Deadbox! I have the dirties elbows in South Philly. Would anyone know where I can get a t-shirt with the game imprinted on it? I saw this once in a magazine and don’t remember where. Can you help me? Thanks, Chrissy
Deadbox – Wow! I had the dirtiest elbows in South Philly! I would love to get a t-shirt with the deadbox game imprinted on it. I once saw this t-shirt in a magazine and don’t remember where! Can anybody help me? Thanks, Chrissy
THE WAY WE PLAYED IN THE FORT GREENE PROJECTS WAS THAT EVERYONE WOULD SPIN THEIR TOPS AT THE SAME TIME. THE FIRST TOP TO DIE WOULD THEN BE PUT IN THE POT AS WE CALLED IT. THEN EVERYONE WOULD TRIED TO CRACK THE GUYS TOP. IF YOU HIT THE TOP AND IT DIDNT SPIN THAT WAS OK OR YOU COULD SPIN THE TOP PICK IT UP AND EITHER LIGHTLY TOUCH THE GUYS TOP OR IF HE WAS A FRIEND YOU COULD KNOCK HIM OUT OF THE POT. AND IF YOU SCREWED UP THE SPIN, SAY THE STRING OF THE TOP GOT TANGLED OR IF WHEN YOU TRIED TO HIT THE GUYS TOP AND YOUR TOP WENT FLYING SOMEWHERE AND MISSED THE TOP. YOUR TOP WENT INTO THE POT WITH THE OTHER GUYS. SO UNTIL THEY KNOCKED YOU OUT OF THE POT, YOU WERE THERE TO STAY. ESPECIALLY IF THEY COULD STAND YOUR GUTS. I LOVED THIS GAME.
hey I’m a girl born and raised in Brooklyn- the Fort Greene Projects and i loved that game we called it crack top too. And i was good till to day, married with two kids. i had a BBQ this Aug 2002 and it so happens that i had seen in a book that i get in the mail. they had the tops and i bought 4 dozen when i got them though they were the bigger ones, i like the smaller one they go faster and humm better. anyway one of the guys i sing with was there and i said hey Gilbert look what i got. So he took one and started playing, then of course i started before i knew it there were about eight people playing, even Gilberts mom whose 76 and my uncle both born and raise in Puerto Rico were spining a top. My brother whose about 13 years younger than me tried but he sucked at it. we would run when he tried. we were all playing in the streets by then. A cop car pass by and i thought they were going to say something but they didn’t. But the best spinner there was Gilbert, man he made that top humm so loud you could hear from a couple of feet. That was the best time i had in a long time. it was great. The only bad thing was the string it came with they were too short and too weak. we had to tie two strings together to get good spins. I still have about three dozens. Next i want to play skellys.
Well guess what it isn’t just N.J., Bronx, or Queens, because we played it in Brooklyn too. I was raised in the Fort Greene Projects around the 50’s and man i grew up with a big crowd of kids. we would spend all day playing all kind of games, and kick the can was one of them. No lie we had over fifty kids and you can imagine how pisst off the kid who was it was, when somebody would kick the can and about thirty of us would be free. ahhh it was priceless.
Kick the can is not just a N.J. game. I live in Queens N.Y.(all my life)& I have the kids here on the block playing it all the time. The only thing different these days is we use a liter bottle 1/4 filled w/dirt & rocks. It’s a little easier to get out from under the cars. There wasnt so many when I was younger.Kids have a good old time away from the TV & video games if we just take the time to teach them how.
Didn’t anyone use CLAY? Even the poll didn’t include it (sigh). I played in “DA Bronx” in the 70’s. I took this picture of me back in 1994 of the old scully board we played on as youths in the Bronx Park near 219th Street. The updated URL is: http://www.teako170.com/scullpic.jpg My “king checker” was made from an old “Push-up” bottom stuffed with gold/yellow clay and a small plastic crown — the sweetest cap on the blvd! Man – would I love to get together someday with some old players and bang around the board a bit. Best, Terrence — THIRD MILLENNIUM entertainment http://www.teako170.com