..apts: 571 E 170 / also across from plunge (ie:swimming pool) in Crotona Park… ..transportation: Grandpa, Uncles-Si, Lou, Abe Bernard OR the 3rd Ave “L”… ..schools: nr 170th near “L” & across from plunge (I do not remember what PS# … ..bagels: Grandpa, Uncles-Abe, Paul and Arthur all were bagel bakers in the Bronx (and later Paul in NJ)… ..fun: riding the “L” into Manhattan, the Bronx Zoo, Nathan’s @ Coney Island, Orchard Beach w/Grandpa & family… ..I’m sure that their is more, can anyone jog my memory???

Thanks so very much for…

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Thanks so very much for recording the rules, Hugh. I haven’t played Skully since Jr High, I would guess, which was about 45 years ago. The best Skully piece I ever had was a wooden checker (do they make them any more? All I ever see now are plastic ones) that had a hole in the middle (burned with a soldering iron) which was then filled with molten lead. Bronx Gal

The World’s Fair. Flushing…

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The World’s Fair. Flushing Meadow Park, Queens. It was sooo exciting! My older sister flew in from college, and took me to The World’s Fair for the day. We arrived when the gates were opening, and we left when they were closing. I think we must have seen every exhibit and gone on every ride there! It was exhausting. My favorite ride was “It’s A Small World.” Moving dolls dressed in colorful costumes of every country sang the theme song, as small wooden tourist boats glided slowly through the water. To this day, my sister reminds me how I begged her to take me on that ride three times! o/ It’s a small world after all o/

Wow!! Metal roller skates…

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Wow!! Metal roller skates and roller skate keys worn on a shoelace around my neck. And box scooters, made from nailing the skates to the bottom of a board which also had a large wooden crate nailed to the top front. I’m back in my Brooklyn in the 50s. I’m young again. NOT!! These are such great memories that they make me want to share with my young daughtes. But I haven’t seen metal skates in any yard sale. And scooters gave way to skate boards. And extreme games. And now there’s inline skates. And what is the world coming to?

On the lower east side we…

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On the lower east side we also used to stand on the swings and “pump”. Another thing was to “take someone up” where one would sit and the other one would stand and pump. I was a chicken so I usually was the one sitting, with my eyes closed. We called them sliding ponds too. How about the wooden see-saws?