Hi, I remember skully (or wasn’t it skelly?) as the 9 box scenario described above. On Union St., in Crown Heights where I grew up in the 50’s, we used the grooves of the cement pavement boxes as edges of the total skully box. Then we chalked in the smaller numbered boxes. We also used to ‘load’ our bottle caps with melted crayon wax and smooth down the underside of the cap so it would slide true.
Hi all — I grew up in Brooklyn in the 60’s and used to play a game called “Russian 10”. My sisters and I are going crazy trying to remember what each action was with the spaldeen from 1 thru 10. Can anyone help> THis would be a fantastic gift for my sisters, with whom I fondly remember the ‘good old days’ on East 5th Street and Avenue R. Thanks alot! Lydia
Hey Ted i grew up on martense & nostrand what year was that there i have older brothers and sisters i have to ask about that i remember going to the granada what a great a great neighborhood it was i went to holy cross wow do you remember the great egg creams from the candy store on church& nostrand and al’s toy store
I think that Fred (Wednesday, December 22, 1999) is right. I grew up in Brooklyn and we always called it a “sliding pon”. I think that what’s happened is that when some of us reached adulthood and tried to make some sense of this phrase to non New Yorkers we assumed that it must have really been a “sliding pond” and that we were just mis-remembering. In fact, I’m convinced that it was “sliding pon” which is a corruption of another term for that piece of playground apparatus. Maybe some posters will suggest what that term might be.
I grew up in Flatbush during the sixties ans early 70’s, and hung out on East 17th Street, between Foster & Newkirk. Anyone out their remember the great stick ball games played? We also engraved a Skelly court into the tar one hot summer day. It stayed their for quite some time. During the day, Harry the ice cream man would come by, and we would take a break to grab one of our favorites. Those were the good old days. I now live in NJ, and no one hear has heard of the game Skelly.
I grew up in the village….we would go to carmine st. pool, which closed in the summer at 9 or 10pm but for some reason they would leave the bright lights on into the mourning hours…we would promply climb the fence along with about 2 or 3 hundred others, 5mins after closing. we would climb to the top of the handball court wall that happens to be just close enough to the deep end for a good dive..ouch.. anyway, in I think june or july of 1976 the 2nd nyc blackout occured at 11pm and the place was packed..all hell broke loose, people were screaming,yelling,.&$%#$#@ing, and scrambling.. oh did I mention it was pitch dark…. “What a blast” anyone know of that area?
I grew up in “Da Bronx.” living on 219th Street & Bronx Blvd. from ’65 to ’79. My entire family is from the Bronx and it was a great place to be back then. Now? I’m not too sure. In the 70’s, I got involved in an extracurricular activity known as “graffiti” and made a name for myself writing “Teako-170.” I look back now and didn’t realize all the crazy things we did as kids but we all turned out all right (or least most of us). I picked up a very interesting book for my mother a few years back for Christmas. It’s called “The Beautiful Bronx: 1920-1950.” (You can pick it up at amazon.com) Loads of great pictures! Check it out. If anyone went to St. Mary’s (225th Street) or is from my area (or even if you’re not), stop on by my website and drop me a line. http://www.teako170.com
Mine was one of the families that moved from Brooklyn to Staten Island when the Verrazano Bridge was completed in the mid 60’s. Many of the Brooklyn customs of games, pranks, etc. came along with us to Staten Island. Many of the games were altered to fit into the country-like atmosphere of the Island at that time. Ringaleavio was played in the woods, for example. Any Staten Islander’s out there? I grew up in Oakwood Heights and went to St. Charles Elementary School and Mon.Farrell High School. I live in Massachusetts now.