Does anyone remember playing Giant Steps? And I had great fun playing punchball, red light green light, red rover, potsy, stoop ball, I declare war on …., hit the penny, hot potato and other city kid games. We really used our imaginations, got lots of exercise, and learned how to get along with others and organize ourselves. I feel sorry for the kids today. They are so programmed by adults.
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
MAN! NOBODY remembers how to play knucks. i LOVED that game…i don’t play it for 10 months and me and my friends all forget how to play. if u remember please email me asap!! thanx soooo much!
Has anyone heard of a marble game to be played during the week of Father’s Day? Apparently the child receives a marble each day until Father’s Day. I don’t know anything else about it or what happens each day the child receives a marble. Hopefully someone out there can give me some insight?
Alan, This game you call Spring sounds a lot like Ringoleavio . Where were you from – what years?
We used to play this game alot. It consisted of two teams. One team was it, the other team went and hid. The object of the game was to capture the other team members and take them to your base. If you could catch them all, you won. Then it was the other teams turn. When you caught someone you yelled, “One, two, three, your my man no breaks, safety. Then that individual could not escape. You held onto their shirt until you walked back to base (street corner, stoop, etc.) The other team could release all their teammates by one of them stepping on the base and hollering “Spring”. Al.
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.
Can anyone tell me where i can get a picture or copy of the bottlecaps board? I want do make one outside my house so my kids can play. Thanks! Val Philadelphia PA
Is there anything being done to popularize Skelly again? I loved this game growing up in Bed-stuy on Gates & Lewis aves! With skelly one made new freinds, stayed out of trouble & engaged in some good ol’ clean fun ! Unlike these violent video games today, which keep kids in the house, encouraging anti-social behavior. I remember a kid whos’ top got kicked into the street. When his turn came back around he carefully aimed at the opposition and flung his top from a distance of at least twenty five feet away.The whole thing seemed like it happened in slow motion ! The top landed back on the board, hitting his rivals’ top then deflected into his desired number ! I’ve seen some good shots before but that was one of the coolest ! ” let’s keep skelly alive by any means necassary !