I want a charlotte russe! A real charlotte russe with the scallop edged carboard holder,that perfect little round piece of cake and all of the luscious REAL whipped cream. And the cherry. It has to have a cherry; not a stupid strawberry like they have on the ersatz thingies that are sold at our local bakery. I want a charlotte russe now!!
We didn’t call the game Mother May I, we called it Giant Steps. We had a great group of kids living in our development (about a dozen four story buildings encircling a courtyard, which was our world). No one really got picked on; we all kind of just goofed around with each other good naturedly. We took turns being the king of the hill, and we took turns being the one being goofed on. Sometimes we’d get eight giant steps, sometimes we’d get one baby step. It was lots of fun. There was also a fenced-in lawn in the center of the courtyard. We’d run races around the lawn, starting at the same point, each runner going in opposite direction around the circumference of the lawn (which seemed enormous at the time). Who ever got back to “home base” first won. The stoop was reserved for more reserved games like house, horses and Barbies. We had a deluxe stoop; it was almost like a cement deck. There was plenty of room to congregate and go into our little fantasy worlds up there. Once in a while we would get showered with pennies by some kind stranger who would throw them down to us in the middle of our play. We never found out who that was. We thought it was magic.
Born in Brooklyn in 1959 and grew up in Sheepshead Bay around Ocean Parkway between Y & Z (Manhattan Court). I moved to Rochester, NY in 1980 after graduating from college to work for Eastman Kodak. I am 39 now with two kids and my boy is 9 years old. We where home (I still call Brooklyn home) this weekend and I played stickball with my son. The school yard (PS 209) I used to play in is under some kind of destruction/construction so this was just an introduction. It was great to be out there again. Can’t wait until I get my hands on a Spalding though. Pensee-pinkie’s where better. The Spalding’s used to crack in half. I still have my stickball bat from the 70’s so I remembered to bring that along. Remember how many sneakers we used to go through because the toes would be gone from pitching. I remember begging my Mom to buy me PUMA’s when they first came out. I never liked those heavy ADIDA’s. They where $20.00 back 25 years ago. After our little stick ball game I introduced him to PUNCH BALL. We then went home and played “HIT THE PENNY”, “5 boxes”, and “Box Tennis”. I even had a chance to grab a Nathan’s frankfurter and a BAG of fries in Coney Island. I think they still use the same grease for the fries.
The search for the roller-skate key was always a rite of spring at our house. If I was lucky, it had been carefully placed in my dad’s tool/ hardware cubby-hole. With growing feet, those expandable roller-skates sure were practical. Many knees were skinned, though, when the front clasps slipped off and I tumbled forward. I think that the skating season probably only lasted for me until I had scabs on both my knees.
Wow, does that bring back vivid memories! I can still hear Mary Geary screaming at the top of her lungs “Oh, Car – ol”, from our front walk after school everyday. These days, it would probably be viewed as strange or rude, but in the 60’s in my neighborhood (the suburbs of Buffalo), it was standard procedure.
Where I grew up in Queens we did the same thing. The building I lived in was one of a group which formed a circle around a courtyard. They were only three stories high (they seemed like skyscrapers), and it was commonplace to call up to mom to throw down some ice cream money or a ball and glove or just call up to friends either to get them to come down and play or just to have a conversation, window to pavement. Moms also used to call to their kids to come up for dinner. I don’t remember anyone ever complaining! Everyone did it.
As a 42 year old parent one thing i never hear anymore kids calling each other out. What i mean is one or more kids standing just outside the front walk or back gate of a friends house singing out their name with a high note for the first syllable and first part of the second then dropping low. Nice and loud until some response from the home was achieved. Kids with 1 syllable names were made to sound like two. Either the kid came or some one would yell back. Boy you were gauranteed a reponse if you had three or more singin it out. Sometimes from a neighbor telling you to shut up! This was the lower east side of Detroit with most of the kids being 1st or 2nd generation American with the parents or grandparents being born in Europe. I don’t know if it was fear of who you would get anwering the door or what. But it was pretty common and something my kids would never do today!
Remember scooters? I mean the REAL make-your-own type we constructed in the 60’s and not the store bought metal ones! Wooden crate was nailed onto a 4 foot 2×4 board then a scate was opened into front and back halves with each half nailed onto the ends of the 2×4. Scooters were an occasional substitute for your bike to get around. Also you were “the man” if your scooter was expertly constructed and decorated (the most popular decoration was to nail soda caps into the wood). Scooter wars were fun too. 2 guys would go at it with repeated head-to-head crashes until only one was left!