Category Archives: Skully

I was thinking of this game…

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I was thinking of this game the other day and tried to look for a web site and found this one. It is great to know that this place is here. I was trying to explain it to my 13 year old. I grew up in The lower east side of Manhatten and we used to play skulsies as we called it and man did we have fun trying to make the best and fastest cap on the block, We tried big ones and small ones we filled them with anything we could get our hands on, My favorite was a regular bottle cap with pennies and wax. I had a collection of different caps, Some had two pennies and wax and some had one. Man oh man those were the days.

I was raised in Red Hook…

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I was raised in Red Hook projects in Brooklyn.After graduating High School I went into the Army and now live in topeka kansas.I miss the days of playing skellys in the hood.My friends and I used to play for hours.Mind you this was in the 70’s and 80’s when kids used to play Tag, Hot peas & butter, Red light Green Light, Come & get it (witch we should have not been playing with the girls at our young age). We always thought milk caps off gallon jugs filled with wax or clay made the best tops.Though Kansas is behind the times,I don’t see that many children playing childhood games.But I can tell you, my son will know how to play skellys and pass it on. P.S. Don’t ever forget 9/11 God bless.

This summer, after locating…

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This summer, after locating your website, I painted 3 skelly boards on some blacktop at a sleepaway camp called Camp Mesorah. I grew up in city hpousing project in Queens (Pomonok)and the last time played the game was 45 years ago. I used the Bronx rules because the 2,4,6,8 trapezoid made the game rules more exciting. The game took off. Kids were playing it at every free moment they had. Pipsie became a respected and revered word in camper vocabulary. We used metal snapple caps for skelly caps, filling them with crayons that we melted with magnifying glasses. The designs and colors in them were elaborate. Campers and counselors formed teams together(as age doesn’t matter but skill does) and a 32 team tournament with trophies culminated the season. This summer, more black top is being added and the number of courts will increase to 12. Lighting is also being added for night games. More tournatments are planned and the game with intercamp challanges. The game has already spread to 5 Towns area of LI where I was hired to paint 3 courts in driveways and backyards. hank you for helping me relive my childhood. This is the game that taught me addition, subtraction and strategy. Maybe one day we will see a skelly court on every basketball court!

Okay, here are the recollections…

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Okay, here are the recollections of a guy from Bedford Stuyvesant in the fifties and sixties. I guess like most of the other Brooklyn Neighborhoods our activities were seasonal. We had a season from roller skating, marbles, spinning tops, etc., but from late spring through the summer Skelly reigned. Never new the game

i used to play skelly on…

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i used to play skelly on a wooden board as opposed to playing outside in the street. the game board had the number from 1 to 9, with the 9 in the center surrounded by yhte lose turn boxes. the board also had bumbers that one could use to rebound there checkers off of to get to the next number. did anyone ever play on such an indoor game board to play skelly. i have been searching in vain to locate one of these old boards that we used to use in the brooklyn after school center.

I am glad that there is…

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I am glad that there is a board for this game…growing up in the Bronx it was considered a spring to fall pastime…one thing I haven’t noticed anyone mentioned yet…maybe because it was different on my block was, when you were going to #13 there weren’t numbers around it…instead the numbers were replaced by the letters D S D S…D meant danger…S meant safe…if your skellies cap ended up in danger you had to stay there till another play hit you out…when such an act is done that player gets to move up a few places on the board.

We played this game constantly…

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We played this game constantly on summer days in Jersey City during the early 70’s. We called it “Bottlecaps” and what you call the skull was called “poison”. We also carved a board into the street using a screwdriver! I plan on teaching my boys this summer (we’ll stick to chalk since I don’t think the town DPW would appreciate the screwdriver method). Great web site!

I don’t know what made me…

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I don’t know what made me remember the game of bottle caps and street chalk boards except the fact that my son bought a six pack of Coke in the collectible bottles which have caps on them. I started talking to him about the game I used to play as a child and “poof” my brain retrieved the name skully. My son,(7y.o.), was intrigued by the explanation and couldn’t wait to get started filling the bottle caps with melted crayons. What memories this brings back to me growing up in Canarsie, (in Brooklyn, N.Y..) I hope I can show my son that he can have as much fun as I did. (I took a shot at looking it up on th e internet and here I am). SKULLY LIVES ON! Steve T.

My brother and I earned…

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My brother and I earned our Skelly stripes in the Redhook Projects, Brooklyn, NY (1970’s). Anyone out there from Redhook that remembers Mrs. Bernice Hawkins (My Grandmother)….she’s solely responsible for my Skelly career. Her motto…”If you’re going outside, then Stay outside…no In’s and Out’s”. So, needless to say, we stayed outside all day, playing Skelly. My “top” of choice was that white metal top that came off juice bottles. My brother and I would go find all the candles in my grandmother’s house and melt wax into the top, with a penny in the middle of it for extra weight. If we ran out, we would go to the spanish store on the corner and get a candle for a nickel. I’m a father of three kids now, and I’m definitely going to teach them all about Skelly. Actually, I live in Maryland now, so it will be new to most kids and adults alike. I’m glad that I stumbled onto this site!

Hey I used to play skully…

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Hey I used to play skully in Canarsie Brooklyn, in the late 60’s early 70’s. Anyone remember Coke Bottle glass rings for the long shots? You made them by running the bottle across the octagon sewer covers. then polished them by rubbing them on the blacktop. If a car ran them over you were history, but they were great for the long shots. -Frank