Category Archives: Philadelphia

I played a game similiar…

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

I played a game similiar to wire ball called “Light Ball”. The object of the game was to try to hit the light bulb underneath the street light. The rules were almost the same as the wire ball rules. The main difference was that the type of hit(single,double and triple) was determined by how far away the ball travelled from the light(if you missed the light bulb).We used to use cars for distance. If the ball landed uncaught by the first car it was a single,second car double and the third car a triple. If you hit the under side the light(were the bulb is)it was a homerun{the bulb didn’t have to break to get the homerun) . I haven’t played in 20+ years, but thinking about it brings back many great memories. We broke so many light bulbs back then. The street went dark quite a few times.Now the street lights have protective covers on them. I played near Castor and Magee in Northeast Philly.

You got to be kidding the…

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

You got to be kidding the pinkie (high bouncer) was always prefered over the pimple ball for both stick ball stepball & halfball at least in the fifties in philly. Does anyone remember wall ball

This is a great site!! I…

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

This is a great site!! I learned how to play skully at Holiday Haven Campground in Estelle Manor, NJ from kids who lived outside of Philly. It was hugely popular there, then we exported it to our neighborhood in Monroe Twp. NJ where we made an infinate number of skully boards on chalk either on our street or patio. My three sisters and I preferred our caps to be constructed of Dad’s cast off Budweiser beer bottle caps (the King of Beers and skully caps!) and melted-down crayola crayons. The metallic colors swirled with a regular color were the coolest! We would melt the crayons down right in the caps on Mom’s electric stove (where melted crayon spills were her bane!) I can remember the smell of melting crayons as if it were yesterday…

In the 70’s in N.E. Philly…

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

In the 70’s in N.E. Philly on our street we played a game called One Foot Off the Ice. It was a tag game that was played from one curb to the other. One person was IT they stood in the middle of the street all other players stood on the curb. When the IT person called one foot off the ice, all the others would take the biggest leap they could, the first foot that hit the street was your pivet foot, you couldn’t move it until you were ready to sprint to the other side. As long as you didn’t move it you couldn’t be tagged. If your tagged when your trying to get across you become part of the IT team in the middle. If you made it to the other side you could run back in and tag another who could then walk freely to the other side, however you could then be tagged. Also a human chain could be made to get someone who hadn’t crossed yet, if the chain was broken anyone who was not attached was an IT person. The game would continue from one curb to the other until the final person is tagged. Then the game would start over with the first person tagged being the IT person in the next round. We played for hours.

I love this sight!!! I…

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

I love this sight!!! I grew up in southwest Philly and remember all these games. Anyone remember 1-2-3 Ringo? You had to grab someone and hold them while yelling “1-2-3 ringo, u my man”. Then that person helped you catch someone else. This kept going until everyone was chasing one person. The 1st person caught was it in the next round.

I grew up in Port Richmond…

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

I grew up in Port Richmond and played all the ball games stick ball, halfies, wire ball, boxball etc. I see a lot of people looking for pimple balls, the closest I have come is website littlebitofphilly.com They sell halfies , it is better than no pimple balls.

I grew up in Southwest Philly….

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

I grew up in Southwest Philly. We played box ball, wire ball, stick ball, step ball, etc. We also played Kick the Can, which was like Jailbreak. Somebody was “it”. Everyone else had to hide. The person who was it had a can and a jail. They had to identify the person that they saw hiding, grab the can and bang it on the street saying 1-2-3 I see Joe hiding behind Mr. Doyle’s car. If that was right, the person would go in the jail. The rest of the people had to try to sneak up the street to kick the can to free anyone in jail and hide before the person who was “it” saw you. It could take awhile before you caught everyone if you were it. What a thrill to kick the can and set everyone free. You were a hero for a minute. I also remember Hide the Belt and Buck Buck and Break the Golden Gate. I wish that I had a whole pimple ball. I have one half ball left.

Anybody else play “Hide-the-Belt”?…

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

Anybody else play “Hide-the-Belt”? I played this while growing up in the Port Richmond section of Philly during the 50’s and 60’s.One boy hid a belt somewhere on the street, while the rest of the group closed their eyes. The person who then found the belt was free to hit the others with it until they reached a designated “safe” spot.

read allan laxton message,…

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

read allan laxton message, i grew up at lawrence and bristol,in philly and played all those street games especially,stick ball and chink, and all we needed was the pimple ball and of course someones broom handle for the bat, actually i just purchased a stick ball and two pink balls thru a cataloge, good memories!!!!!!!

Dave B from Sothwest Philly.We…

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

Dave B from Sothwest Philly.We played all of those games and it was great.All you needed was a pimple ball and one other guy and you could play games for hours.How many times did we dive in front of the sewer intake to keep the ball from going down the hole.If it made it down the hole the smallest guy got dangled by his feet down the sewer hole.Man did it stink.Does anyone remember “chipsies”?Whoever touched the ball last before it got lost was responsible for buying a new ball and turning it over to the previous owner.