Tag Archives: South Philadelphia
Growing up in South Philly,…
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Growing up in South Philly, the pimple ball was indispensible. You couldn’t play the street games without it: Stickball (aka Fastball), Halfball, Hit the Penny, Chink, Wallball, Wireball, Babies in the Air. I find it difficult to explain to my kids just what a pimple ball was. I wish I had saved one to show them. The thing I found most interesting about it was when you pressed your index finger hard on the top of the ball and throw it hard releasing it so that it’s trajectory was toward the ground, it would almost float as it sped toward it’s target. I’ve seen guys throw them almost the length of a city block where the ball made the entire trip 6 inches off the ground.
This may be a bit of an…
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This may be a bit of an obscure reference, but does anyone remember a solid, hard plastic puck for street hockey called an “iceless” puck? The term “iceless” was a term given to the puck by the kids in the neighborhood (I am from South Philly) because of the fact that the puck reacted and moved on the asphalt and cement the way a standard ice puck moved on the ice. The puck had a very distinctive sound as it rattled along the cement. I don’t know the “official” name for this type of puck, but to be perfectly honest it wouldn’t surprise me if it was taken off the market a long time ago due to the fact that the solidity of this type of puck on the street made it a bit of a “hazard” if you were hit with it. I have not been able to find this type of puck in any sporting goods stores in my area. If anyone has any recollection or information on this type of puck please let me know. Thanks.
As a youth growing up in…
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As a youth growing up in South Philly, 6th & Shunk, we played many street games, but the ultimate street game was Halfball. We never played lobs or floaters. We played fast pitch with an umpire calling balls and strikes. We used the four corners of an intersection as our diamond. We threw sidearm, three quarter sidearm and submarine. We could make that ball rise, curve or drop. I could start a riser low and inside and it would finish as a strike. I could go on and on talking about the old halfball days. It is a great game!!!
Any current interest in…
I’m 56 years old and grew…
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I’m 56 years old and grew up in South Philly.Does anyone remember playing “Dead Box” with bottle caps(beeries). The field of play was the street (little street) or schoolyard where the blocks were numbered 1 to 15 in chalk. If you landed in the box where a skull was drawn you lost 3 turns(I think).After going through the boxes in sequence…someone was always trying to knock your beerie down the street, you had to go in the dead box three times. You shined your beerie on the curb to make it slide better.
I am from South Philly and…
Loved it! Played 35 yrs…
In South Philly our ball…
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In South Philly our ball of choice was a “pimple ball”, white or rather greyish rubber with 1/8″ dimples with bands running latitudily and stars embossed on both poles. It was used in many games, stickball, wallball, wireball, boxball, miniature,ledgies, points, dinky and the ultimate and most sublime of the street games, Halfball. In further postings I will detail the sublimities of this most enjoyable game.