We played a variant of Deadbox in Feltonville (4500 Hurley near D & Whitaker) where the numbered boxes went from 1 to 16. The 14,14,15,16 boxes were long and narrow, and arranged along the four sides of the deadbox. I’ve got the board memorized and can supply a diagram. Jim – dtvjho-dead [at] emailias [dot] com
I grew up in Long Island City, Queens in the Ravenswood Projects 1960’s. We played “skezie” religiously every day in the summer and after school. I have vivid memories of playing the game with my friends. I had patches on patches on my dungarees. We used beer or soda caps mostly and we didn’t have twist off’s back then. I remember melting crayola crayons into the bottle cap as we tried to come up with what we thought were cool designs. A few of the kids would use heinz ketchup bottle caps or baby food jar lids – we called those kids fagots. The kids across the street called the game skully. I have taught my 11 year old twins to play the game – but they just don’t appreciate it.
I grew up on Gerard Ave. in the Bronx in the late 50’s and early 60’s, one block from the Stadium. We used to play stickball from sewer to sewer by bouncing and hitting or by pitching to the box on the door to the garage for the Bronx County Courthouse. Best game was sewer ball using the manhole covers at the corner of 157th St and Gerard Ave. Home, first, second and third. 4 infielders and sometimes one outfielder. Put the wire trash can lying down across the sewer behind 2nd base. Still lost many balls down that sewer. A really great time! Jeff
ANYONE HERE REMEMBER THE YARD? RIGHT BY THE 4 TOWERS IN QUEENS BETWEEN MARATHON PARKWAY AND LILLTE NECK PARKWAY? THE TOWN WAS CALLED DEEPDALE/BEECH HILLS. TO THIS DAY WE STILL FIGHT ABOUT WHICH SPOT HAD THE BEST LOOKING BABES. FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DON’T KNOW THERE IS A WEBSITE. IT’S AT WWW.BEECHHILLS.HOMESTEAD.COM/ IF ANYONE REMEMBERS THE YARD TAKE A LOOK AT THE WEBSITE. YOU WILL SEE FACES YOU HAVEN’T SEEN IN 40 YEARS. DENNIS GORME
VannyPoo is right – I grew up in Park Slope Brooklyn in the 60’s and we called it skelsies. I now live in Grand Rapids, Michigan and was trying to explain the game to some of my co-workers. I had to send them this link – they thought I was making it up. Wait til I explain Hot Peas and Butter and Buck Buck…
I was from the area of simpson and westchester avenue.in the 50s we played all the city games talked to all the girls and busted out those doo-op songs in every hallway every night. The popular songs were oh what a night, maybe,the wind, shout, tears on my pillow, i only have eyes for you, why do fools fall in love etc. Then we went on to salsa dancing at the tritons, hunts point palace, cuban club, tropicoro, international, yorkville casino, manhattan center, the corso, cheetah,the 3101/2, the shay jose, the gallery,terrace gardens, embassy ballroom etc. The boys on the block were manny, cookie, pucho, lefty,louie, fingers julio, tito flat top, frenchie, chickie, joe nose, thurman, mr. lee, lil diaz etc. some people talk about bad childhoods but I thank God for growing up in the Bronx. A lot of good memories a lot of good friends. Hopefully people pass on this sight to others so that we can start to find old friends through their stories. I am a young 63 that is a prime example of a city boy who now lives in the country.I went to ps 20 then to jhs 40
Up on simpson street in the bronx we hung out on the rooftops. We would plug in a record player to the hall light and dance on the sticky tar.Sometimes we would climb down to the street via the firescape and many times that top ladder to the roof was ajar from the building and shook enough to send us tumbling to the street below if we did not watch it. On the way down,being Puerto Rican neighborhood we would have to jump over jugs of a formenting drink called mavi.Each landing had a different aroma of pork chops, pastelillos, rice and beans and fried chicken. We would reach the bottom of the back yard starving and we had to be quick because there always was a mean dirty dog named buster waiting to bite someone. We would then go out to the street and play kick the can.ringolivio, stickball, marbles, johnny on the pony, skully or hitch on the back of trucks that we leave us somewhere in long island.A typical day back in the fifties.we had mucho fun.
Fireworks…by the middle of the afternoon in my neighborhood on Staten Island, South Beach projects you couldn’t even see the smoke was so thick and fireworks were illegal!!!! Actually the fireworks for the 4th usually started going off around June 20th (right after we got out of school) and we’d see all the people coming up from the South (where fireworks were legal) opening up their trunks and selling fireworks to anyone who had money…one summer we bought a mat of firecrackers (144 packs)…I was so tired of them after that!! Blue Angels always few at South Beach every 4th of July and you could see them from the roof of our projects…1976 4th of July was awesome…one of the best other than 1986 when the Statue of Liberty reopened after being renovated…one million people in downtown Manhattan…if you were claustrophobic you would have died! Bud beer being sold out of garbage pails in Chinatown…what a city! I live in California now and would never move back but my childhood was the absolute best! maryfinn
I remember playing suicide,you throw a pimple ball against the wall if it was caught in the air you have to run and touch the wall,the person who caught it tried to hit you with the ball before you touch the wall.If the person catching the ball dropped it then he would have to tag the wall.Aso a game called ass ball.It was like chink but you spell ASS if you did you had to lean against the wall while the other players got one throw at you.