Category Archives: Philadelphia
A big shout out from Jim…
A big shout out from Jim Marino way out in Chicago. Do you remember the Broadway Movie, Colonial, Savoia. Gone but not forgotten. I alway try to get to Geno’s for a cheese steak when we get back for a visit. Ever try to explain what and how you play halfball. Not very easy. This site is great. Other games. How about war games with bottle cap/top guns. Those guns made from clothes pins, sticks and rubber bands. Lots of epic battles on the streets of South Philly.And also lots of “you’ll shoot somebody’s eye out. Although I remember a few scrapes and cuts, no eyes were ever shot out. Also when we really had no money we plaed a game called Kitten and stick. Sometimes using a 6 inch piece of hose or a 6 inch stick sharpened on both ends. The object was to hit one end of the stick and cause it to bounce in the air, then hit it while in the air. Distance made the hits or scores. All of these were great. Stay in touch. Kitty where are you?
I grew up in philly in the…
I grew up in philly in the 60’s we had a game you played by yourself or with friends it was called mimseys. You threw the ball and sang a little song. Mimseys to clapseys tworl my hands to bapseys my right hand my left hand as high as the sky as low as the sea touch my knee touch my hell touch my toe and under we go each time you threw the ball against the wall and did a trick… mimseys was just throwing and catching then you threw and clapped and then caught the ball then you threw the ball and rolled your hands and then cought the ball.for bapseys you touched both of your shoulders and then caught the ball next you threw the ball and caught in your right hand and then the left next you threw the ball as high as you could and then catch it after that you threw it the tiniest that you could and caught it. then you threw the ball and touched your knee and caught it then your heel then your toe then you threw it under your led to the wall and caught it. IF you made all this perfectly you started all over but you must clap and the new skill for every catch Ex. clap and catch in right hand then clap and catch it in your left hand. This whole game was played off the wall with a pink ball
Anyone looking for a Pimple…
we used to play chinese…
we used to play chinese jumprope way differnt in philly in the early 60’s. we would do a “hop” using one leg at a time to get to ten on each leg, it’s in ,out, over, back motion. if you passed both legs then you would move to the middle and swing from there. then you double the motin for each leg. if you were good enogh, you got to diamonds.
War and Spud, around my…
War and Spud, around my neighborhood, West Philly, was called Baby In The Air. Don, I also remember, Wallball, loved it. We played in the back of our houses, across the narrow, one lane driveways. Threw the ball against one house and had to hit the opposite house’s wall, try to avoid the kitchen windows. Some guys were great in just being able to ‘grease the wall’
I grew up in the 70s in…
I grew up in the 70s in South Philly, and yes, we played this game, but we called it “Refrigerator”. It was one of the games played at dusk, because we had to stay “in front of the house”. We would stand against the wall of a house which was on the side of the street without parking. The person who was It would stand, opposite us, against a parked car. Then, we would all run to the car and back. We would say “In my refrigerator, I have some_____ (milk, dirty socks, etc).”
Does anyone remember this…
Does anyone remember this game? It was played from curb to curb. Any number of players could play. They would all line up on the street curb and shout “What’s in the icebox”? A caller would shout out items like “eggs”, everyone would run to the other curb. But the caller would also say things like “chair”. If anyone ran after hearing this, they would be “out”. This went on until there was one person left (who did not run or even move on a word that was not found in an icebox). I grew up in South Philly and remember it well. I am finding this site very nostalgic, a trip back to the late 50’S. Thanks.
How about “Clothespin Ball”…
We played many of the same…
We played many of the same games, as mentioned above, in a little section of heaven, right in Philadelphia. We were considered Wynnefield, but our streets were seperated from the rest of the city by City Line Ave, Belmont Ave, and Conshohocken Ave. Loved chink, wire ball, box ball. 46th and Sherwood was the best box ball locale in the city. You had to be fast and know how to hit low grounders, with spin. We also played a version of wall ball, where we would throw it off of one wall of a back of a row house, onto the opposite row house’s back wall and the opposing player would have to catch it. Some guys were great at making them just kiss the second wall. You had to make basket style catches on those. Great days and great memories.