Category Archives: Philadelphia

Hi Marc…this is super!!!!!!!…

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Hi Marc…this is super!!!!!!! I remember Chink ball..played at every corner store in Feltonville where there was a ” Jewish ” candy or variety store, and the drug stores wall with light buff colored brick were not exempt either. We used to be ” chased ” by Muchnick, Mr. Gold, Lenny’s food market and even the Smylie Rd shoe repair man. It was a great way to spend an evening! Now here were the rules…you had to show up in a white tee shirt, and not the athletic ones either or you couldn’t play. You pitched a penny against the wall to find out who would serve first and keep score!! That was important. One bounce of the pimple ball which was sold for 9 cents by the store owner ( the corner) where you got chased was shared by all players. One bounce was the rule and if the ball jumped the wall and went onto a lawn, you lost 2 points! The game was played with and open palm to smack the ball, almost like tennis or racket ball Well we invented ” Jewish Chink ” —My family was the Ponnock Toy company and we were privy to have the old paddle and ball…A wooden paddle and a long rubber band attached to the ball manufactured inside and connected to paddle with a staple. I cut the rubber band and brought two paddles with me to Muchnicks’ in the early 1960’s and we had fun! We called ourselves the Pennway Paddle Club. When the pimple ball went flat from us really abusing it, we held off from immediately cutting it into ” halfies ” and ran around playing ” paddle Tag” So much fun!!! thanks marc.. this is great

This is too cool. My boys…

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This is too cool. My boys were whining there’s nothing to do outside…so it was time to teach them “bottlecaps” as we called it in NE Philly (circa mid-70s). I couldn’t remember all the rules, called my sister and brother, both not home, and started surfing. What a great site! We played a variation with a deadbox in the center. We only used bottlecaps(soda or beer), as is…no wax or anything to weigh them down. We had other/different rules (like if your cap got run over by a car, you advanced a box – 2 boxes if both tires nailed you.) We used “head for the hills” instead of “out of town”. We used to kick a player’s cap down the street, but I can’t remember why. You could also “cuff” your cap into a box if you were within a certain distance of the box, a foot length, I think. (I know…Baby s@*^!) I wish I could remember them all…we played this game for hours, every day, until mom was yelling at us to come in. If anyone remembers this version, feel free to email me. Thanks for the memories…looking forward to new ones with my kids and bringing the game to Cherry Hill, NJ!

Yo Guys! PIMPLE BALLS ruled…

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Yo Guys! PIMPLE BALLS ruled my neighborhood in Philly! They were the only balls you could make sail on a peg in from the outfield (the next block.) They were the best for halfies after they died and you may even go home with a star shaped welt on your butt after a heated game of “assball” If anybody knows where I can find PIMPLE BALLS please let me know we’ll choose you in if you do!!!

Growing up in South Philly,…

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Growing up in South Philly, the pimple ball was indispensible. You couldn’t play the street games without it: Stickball (aka Fastball), Halfball, Hit the Penny, Chink, Wallball, Wireball, Babies in the Air. I find it difficult to explain to my kids just what a pimple ball was. I wish I had saved one to show them. The thing I found most interesting about it was when you pressed your index finger hard on the top of the ball and throw it hard releasing it so that it’s trajectory was toward the ground, it would almost float as it sped toward it’s target. I’ve seen guys throw them almost the length of a city block where the ball made the entire trip 6 inches off the ground.

This may be a bit of an…

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This may be a bit of an obscure reference, but does anyone remember a solid, hard plastic puck for street hockey called an “iceless” puck? The term “iceless” was a term given to the puck by the kids in the neighborhood (I am from South Philly) because of the fact that the puck reacted and moved on the asphalt and cement the way a standard ice puck moved on the ice. The puck had a very distinctive sound as it rattled along the cement. I don’t know the “official” name for this type of puck, but to be perfectly honest it wouldn’t surprise me if it was taken off the market a long time ago due to the fact that the solidity of this type of puck on the street made it a bit of a “hazard” if you were hit with it. I have not been able to find this type of puck in any sporting goods stores in my area. If anyone has any recollection or information on this type of puck please let me know. Thanks.

I played what we called…

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I played what we called bottlecaps outside Philly Germantown area . We used corked bottlecaps and we had a skull and crossbones in the center referred to as the poison box. I have yet to hear anyone in the archives refer to the Handspam werein you spread your hand out as wide as possible and undercertain cicumstances you could move your bottlecap from thumb to pinky to advance towards a certain box. Any pointers on this? I plain forget.. Carol

RE Finkelstein’s “Time”…

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RE Finkelstein’s “Time” post. I also remember playing a game called Time in the early 60’s in NE Philly. Very vague on the rules though. Sorta remember it had something to do with guessing a TV show, song, or movie. Not sure what the purpose was, but I remember counting the time . . .One O’clock, Two O’clock, Three O’clock etc. Does anyone else remember more about this game?