Category Archives: Locales

I’ve been reading this site…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
[e-mail]"; } ?>
 

I’ve been reading this site for about an hour. There is no doubt that he Spaldeen was/is the ball of choice for Brooklynites in Bensonhurst. I haven’t seen anyone discuss the importance of buying a ball with a lot of powder on it because it broke much better when you threw a “coive” ball. On another subject, I can’t believe how many people have never heard of a “Johnny Pump.” Does any know the origin of this word.

Chinese Double-dutch. Any…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
[e-mail]"; } ?>
 

Chinese Double-dutch. Any girls remember that? It was played at all the great melting pot schools in the working class areas…which is pretty much Brooklyn personified. My area was Ditmas Junior High (IS 62). And Chinese double-ddutch is a game played with two girls standing on either end, but instead of holding clothes line rope they’re inside of a long chain-link of sturdy rubberbands. The jumper must negotiate complex “Twister-like” contortions with torso and legs and always be able to jump outside of the rubber bands, both legs free and clear.For lunch a big mixture of kids would flock together to varying restaurants to eat anything from Kasha Varnishkas (spelled right?) Pizza, tandoori chicken, egg rolls, canolli… you have it. We even traded bagged lunches. My pastrami for your fried chicken… it always worked out. This was a cultural exchange between the Asian and the African sisters back in the early 70’s, where we found common ground despite the odds. Some of those kids I’ve seen through life in Paris, Frisco, and Miami. It’s a small big world in Brooklyn. PS: I found out the game was Skully, not Skelly… thanks.

Although it’s been many…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
[e-mail]"; } ?>
 

Although it’s been many years since NY was my home, I’m originally from the Bed-Stuy area of Brooklyn, but I went to school in Manhattan Beach’s PS 195. My best friend’s name was Randy, and she lived in a mansion with a yacht(I never knew we had them in urban NY), and she had 5 black maids. This amazed me because my grandmother was a black maid. I treated them all with the utmost respect. Randy and I were inseperable and I miss her and wish I could remember her last name. I left 6th grade with a 12.9 grade reading level thanks to my laid-back early 1970’s hippy teachers. That was a great school. In Bed-Stuy we played games like Skelly, where you used the plastic top of a milk jug filled with wax and flushed even by sidewalk scraping. Does anyone remember this game or what a skelly court looked like? I’d like to make one for my son.

I’m looking for information…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
[e-mail]"; } ?>
 

I’m looking for information anyone may have on Greenfield’s Pickles on the Lower East Side of NY in the 1920’s – 1940’s. Any and all remembrances, pictures, etc. are welcome. I’m trying to put together a retrospective for the owner’s son’s 70th birthday. I appreciate any help. I can also be reached by e-mail at maria_0121 [at] yahoo [dot] com. Thanks.

Hello from Southwest Philly!I…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
[e-mail]"; } ?>
 

Hello from Southwest Philly!I would just like to add to John (from Red Hook) comment’s on Dec.17,1999.I think the game he is describing is close to what we in Philly call boxball.However the ball he describes-the ” pimple-ball” was the ONLY ball we used for ALL our games.Once it broke it was used for half- ball.We recently play a reunion boxball game and because the “pimple-ball”is no longer manufactured we had to use a ball close to a spaldeen.John is right, the spaldeen is smaller and livlier than the old “pimple-ball” and it resulted in a lot “errors” by the old guys.Just want to say how much I enjoy reading the old stories folks share in this website.It was great being raised in the city(any city) wasn’t it?

I hung out on 53rd street…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
[e-mail]"; } ?>
 

I hung out on 53rd street & 4th avenue . We had a crowd of about 35 . This is back in the 50s.Anyone remember Helberg’s ice cream parlor,Abes lunchenette ,coliseum bar ? They where all at that corner . I remember sunset pool,Bay Ridge Roller Rink , St. Rocco’s, Olph , dance’s on friday night’s.Standing on the corner with a bunch of guy’s listening to Alan Freed’s rock n roll music . Boy those where the day’s.

Isn’t the internet great…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
[e-mail]"; } ?>
 

Isn’t the internet great ?? My buddy and I were playing with his two year old daughter in Florida and asked his wife what she called a “slide” when she was young. My friend and I are from New Jersey and our parents grew up in the Bronx & Brooklyn. We always called it a “sliding pond” (although I must confess, I always thought that the word was “pon” … because everyone knows that a “pond” is water, y’know, like a lake)Anyway, his wife is from Maryland and never heard of a sliding pond. We immediately hit the ‘net & BINGO…..we knew that we were not alone. It’s a SLIDING POND !!! My lasting memory is the metal stairs with the name of the manufacturer in Litchfield, Michigan (I think). Litchfield is kinda like a name I know, so it stuck with me. Sliding ponds do burn your ass, though…..so give me a new water slide anyday now !!!!

in the bensonhurst section…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
[e-mail]"; } ?>
 

in the bensonhurst section of brooklyn in and around seth low jhs, stoop ball was played as described,and a different game when the street was clear and we could really blast the ball, we played single,double , triple…but stoop ball was king, one bounce 5 pts, on a fly ten, pointer 100, and we had a stoop that if u hit the pointer above the top step, which was really the door sill on the top step, it was maybe 1 inch high, so if u hit it just right…500 points, but if you were just a hair high on it, u would hit the door, and thats an “out”. next person would go.