So glad I found this site. I played Chinese handball in Manhattan in the late 70s. I remember a favorite trick among my friends was to give the ball a lot of top spin on the return hit, so that when it came off the wall, it would hit the ground and reverse direction from the receiver!
I was on the employee bus tonight and brought up pensie pinky balls. and the games we played. A my name is Alice…. there were 4 other women all aged about 40-55 ish and NOT ONE knew what I was talking about. Grantd I live in Houston now, but some of these women are from back east, like PA. They all thought I was nuts! So here I am Googling it for them.
In the East Bronx in the ’50s, Spaldeens were the ball of choice; Pennsy Pinkies were second choice. Ethan Robbins could punch a Spaldeen over the outfield fence. I was in awe. But I have a question. Did they always say “Spalding High-Bounce Ball” on them? I seem to remember them saying “Spaldeen”.
My father, who grew up in Newark, NJ, in the 1940s and 50s taught me a game that he called “stickball” but is very different from the descriptions of stickball rules I’ve found, so I’m wondering if anyone else has heard of this game, maybe with a different name. We played in the street with a long, thin, wooden bat and a tennis ball. One player is the batter and the other players spread out down the street. The batter tosses or bounces the ball and hits it towards the other players. If one of them catches it before it bounces, he/she becomes the batter. If the ball is fielded after it bounces, then the batter lays the bat down and the player who fielded the ball rolls the ball from the spot where the ball was fielded and tries to hit the bat. If the ball misses, then the batter hits it again. If the ball hits the bat and bounces up in the air and the batter is able to catch it before it bounces, then he/she remains the batter. If the ball hits the bat and either doesn’t bounce up in the air, or the batter doesn’t catch it, then the fielder becomes the batter. We didn’t have a system for keeping score; we just played until we got tired, or dinner was ready, or it got dark.
I grew up in philly in the 60’s we had a game you played by yourself or with friends it was called mimseys. You threw the ball and sang a little song. Mimseys to clapseys tworl my hands to bapseys my right hand my left hand as high as the sky as low as the sea touch my knee touch my hell touch my toe and under we go each time you threw the ball against the wall and did a trick… mimseys was just throwing and catching then you threw and clapped and then caught the ball then you threw the ball and rolled your hands and then cought the ball.for bapseys you touched both of your shoulders and then caught the ball next you threw the ball and caught in your right hand and then the left next you threw the ball as high as you could and then catch it after that you threw it the tiniest that you could and caught it. then you threw the ball and touched your knee and caught it then your heel then your toe then you threw it under your led to the wall and caught it. IF you made all this perfectly you started all over but you must clap and the new skill for every catch Ex. clap and catch in right hand then clap and catch it in your left hand. This whole game was played off the wall with a pink ball