I played footsie - but that wasn't it.
Coffee Break # 15 - Where were you??
LOL
I remember those too. We never had one.
Not a pet skunk. This little guy was in my back yard.
It took a few tries to get the shot.
It was at night. Holding the camera, I stuck my arm out the door and took my best shot. I got lots of pics of the ground, the fence and a tail.
Finally got that shot.
In the mid 60's we did have a pet skunk. We named him Odie, after the cartoon character Odie Cologne (from the "King Leonardo and his Short Subjects" cartoon.)
His scent glans had been removed, but he was always a little bit stinky. He didn't want to have anything to do with us. He was probably not young enough when captured.
He took up residence in our convertible sofa. We ended up bring him to a small petting zoo upstate.
The sofa was too smelly to keep. Plus, we found that he used one end of it as his bathroom! So it went to the curb for the trash pick-up.
Before the truck came, we spotted someone taking it. They probably thought they lucked out finding a sofa in such good condition.
We always wished we could have seen his face when he opened it and found (and smelled) the surprises inside.
LOL!
Nancy
can't wait to see the pics Nancy.... funny story too
I remeber hotpants on a regular basis.
More advanced than spin the bottle was post office.
On a more wholesome level we played Red Rover, Capture the Flag, Giant Steps and hopscotch
Then there is the game that both DH & I know as 'Captain May I.' Our children know it as .Mother May I .
WE played hopscotch. I played capture the flag and camp.
We also played ring the doorbell and run. We also called it 'playing the piano', as each building had 16 bells!
prince albert in the can?
'Show me yours and I'll show you mine.' I heard some of the other kids played that. ^_^
i did not want to mention that i was one of the other kids
Hee hee. I thought she meant my 'spaldeens'!!
Ha! Odie Cologne the Castro Convertible skunk. Too funny.
We played "Mother May I" also.
Victor..you are bad :-)
Another great memory is calling to my mom (4th floor) to throw down money for Mr. Softee ice cream. Back them, I think the single cones were only about 35 cents!
Victor I got you beat, 6th floor ;-). I remember when the movies cost 35 cents and you saw two movies with cartoons and stayed all day. The Loew's.
Wow - catching the coins from the 6th floor would really hurt!
Yes - we had the Loew's Triborough.
Where in the Bronx were you, Joyce?
Who caught them? She wrapped them in something and we picked them up after they hit the ground. You caught yours?
Once my sister threw our rollerskates down. They were heavy metal and leather but didn't survive:-)
Freeman and West Farms Road. The last block of Freeman. Behind my block was the Whitlock Train station #6 and Westchester Avenue.
Mr. Softee was good but I would die for a Squirrel Nut or a Mary Jane. Remember those candies?
I remember Mother May I, both as a kid and as a single mom - we used to play it a lot, my 2 girls and I. It is totally rigged with two players and a real mother for the mother.
Yes, I remember those candies, Joyce.
I did catch it!
Whitlock is one stop from my my wife's stop on the #6 - Elder Ave.
I remember how on hot days we used to pop the tar bubbles in the street.
LOL! Talk about easily entertained!
I remember Moo (my mom) trying to get tar out of my long curlicious hair with lard. WHOA was she ticked. We have an ice cream truck that plays 'Pop Goes the Weasel' that comes through the neighbourhood. He doesn't have banana popsickles though. Bummer. Also I'm now way taller than all the other kidlings so even though I can run faster than alot of the kidlings and am often first in line, he makes me wait til last. Bummer.
One gross thing about summer was the old gum getting stuck on your sneakers - yuck!
and the worst part was it ended.
The gum?
no silly - summer!
So right! We played a lot of card games as kids---but no tag or running around because of polio---parents thought too much activity would make you vunerable---I guess that's why we played cards.
Wow - never heard that about the polio fear.
in my moms town the ice cream truck played lullaby and goodnight ... always thought it was a bit odd
Yes, that is strange. The Mr. Softee song would drive me nuts!
The ice cream man in our neighbourhood had 3 songs to keep his sanity: Pop goes the Weasel, Happy days are Here Again & I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy.
Creamsicles were my fave, and Nutty Buddies were good if the temperature was warm enough. Otherwise, the fudge coating would crack & fall off. In Seattle a cone can last a long time without melting...
Games - many of the same listed above, but the best times were playing in the woods nearby.
There was a huge Doug fir that had fallen & it served well as a Pirate Ship, a Spaceship, and our gigantic safari bus we traveled in to explore Africa, or wherever we went on any given day. There was a large circular clearing in the woods that was a portal to Alice's Wonderland, or Oz. (Hey - i was 3 - 6 yrs old...fantasy ruled!)
Lunch was huckleberries, and Blackberries came later in the summer.
Skates & bikes gave wings to our feet, as we grew. Baseball, basketball, volleyball, endless tag games, & climbing trees.
At the age of 9, Trolls came on the scene. We collected them & put on shows for the little kids in the summer - $.05 admission fee.
I had a very fun & extremely active childhood - we didn't want to be inside, even when it rained, (which led to puddle jumping). Fun memories. I often wonder had all the electronic toys been available how that would have coloured my world.
the day Elvis died my neighbor and I made snow bird snow cones on my porch because it was raining.. I do remember the exact day because another neighbor loved him and was freaking out crying
Victor--Your wife and I might have been neighbors! There was a small movie theatre right there at Elder. I think it became the $1.00 theatre.
Katye--We collected trolls too! You are so right. Staying indoors was considered punishment for us. We used to go out to Pelham Bay Park ( At the end of the train line which that movie is about "The Taking of Pelham") and you had to walk thru some woods to get to the waters edge. We had labeled all the spots in the woods much like you. There was hole in one spot (some type of drainage hole or something) and if you dropped a rock in it you could not hear it land. So we called it the black hole to China. We would stand over the hole and make "chinese noises" to see if anyone answered. So silly :-)
I did skate down the concrete, very uneven sidewalks---the skates always came off---always had scabby knees. Did ride my bike, too, in a very hilly neighboorhood---it was called East Mountain, had a golf course & reservoir, & lots of kids my age. Great place to grow up, our parents never knew we swam & ice skated on the reservoir---we were always warned not to, but like typical kids, we were sneaky.
Cool memories, Kate!
Here's a memory!
Birthday corsages!
10th birthday - lollipops
11th birthday - gum drops
12th birthday - tootsie rolls
13th birthday - bubble gum (usually Bazooka)
14th birthday - dog biscuits (what the...?!?!)
15th birthday - life savers
16th birthday - sugar cubes
17th birthday - lemon drops
18th birthday - cigarettes (!!!!)
The birthday girl wore a corsage decorated with specific items depending on her age. She would hand out individual items to her friends. Ex: a Tootsie Roll with a ribbon & a straight pin so the friend could wear it.
I didn't understand the dog biscuits until I was talking to my cousin the other day. She said she was told that the dog biscuits were because a 14 year old was often in the middle of puppy love.
As for the 18th birthday, 18 year old was now old enough to smoke. Remember, this was the 50s/60s. People were lighting up everywhere. Realistically, by the time you were 18, you were out of school & probably considered yourself too old to wear those anyway.
I never had a corsage but I was a recipient of many dog biscuits & sugar cubes.
cool! I want one! Wonder what the decoration would be at my age ?