Category Archives: Locales
In Washington Heights we…
Original author: 100 Bennett Ave
In Washington Heights we used the Spaldeens… don’t remember the pinkys which, based on the discussion here, sound like basically the same sort of ball. We did have a Pink ball that was made of a different material than the spaldeen… it was a foam rubber ball… heavier, lots of bounce, but the grip of the soft rubber foam on the ground made it have “unpredictable” bouncing behaviors. We didn’t use those much, I don’t think, we used the spaldeens. Anyone else remember the Pink foam rubber balls I am refering to?
I grew up in South Philly,…
Original author: mike [e-mail]
I grew up in South Philly, in the 70s/early 80s … I STILL HAVE A PIMPLE BALL !!! I kept it knowing that one day, people all over would be looking for one — wish we could still buy em. I remember learning ‘Chink’ on the corners. We simply called it ‘Chink’ and it was the most simple, fun, yet competitive games ANYWHERE !! We played it on the corner, and we played to 11, or 21 if you played doubles and allowed ‘slams’ – meaning the ball could go PAST the curb and into the street, provided there wasn’t a parked car in front of that curb. My memories from the neighborhood also included: – Halfball (of course) – Handball – Running the Bases – ‘Atlantic City’ — which was a variation of Chink AND Running the Bases – very fun game – Jailbreak (surprised I haven’t seen this mentioned elsewhere – you had teams of people and you had to ‘free’ the person in ‘jail’ — which was someone’s front step – you would grab the railing, yell ‘jailbreak’ and all your teammates could leave jail. If you got caught by the other team, you were ‘dragged’ into jail. We usually had a member from each team ‘guarding’ the jail area!) – Wireball – Stepball – Fastball (a variation of stickball/halfball where you pitched a tennis ball into a ‘strike box’ painted on a wall and played with out and runs rules similar to halfball) – Wall/Suicide (simply throwing the ball against the wall, and having someone catch it – if you missed it you had to run to the wall and touch it and yell ‘Wall/Suicide’ before someone picked up your missed ball and BEANED it at your ass! – Dodge ball (played with the big red ball!) – Street football (we actually had an entire street block spray painted with yard line markers, logos, out of bounds markers, end zones, etc!) I’m sure there were plenty of others but this is all I can think of right now !!!
RICHIE BURKE AND MYSELF…
Original author: RICHIE BURKE [e-mail]
RICHIE BURKE AND MYSELF USED TO BLAST THOSE PENSEY PINKYS OVER BOWNE STREET. THEY WERE MUCH BETTER THAN SPALDING.
When I was young we played…
Original author: shift1010
When I was young we played with a pinkie ball against the wall and we called it Russian handball. Throwing it up and bouncing once, then twice, then clapping once and bounce, then clapping twice and bounce then under you leg against the wall etc.. There was a specific order to do this in and I cannot remember it for the life of me. I am a teacher and want to teach my students this game, but noone seems to know the rules. Anyone out there remember playing this?
I grew up in the Longwood…
Original author: annonymous
I grew up in the Longwood section of the Bronx back in the 70’s and early 80’s. During that time there was no such thing as a “playground” (at least not in that part of The Bronx.) Instead, we had school yards, abandoned lots full of bricks still there from when apartment buildings were knocked down and abandoned buildings. We made the best of what we had and turned everything around us into our own playground. Instead of going to a pool, we soaked ourselves in pump water. Yes, you may see it as poverty, which it was. To me, it is beautiful childhood memories, that I would not trade for anything in the world.
Heck, Spaldeens and other…
Original author: Frank [e-mail]
Heck, Spaldeens and other rubber balls were good only for day games. At night, we used to stuff those waxed milk containers (remember, those now obsolete quart cartons with the pull-up spout for pouring?) with newspapers and use them for balls–but ONLY at night! We’d play stickball on the sidewalk, and home play was right next to the lamppost to give the batters some light. We couldn’t use a rubber ball at night because the fielders had difficulty seeing it, causing the batting team to stay up forever. We’d stuff those milk containers with paper and press down on them until they were the size of a softball. The only problem was that the milk carton didn’t last long from the whacking; and every ten minutes, somebody had to go into a garage can for another one, rip off its top, and stuff it again. Creating new balls for the game was an all night affair. By the ninth inning, the whole sidewalk was littered with milk cartons and newspapers. Oh, well, we kept the janitors and sanitation workers busy anyway.
My name is Don Whelan I…
Original author: donald whelan [e-mail]
My name is Don Whelan I lived at 1419 New York Ave until 1969 when I was 13 years old. I also attended St. Jeromes up until the sixth grade in 1969. I was younger then Bobby Lacourte and Charlie Ambruso but I use to tag along with them and play sports with them. They nicknamed me Quack because Donald Duck had the same first name as me and that’s the noise he makes. We use to play the following sports in the center court of Vanderveer slap and punch ball, hockey, softball. We also use to play stoop ball, scully, johnny on the pony, ring a leaveo, put a coin on the ground and try and hit the coin with a spalding ball and get points. We use to create All Star Baseball leagues from a board game that had a spinner on it. You would place the baseball players round card on the spinner and spin it, I remember a 1 was a home run. I remember during the summer nights our parents sitting in lawn chairs all over the Vanderveer. I remember making go carts out of baby carriage wheels or roller skate wheels and wooden milk cartons. I remember seeing the biggest water bugs walking thru the basements of Vanderveer. Finally when the neighborhood was going bad I remember the cops walking around with german shepards and driving around in scooters. I am now living in N.J. since 1969. These are great memories and a great website. Don Whelan
I grew up in Brooklyn New…
Original author: E. Nieves (snografix1) [e-mail]
I grew up in Brooklyn New York and all we did, for the most part, was play handball. Whether it was the wall at P.S.290, I.S.302, Franklyn K. Lane or High Land Park, We were handball players! I have 5 sisters and we all played and some of us STILL play! It was always the best to step on the court and the guys feel obligated to hit the ball easy because we were females,and when we would swing and slam a roller it was like “Dang”! Handball, WE LOVE IT! Girls can play handball too!
I remember alot of these…
Original author: Alan Laxson [e-mail]
I remember alot of these games. I grew up in North Philly (3rd & Bristol) near Feltonville. We played boxball, stickball, handball, chink ball, and buck buck. I haven’t see many messages on chink ball.The the way we played it you hit the ball either pimple or pink rubber if they didn’t have a pimple ball, against the wall on one bounce. You could juggle the ball three times, but then you had to hit it. You would try to fake your opponent out by pretending to hit it hard, then hit it softly. If he or she missed it, it was worth one point. First one to 5 won. Thanks, for the memories. Al.