Tag Archives: Summer

To L on the Pink Pajamas…

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To L on the Pink Pajamas song: I wear my Pink Pajamas in the summer when it’s hot. I wear my flannel nightie in the winter when it’s not. And sometimes in the springtime and sometimes in the fall. I jump into my little bed with nothin’ on at all. That’s the time you oughta see me. That’s the time you oughta see me. That’s the time you oughta see me. When I jump into my little bed with nothin’ on at all. Of course, when we sang it, we would change the chorus to: That’s the time you oughta see her. (and point to one of our friends) This brought on the second chorus: Nosey, Nosey what’s it to you. Nosey, Nosey what’s it to you. Nosey, Nosey what’s it to you. If I jump into my little bed with nothin’ on at all?

Or…does anyone know the…

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Or…does anyone know the rest of this song?I think I learned it in girl scouts.The tune is to The Battle Hyme of the Republic. Oh…I wear my pink pajamas in the summer when it’s hot and I wear my pink pajamas in the winter when its not And sometimes in the spring time and sometimes in the fall…I jump right in between my sheets with nothing on at all. I thought there might be a chorus. Thanks!!

Hi players! My name is Sonia…

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Hi players! My name is Sonia Gonzalez. I shot footage this past summer of the World Series 2000 games for a documentary I’m doing on stickball. Wanted to give you an upate: i am presently editing together a trailer or a “teaser”, a shorter version of the entire documentary for fundraising to finish editing. I’ve submitted it to Spike Lee’s company and to HBO Documentary. I hope to have a finished one-hour documentary by the spring. Please contact me at LaSone189 [at] aol [dot] com for future screenings. Thank you for all your wonderful stories and for the incredible legacy of stickball. blessings, Sonia

I grew up playing stickball…

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I grew up playing stickball in the bronx. I bought my bats at the sports store right at the 242nd street station. We played a great games with simple rules: Fast Pitch (balls and strikes like baseball) Strike zone drawn on a wall – from the shortest mans knees to the tallest mans numbers and as wide as the broadest man. We played on a very narrow field. about 40 degrees between the lines. The outfield wall was about 200 feet away and about 10 feet tall. Three outs an inning. Any ground ball fielded by the pitcher before the mound (except weak hits) were outs. Any fly or line drive cought was an out. Ground ball past the pitcher was a single. Liner or po that landed in front of the outfield was a double. Off the wall was a triple. Over the wall … gone! Ghost runners would advance on every hit – they did not need to be forced. A double scored a man from second even if no one was on first. And we developed as many rule as possible to make the game as much like baseball as possible. A foul tip strike three was an out if it hit the zone. With a runner on third you could tag up on a fly to the outfield, the runner scored if the outfield did not throw a strike from wherever he cought it. A wild pitch was a pitch that hit the window on the wall with the strike zone. etc… These were the rule that we spent days playing by and making up. They made for a great way to spend summer afternoons. Thanks

This is truly an amazing…

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This is truly an amazing website! I was looking at another discussion group (on another site) that was trying to recall childhood games, and first thought was of Skelly! A little internet searching and VOILA! Here’s a whole discussion devoted to it. After reading through all the messages and memories, I guess it’s time I chimed in with what I can recall from the game in Baltimore, MD circa 1970-75. The board (drawn with chalk) typically occupied most of the street (within the bounds of cars parked on both sides). Plastic and metal twist-off caps were usually used; filler material of choice: asphalt, heated by a hot summer sun. A number of years ago, while in college, I asked my friend Nate about Skelly and what he remembered. I’ll never forget, he went to the blackboard during a study break and drew a complete Skelly board. If memory serves me correctly, it’s basically what McNally has, although I’m not recalling the trapezoids around the “13” (Must be gettin’ old ;-). Skelly tournaments were big stuff; winning one and you’d be the most admired kid for blocks. I agree that today’s youth have really missed out on creative play. Playin “It” (tag), “Patty Cake” (Miss Mary Mack, etc.), “Jump Rope” (double dutch, etc.), “Marbles”, “Jacks” (those metal, 6 pointed stars used with a rubber ball) , “Hide and Seek” and others are becoming lost art forms. Not that I don’t mind some of the new games, but what happens when the power’s off? I’m going to do my best to try and save what I can for my kids to enjoy!

Hello everybody who remembers…

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Hello everybody who remembers Highview, New York. I’m Rob Barkan. My family owned the Terrace House bungalow colony on Boris Road between Boris Colony and Jack Shrier’s Overlook, down the hill from Sha-wan-ga Lodge hotel all us kids snuck into. I was the kid who built homemade pinball machines and gocarts and ran my own radio station in 1961. There is just too much memory from that time to list–all good. Anybody else stay in this little summer world from 1950’s to 1960’s? robbybarkan [at] yahoo [dot] com

I started on the Grand Concourse…

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I started on the Grand Concourse in the early 60’s and never stopped having fun after that. Stickball, Skellies, Johnny on the Pony, Kick the can, watching the greasers and the new hippies stare each other down. My twin brother and I were nice Puerto Rican boys in an Irish / Jewish neighborhood. All my friends were Shemtobs, McNallens, ORielly, Buffa, Mehan, Schwartz. It was great, I learned a whole bunch of different cuss words. We had fake wars with sling shots and bottle caps. We would explore boiler rooms and roof tops and would make flashlights out of Bean cans with a lit candle burning the tin till it was too hot to hold. We could watch the parades on the Grand Concourse from any stoop on the street, All the US flags would wave from the windows. We had about 30 kids playing stickball on Marcy place and many of us would roof spaldings atop PS 88 on Sheridan. It was the perfect Stickball Street. We could also open Johnny pumps with a stickball bat and a coat hanger and spend hours grinding bean cans on the concrete to get the tops off.(boy were we dumb) We also built scooters with old metal skates and old milk boxes. Build tunnels in the mountains of snow that was built up by sanitation. We would sing Beatles tunes to our 3rd grade girlfriends and run like heck when they tried to kiss us. We all formed the Bronx Super Heroes club. I was 007 – James Bond and my brother Karl was Robin “The boy blunder” Between all the Bronx buildings were miles and miles of alleys and basements were we all would explore. We also would walk on Jerome Ave. to go Ice-skating or go to the Concourse hotel to see Mickey Mantle as well as the Original NY Giants in the winter. Then one summer every one moved to co-op City and from that time on it was never the same. That was until I discovered Handball and life in the Bronx was good again 🙂 I live in Dallas now and doing well. My kids are popular here because they are from the Bronx. It’s cool here. People don’t know whether to love us or hate us. In any event, when we have to be heard, no one stands in our way. Thank you my Bronx. I could not imagine my life without you in it. You are now in me and I will share you with all. We miss you all! Schools: PS, 44, 88, 90, 67, Catholic: Christ the King, Sacred Heart HS (Don

I remember spending many…

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I remember spending many a summer playing in Brooklyn near the “safety zone” between Amersfort Place and E. 27th (?) Street near Brooklyn College. The “big boys” painted at least one, and possibly more, boards in the street on that bend – now, if anyone knows that neighborhood you can imagine how many times we had to get up to let cars pass in their search for the elusive thing known as a “parking spot” near the college. One thing no one else has mentioned is the sodder cap. We evlolved from empty caps to wax ones (I can still hear my mom yelling at me for using her good candles) to wax and penny ones and finally – the ultimate – sodder! What a blast you could get from that!

Who remembers Washington…

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Who remembers Washington Baths at Coney, and Bay 15 and 16? I had a friend whose mother nursed the mother of George Tilyou who owned Steeplechase. As a result we would get passes to the park often that entitled us to 12 rides. I was about 11 years old when my friend coaxed me onto the parachute ride one summer night. After the first couple of rides up and down, I got over my fear and rode all night until the park closed.