Category Archives: Ringoleavio

Socrates, it was called…

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Socrates, it was called “Buck Buck”. When all the jumpers were on the stoopers backs one of the jumpers would yell “Buck Buck how many horns are up” and hold up 1, 2 or 3 fingers. One of the stoopers would have to guess the number. If the stooper was correct the teams would reverse roles. If he was wrong or the stoopres caved in under the weight of the jumpers the jumpers would get to go again. If any of the jumpers fell off the stoopers before the number was called the jumpers would lose and have to change positions as well.The guy against the wall (the pillow) would verify the number to prevent cheating. We played this in the Sunset Park area of Brooklyn during the late 50’s early 60’s.

My older brother (age 84)…

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My older brother (age 84) described ringolerio to me yesterday. Each team had 5 guys. One would place himself with his back against the wall while the other four would hold on to him and each other in a squatting/stooped position. The other team would then run and jump on the backs of the squatting guys with the aim of making them fall to the ground. I vaguely remember playing this but am not sure what we called it. This was in the late 1940s in Inwood Manhattan

East Boston, Mass. 1970’s….

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East Boston, Mass. 1970’s. We called it “Manhunt”. The hunted team could go anywhere in a one block area (backyards, schoolyards, garage rooftops, etc.) I never remember finishing a game, because the hunters would usually quit after a couple of hours if they didn’t find everyone.

In Dundee, Illinois (near…

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In Dundee, Illinois (near Chicago) in the 1930’s and ’40s, we played a similar game called Holly. We usually played at an intersection of two streets. Some of the differences with Ringoleavio were: each team had a “goal” (usually a telephone pole) on the corner; while you were tounching your own goal you were in a safe area where you couldn’t be tagged/captured; the jail was called “stink”; object of the game was to touch the other team’s goal and say “Holly”. Either “Holly” or “Kick the Can” were our favorites, especially after dark but with the corner streetlights providing illumination.

We played Ringolevio in…

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We played Ringolevio in Luna Park in the early 70s, during lunchtime at PS 90 (back when they let kids off the grounds on their own!!). We’d cross the street to our favorite playground and eat our bag lunches, and then after lunch we’d have a great game for 30 minutes, girls against the boys. We used electricity. Different pieces of playground equipment were bases, and there was a jail, which was the ladder fort. The boys base was a concrete turtle shape and the girls base was the curved monkey bars. Played all during the school year, but only on that playground. We were all Luna Park kids. We thought we had made up the game! Ha!

I grew up in Sheepshead…

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I grew up in Sheepshead Bay, Bklyn and we had the greatest times playing “Ringolevio”. There were 2 teams. One team would cover their eyes (of course we peeked) and the other team would run and hide. When we finished counting, we would seek out the other team. There was a “free bench” and a “caught bench”. The purpose of the team that went to hide was to get to the free bench without getting caught. If you did get caught, the free members would try to free you.