We lived in Luna Park and my Mom would take my brother and me to the beach everyday during the summer. After spending all day at the beach,we would head right to Nathan’s for supper. She would give us $1 each and we would eat like kings and still bring her back change! Fries were .15 and .25.
In Washington Heights (Dyckman area) we called it “Manhunt”. But it was basically the same game, with one team chasing the other and placing them in “base”. We did not allow running into basements, buildings or passing the corners on either side of the block. There was always someone guarding the base. I remember running with a car (running alongside of it as low as possible) and then pouncing on the base and saving as many of my teammates as possible. Also for a period of time we could kick the lamppost on our block and the lights would go off and the other team couldn’t see what was going on for about 8-9 minutes. Those were the days (late 80’s). We usually played during the summertime and usually till about 11:30 pm (never during the day either! Too hot!)and then just lay on top of a car and talk the night away.
We lost my little brother once at Coney Island when he went back and forth from the shoreline to where we were sitting filling his pail and then his hole and pretty soon it got very crowded and he couldn’t see us. We finally found him at the lost and found still with his pail of water, my mother desparate and crying. That was the last time we went to Coney Island and went to City Island instead, to a more or less deserted part of it. Later, when I hit my teens, I’d go with my friends or my myself.
The Coney Island Boardwalk was always a place of fascination. Two and a half miles long with something to see all along the way. It starts at Bay 1 (where Manhattan Beach ends and Brighton Beach begins) and gets to Bay 7 (Ocean Parkway where Coney Island begins) and then to the end which is Bay 35 (the beginning of Sea Gate). Bay 2 was where you made your date for Saturday night. It was wall to wall blankets, and the sand was hot so you’d stop at a blanket with the pretty girls on it, and start up some conversation. Back to the boardwalk … there was the Coney Island rides section off the Stillwell Avenue train station, then moving west we had Silvers Baths, and a few bungalow colonies where people vacationed to escape the summer’s heat. And remember, one wasn’t allowed to walk on the boardwalk unless adequately covered … police were always looking for such infractions (that’s when there were rules of “proper conduct”). What went on under the boardwalk was a world unto itself … the police were above looking for improper dress. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Ithaca/7448/
I grew up in the housing projects in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. There was an overhang above the front entrance and the mothers used to collect bottle caps for months and during a fine hot day in summer would stand on top of the overhang and yell bottle caps.We would come running and the filled cigar box was emptied in front of the door. The prize caps were White Rock and solid gold or silver. My father made his own lead sinkers for fishing and my caps were filled with the lead. I could blast anyone out of the skelly box. (We called to the center jail). someone used to come from the Bronx to play me – maybe he would visit his grandmother too!)
Wiffle Ball We’d get on a wiffle ball kick and start playing every day for awhile through the summer. You’d use a hollow white plastic ball, with vents on one side. You could throw great curves and sinkers. You’d have a yellow plastic bat that was kind of like a combination between a baseball and stickball bat. You’d play either one on one or teams, with a couple of guys on it. You didn’t run with wiffle ball. If they didn’t catch it, depending on how far you it would determine how many bases you’d get. You couldn’t hit the ball too hard, so a great shot would be 20 or 30 yards (depending on the wind). The ribs in the top of the ball could be pressed in and let you get a better breaking ball. It was great to pitch with, hard to hit and hard to field the ball. I don’t know why they called it wiffle ball, probably cause of the noise it made when as it sailed through the air.
I grew up in Greenpoint and we would play 4 corner slapball. We played in the middle of the street on the corner of Jackson and Leonard Streets. In the summer we’d play all day and during the school year we’d play as soon as we got homt. This was a major intersection so we had to be careful and to stop whenever the cars came. By 4:30 it started getting pretty hectic. We also had a sewer on one corner so we had to be real careful not to let the ball go down otherwise you had to fish it out. You couldn’t hit the ball on the fly – just ground balls. If you hit it over the infield you were out. Five guys or more could play per team. We’d play everyday using either the Spaldeen or Pensie Pinkie.