That was so much fun! Those little metallic "stars" and a ball. So easy to play, on a tabletop or on the floor... I could play for the longest time!

Not so long ago I taught my niece to play "Jacks". So many memories!

I loved jacks, but my older sister was the best. We played for hours on our front porch and tile kitchen floor.

Onesies, twosies, all the way to rensies and back down again.

One summer while vacationing with another boomer family at the beach we had a rainy day. We went to the local 5 and dime, bought a set and my friend and I taught the kids how to play. It was hysterical. Finally a game that we could win.

I noticed in our local Cracker Barrel, they are carrying a lot of the old time games. I don't know if the jacks are plastic, but if you're near one, check it out!

Donna
www.devotionalsbydonna.blogspot.com

I loved playing jacks when I was a kid.. and marbles too.. although I think I liked collecting the marbles more. I loved my big glass jar of all the pretty colors and designs. Sheesh, the things we did as kids. I don't know how I never broke that jar, carrying it around everywhere I went, but I didn't.

Thanks for the memory.

Peace.

What about those dolls that were so ugly with the hair sticking straight up out of their head?? I had a necklace with one on it in my fifth grade picture -- trolls!

Donna
www.devotionalsbydonna.blogspot.com

Donna: I haven't seen any Cracker Barrel in my area, but thanks anyway.

Trolls? Those were some ugly dolls, poor little things... I never got any of them, and did not miss them at all .

Marbles? My brothers just loved them! ...So sweet to go back in time, reminiscing those days...

Songbird,

I loved playing jacks and was pretty good at it; but my favorite game was marbles..I was better than most boys at it and I think it was because I loved winning the beautiful and different colored marbles!

Great fun---both of them

My favorite board games were "Chutes and Ladders" and "Candyland." I think both of them are still around.

Donna

We played jacks practically everyday out on the front porch. And to make sure I'd win, I'd talk the whole time breaking their concentration...teehee...what?

Remember Pick Up Sticks? Lord, now THAT took some concentrating....talked then too...

It's a wonder anybody played with me.

JJ

Yessssss - jacks and pickup sticks! When I was growing up, we were not really encouraged to play sports like my younger sister was, but I was great at jacks and pick up sticks and ... roller skating in the streets if they weren't too busy or on the sidewalk, which wasn't quite as smooth as the blacktopped streets were. I grew up in the heart of Baltimore City near a very busy thoroughfare, so I'm sure my mother didn't know we were out there in the streets!

The mention of pickup sticks reminded me of another one- Barrel O' Monkeys.

Donna

I don't recall Barrel of monkeys, but I remember the sticks! I loved that one too. How the times have changed!!

Yeap, Chutes and Ladders and Candyland are still around.

[ July 26, 2004, 02:51 PM: Message edited by: Songbird ]

Oh yes Joyce, the skates. And the ones with the medal keys, remember? We were pros at skating, AND falling! My first job was at a skating rink too.

What about dolls? And something else we use to do was to play at the base of old trees...we would build entire cities with branches, flowers, twigs, etc. We would make roads leading up to our houses and streets (twigs lined the streets). We had nothing new to do this with either. We used cardboard boxes and things laying around the house...same way with our Halloween costumes, homemade. Ah...life as a boomer. What fun! Still is!

JJ

JawJaw,
Skate keys - I had forgotten that part of the equation! I used to lose mine all the time and we wasted a lot of time looking all over our apartment to find it so we could go skating. Do you remember that you couldn't wear those skates with tennis shoes? They had to be hard leather (like saddle shoes or oxfords) or the skates wouldn't connect or adhere or whatever the word is. Thanks for reminding me.

Jawjaw, I was the king of the pick-up sticks and never lost my skate key because my dad fashioned a leather pocket to the bottom of the one skate where it slipped inside. Now does anyone remember the ball attached to the paddle by a long rubber band? That and ping-pong were my best games. Jacks can be purchased in metal and I get a catalog with them 9wholesale) as soon as I get another one I'll post the address for anyone who wants some....

oh how cool! Your Dad was so smart, wasn't he? Ahhh..maybe you were the Queen of pickup sticks, right? Not King?

I would love to have the addy of that catalogue and thanks.

The paddle you mentioned was a staple in our home for years, right along with the jigsaw puzzles..except that particular game was Mother's baby. She could do that paddle longer than anyone and every Christmas somebody gave her one. She would perform her paddle antics for the entire family while we cheered her on. I had totally forgotten that. I must wrap her up a paddle this year. Bet that would be a smile to her face!

JJ

Pickup sticks and jacks were so cool. And don't forget jumprope. How many hours do you think we played Monopoly? And slates! Remember those? That funny red wooden pencil. I'm doing a chapter in my book on the games we playd. I started thinking about the toys we played with and I have a whole other chapter.

I love going into an antique store and seeing the old toys. There is a five and dime in North Conway, NH that is just like it used to be. You can find jacks and slinky's and it even has the creaking wooden floors.

Now the kids have inland skates and rollerblades and all that. Not as good as the old metal ones with the key are they? And remember how those things on the front held the skates onto your shoe? You'd be skating along and they'd come undone and off we'd go. When we got to go rollerskating inside, we skated to organ music on wooden floors.

Louisa

Louisa,
what is a slate? I don't remember that toy. I do remember the Barbie dolls and their clothes...and the suitcases. I would love to visit that store in NH that has all of the old toys. That would be so much fun!

JJ

you sure do bring back memories with jacks, pickup sticks, paddles and etc.
How about Hula Hoops and pogo sticks?
We also played workup baseball with the neighborhood kids. Never had enough for a team.
Maggie

Jacks? I loved jacks!
Skating? I loved skating!
Paddle? My mom loved that paddle! She would take that ball and string off and use it on somebody's backside whenever necessary!
Boy, this post is great. I loved so many of those games. But jacks, skates and tetherball were the best!! Oh and I can't forget four square (and eight square) and kickball...oh and hide and seek outside after dark. My favorite boardgame was Parcheesi. I loved playing Parcheesi. I still love to play games. That is one thing I miss about my kids growing into adults and being so busy. Guess I will have to wait to teach my grandkids all the games I love so that I can play them again!

I loved playing jacks. We had a plant here that manufactured "Staley" balls, hard and very good at bouncing. I played in the city grade school tournament for three years. Never had enough confidence to ever win but was always thrilled to be there.

Mom used to give the paddle balls to us every year, but she just waited until the ball fell off then used it on us, didn't appreciate getting that present at all.

My first Barbie,had such a strong rubber smell that I was banished to a cubby hole under the stairs which is the only place my Mother would let me play with her. She had the striped bathing suit, blonde ponytail and frizzy bangs. Sure do wish I had her.

Iloved playing games with my cousin who was the same age as I was. We were very close and the time that I spent at her house is the only "normal" family life I had.

I jumped rope too, I loved Double Dutch, never did well enough to get to the city tournament in that though.

Opens up a ton of memories.

Sherri

Paddle ball, jump rope, barbie... jacks, slinky,
Such great memories...

I loved to jump rope!
I also remember my uncle and his gang playing Monopoly til late at night! I never played it myself.

Does anyone remember playing "Chinese Jumprope" which used a circular piece of elastic. It's funny but when my girls were young they played so many of the same games I played as a child even using the same rhymes and everything. For as much as things change, so many things remain the same.
Serendipity

Lalapaloosa, was that a family trait getting that paddle used on our backsides with the rubberband and ball detached? Karen and I used to hide that paddle whenever we got the chance!!
Serendipity

Serendipity you are partly right about change, as a child I played Jacks and as an adult still do only its called: JACKS OR BETTER, lol....I should have stayed with the childs game, I did alot better....

Loved, loved, LOVED, jacks! My Aunt and Cousins would come visit us in Washington from Arizona, and my cousin and I would sit for hours and hours playing jacks. Now, I can't seem to get the coordination thing going. It's hysterical! My father put up a tetherball in our back yard (we lived in the country, so there were really no kids for miles our age) and my brother and I would play all the time. But I haven't seen anyone mention Lincoln Logs or Tinker Toys!? Oh, and yes, we had marbles too. In fact, before my Dad passed away, he handed me my bronzed baby shoe, and tucked inside he had saved a couple of the marbles we used to play with. I had to cry when he showed me. They're still in there and a reminder of my Dad's love and sentiment for me. What about "dress-up"? Remember those little high heel shoes made out of hard plastic with the little strap? What wonderful memories!!

jawjaw,
Slates were those funny pieces of cardboard with the silvery paper that you wrote on with a red wooden pencil. Then you lifted the paper and it disappeared and you started all over again.

Louisa

Peggy, I think dress up was one of our fav's when we were between the ages of 4-8...take a look at the pic on my homepage under the "guest book/contact me" page...that's me and my sisters.

Louisa - NOW I remember. I loved those things! Seems to me there was a man drawn with a very round face at the top of mine and he had a moustache, right?

JJ

There may have been. I know there was another toy that had a man's face and all this black sand that you used a magnet or something to make his beard with or something like that.

Louisa

Oh you know what? You are right. That's the one with the man's face on it! I got them mixed up! Remember the jack-in-the-box and the slide projector thing that you could slip a round disk of negatives in it and flip the lever on the side and rotate the pic's? And the dolls we could get at the service station when Mom and Dad filled up? AND....Those metal dollhouses?

I don't remember who mentioned tether ball, but I use to love to play that! Those really were the days!

JJ

I forgot all about chinese jumprope. It was one of my favorites!!! What about Razzle Dazzle, Dippity? hahahahahahaha!!
Chatty, you are soooo hilarious!!! Jacks or better!!! I was sitting here thinking about a road trip to Maryland! Wouldn't that be a surprise!?

Cracker Barrel has the original Jacks and ball. The metallic jacks and red ball. I bought some recently and tried them. Found out I could still do it. My husband tried also. He was the champion player at his small school in Arkansas. My daughter loves them. They are a joyful memory.
I am writing a book of childhood memories with my two sisters and I wrote a short story about the time I finally learned to play Jacks.

sandpiper, you need to meet Lina. She's the author of Carousel Kisses. It's a collection of stories about her childhood. Look for her in here.

This is funny, but boys didn't play jacks in my neighborhood. I'm not sure why, but they didn't.

Thanks Dotsie. I'll look Lina up. Would love to hear about her book. Our book came about because we had repeatedly asked our parents to write down their memories. They said they couldn't write them so we got them a tape player but they never got around to doing it. So, they are both gone and their stories and memories with them.
I am intent on having some collections for my children, siblings, neices and nephews.
I think my hubby is the only guy I know who can play jacks.
Nice to meet all of you. I was born in november 1949.

I remember jacks, marbles, and roller skates! In fact, I have a collection of old toys from my childhood. I taught my grandsons how to play Jacks and they loved it. Pretty surprising since they usually play those hand held computer games for hours! I think kids of today are cheated out of using their imaginations, when they spend their time watching TV or playing video games all day.

When I was a child, my brother and I would spend summers with my grandparents. We’d beg Granny for a quarter-a-piece, and walk up the hill to Simon’s store. There were so many things to choose from; Dixie cups of ice cream with little wooden spoons, Moon Pies, cookies, all sorts of penny candies, and the bubblegum machine. I’d spend most of my money trying to get the speckled gumballs. If you got one, you’d get a free nickel’s worth of candy! I remember putting nine pennies in and getting three speckled gumballs! I felt like I’d won a million dollars! Fifteen cents bought me an Orange Crush “dope”, ( that’s what we called soda pop in NC), a Moon Pie, and some Kits, which cme in chocolate, banana, strawberry and vanilla, and I still had change left!

We’d walk back down the hill and play hide-and-seek, Red Rover, or marbles. Sometimes we’d play in Grandpa’s wood shed. We’d build forts or try to build a go-cart, (without an engine of course!) If it was really hot, we’d go down and wade in the creek bottom that sparkled with mica. I always though that it was gold and would carry some back in my pocket. It was what Grandpa called “fool’s gold,” but I didn’t care. It was still beautiful to me!

And I remember this one jump rope song:

Candy Store

I met my boyfriend at the candy store
He bought me ice cream
He bought me cakes
He brought me home with a bellyache

Momma, Momma
I'm so sick
Call the doctor
Quick, quick, quick

Doctor, doctor
Will I die?
Count to five and you'll be alive
1,2,3,4,5
I'M ALIVE

Does anyone from the south remember the Burma Shave ads that were posted on several signs along sections of roads?

His cheek
Was rough
His chick vamoosed
And now she won't
Come home to roost
Burma-Shave

I'd heard it praised
By drug store clerks
I tried the stuff
Hot dog!
It works
Burma-Shave

And one I wrote:

When Daddy gives my mom a smootch
She says his face feels like a pooch!
So to get his whiskers to behave
We had to buy some Burma Shave!

Thanks for the memories! I love this site!

Wow! Do you ever have a good memory! Yes, I do remember the Burma Shave billboards. They were fun to read as we drove along.

Question: Does ayone remember the game this saying goes to??? RED ROVER, RED ROVER LET JJ COME OVER or LET SMILE COME OVER or so forth and so on. I remember the saying but not what game it was....

Chatty Lady....Oh, I remember playing Red Rover...
We would get into 2 lines facing each other, we would link arms together and yell...Red Rover, Red Rover, send JJ right over. Then, JJ would run from the oppostite line and try to crash through our arms. It's a wonder to me that we didn't have our arms broken! Sometimes the kids would just hang on our arms without breaking through. Remember it now???
We played that game alot!

I remember that game too...Smiles was always breaking thru the line...I just bounced off of it.

Sandpiper, I use to be an avid "Jacks" player and absolutely loved it. Hadn't thought of that in years. I'll have to run over to our local Cracker Barrel and get me a set.

Also, if you talk to Lina, get her to show you her dollhouse...to die for! It is precious and she has wonderful ideas. Very creative.

p.s. Where are my manners? WELCOME!

JJ

Hey, I thought I WAS Rover.
And could beat JJ to a game of Jacks any day. Double!
Hey, I got a dollhouse. It has lights and a Christms tree and a fan and I forget what else. Furniture?
smile

Red Rover was one of the few games I could play, being was too uncoordinated for almost everything else.

I rarely got called over because I was such a macho little brute, I'd knock half the line down. And no one tried to get through me either. At least I got to play, though.

Well Gals, I've passed this thread over because ... hmm, well I never know what I'll remember and sometimes those memories are more like nightmares. But I decided to come in and browse around. Boy, am I glad I did.

I remember ALL of these things ... and Sandpiper, I was born in Nov of 49 as well.

Jaw Jaw -- you mentioned dolls and those houses we built with branches beneath a big tree. Wow ... that brought back some really good memories. We really made elaborate houses that spread far beyond the branches of that tree.

Barbie has been mentioned but does anyone remember the Revlon Doll? To me, she was the precursor to Barbie only bigger. Unfortunately, one summer while I was away at camp with my best friend, my parents moved and cleaned out all my toys. By this time my Revlon Doll was pretty old and she got tossed. My mom had made outfits for her and now all I have left is a cordouroy coat with a hood that Mom made. BUT ... I did find myself a Revlon Doll in an antique shop. Not only does she wear the coat but a doll dress my mother made for one of her porcelain dolls.

And what about paper dolls?

Joyce, I'd forgotten about not wearing tennis shoes with skates. We lived in the country but my best friend lived in this huge house with a basement we could skate in. It was great.

And Maggie, I'd like to forget hula hoops, thank you very much, lol -- I could never keep that thing going.

On rainy days, we'd spend hours with train sets. Used a big pingpong table (again, at my friend's "mansion") and built mountains and tunnels with papier-mache and then ran the trains as fast as we could to see how long we could go till they left the tracks and went air born. Or play Monopoly or Sorry till we got bored enough to grab our Archie or Superman comic books.

Thanks for the memories, ladies.

Hugs and blessings, Francine

Lordy...I had forgotten all about paper dolls. If I had a nickel for every time I cut out paper dolls and played with them, I'd be a rich woman...Oh I LOVED doing that. Couldn't wait to go to town and see the new ones. Remember the McCalls magazine had them in their issues each month?

Smiles, you got any pic's of the dollhouse? If so, send them to me. I wanna see, k? LOVE playing with my dollhouse.

JJ

What about "The Farmer in the Dell?" The farmer takes a wife, the wife takes a child,etc.etc Ends with the mouse taking the cheese? Done in a circle and we would choose who was the farmer,wife, mouse, etc.

Red Rover almost killed me...I was only a mite as a youngster and when "BIG PAT" would try to break the chain...I would hang on for dear life. Of course sometimes we'd wink and let go and soon as PAT touched our arms. Shame on us...He'd go a mile before he'd stop, ha ha.

I liked hard crack, soft crack when playing marbles. Mom and I played in the grass, oh so many times. She taught me how to do soft cracks...she was so good at it. Jacks too.

There was a time when the big rage was getting a "bride doll" for Christmas.

We played what was called "Jack, Stick and Poppy." A hole in the ground, short stick across and long stick to flick it towards a crowd of us. Whoever caught it in mid air went next.

What about, Mother May I,

Simon Says....
Did anyone mention French skipping, double dutch skipping?

Cowboys and Indians was my all time favorite with the older kids. We (young ones) were the cowboys.

Many days when Mom asked where I was going, I'd say, looking for birds nests or climbing trees.

D N'T get me started

Kids sure miss out this on a lot these days!

chick

I've got to send this post to my friend who grew up across the street from me. She'd love it. I've thought of her so much while reading through.

Petunia is right. She's got the game down pat.

Chick, I remember letting go and people flying through too. That was such fun. I'm smiling ear to ear just thinking about it. Always a trickster in the group.

JJ, you bounced? I guess that means you were just a teeny thing as a child. You sweet, precious little thing you!

Smile, I'd be all over jj for her comment!

Chick, what the heck is hard crack?

Sandpiper, I like your reason for writing.

Wordcharmer, sounds like we hung out in the same candy store. Was it a "five and dime"? I loved those stores. The candy aisle was endless.

Hi again. It is so good to chat with women who remember the childhood games and such. I am having so much fun remembering those times with my sisters. It is really great to know you all played the same games and with the same paperdolls and hula hoops, etc as we did.
It's interesting to find out when you grow up that the world was not so small after all. Do any of you remember Red Light...Green Light? Another game we played forever in the summer months was Statues. Anyone know of it?
Thanks for the welcomes. I appreciate it. We used to play cowboys and indians also with siblings and cousins. We had terrific times. I think kids nowdays don't have the opportunity to use their imaginations.All of their toys do the work for them. Bye for now.
Sandpiper

I ageee Sandpiper, all these kids want to do is sit on their behinds and play video or computer games....If they would just enjoy their childhood they could wait until adulthood and THEN sit on their butts at the computer and/or watch videos. OOps maybe they do what they see!!

Sandpiper ... I was going to mention "swing the statues." Is that the one you're talking about? We used to play it out in the front yard ... even after it got dark.

How about bike clubs? You used to be able to get the small license plates with your name on them or the state name. We'd attach them to the back or our bikes and it made it clear who was in our club.

Oh yeah, clipping playing cards with clothes pins to the back wheel.

It is good to remember together.

Hugs and blessings, Francine

Hard crack...

You toss your marble in the air(about a foot high), then pick up only one of five marbles from the ground without disturbing the others (automatic out if you do), then catch the one in mid air on its way back down at the same time. If the two hit together it's called hard crack, If they don't...soft crack.

Anyone ever bury treasure? We did all the time. Old jewelry and pennies, etc. I wish I had that old treasure map now. We buried stuff all over the place.
I have a metal detector that my Dad gave me, I should take it back to Canada and see if I can find some of the stuff. Wouldn't that be fun?

Chatty, that was funny. I wonder sometimes, what will our children be saying to their children about "when I was your age..."

Ok I have to ask, what is swing the statues and red light green light? Tag?

Love this topic.

chick

Red light, green light:

One person is the leader. They turn their back and stand quite a distance from the kids playing. Players all begin in a line facing the leader. Now wait a minute, how did that work? This may be it. The leader turned her back to the players. Every time she turned around she would say either "red light" or "green light". When she said "green light" the kids ran towards the leader. When she said, "red light" they had to stop in their tracks. If they moved, she sent them back to the start line. First one to reach her was the new leader.

Is that right? Help!

Hi,
Did you know that the Mary Engelbreit magazine has paper dolls in the back? Did that bring back memories the first time I saw them.
Yes, Writegirl now I would like to forget the hula hoops but back then they were fun.
Maggie

Dotsie,
Right on about Red Light..Green Light. That is exactly how it was played. We had lots of fun with that one. Little kids could play it and not get hurt.

Writegirl 1949 we played Statues way late at night. That seemed to be the only time our parents let us stay out after dark. Do you all remember when you'd get swung and fall on the ground, then feel the earth spinning beneath you? You felt like you could fly off the earth into outer space. Loved that one also.

Chickadee I never heard of Hard Crack before. Sounds like lots of fun. I'll have to ask my older siblings if they've ever heard of it. Bet it was lots of fun. Did you win often?

Maggie paper dolls were some of the most fun. You could play them by yourself and enter into a world all your own. Loved them. Glad to hear they are still around in places.

Maggie, great seeing you again!

There is a hul hoop at Curves. I haven't had the nerve to give it a whirl yet.

Thanks Dotsie, its good to be back.
Maggie

Maggie is never far away from us. She may not post, but she's here. Even if just in spirit!

Right Miss Maggie? Love you gal!

JJ

Gosh, I remember all these games and loved them. I think I was better at chinese or regular jump rope, roller skating, (my stage name was blue velvet we used to perform shows for ourselves in imaginary glittery costumes), and kickball. Bo Miller would kill me in Red Rover. He was the neighborhood bully then asked me out as a teenager! Like women forget huh?

My sister was the pro at jacks. No one could beat her. I now collect marbles; only ones I find. They seem to have meaning and until a few years ago I could tell you where I found each one. Now I only remember where I found them. My husband will pick up a stray from time to time for me also. They live in a wire form of a woman's shoe in our bathroom on a shelf. Most people remark about them. I just like to see them and remember.

My son, 6, does play computer games but primarily rides his bike and plays imaginary games. Trains and setting up elaborate rail yards is a favorite along wth making tents out of towels etc.

I think the main difference in the kids today is that the Mom's of the neighborhood are not home so the kids are at camp and not roaming the neighborhood in droves playing.

We were sent out in the morning and we did not come back until dinner unless we wound up in our yard at lunch time and the loaf of bread and peanut butter and jelly would come out with the kool aid and we are feasted.We usually ended up in a different yard each day but the food was the same.

It is satisfying to provide as close a situation as possible for the next generation.

Thanks for the great memories.

Lynn

What memories you brought back again Lynn. Playing in everyone's back or front yards. We were safe, didn't have to be watched every second. I remember all these games and having fun playing them. If someone was hurt whoevers yard we were in the mother would come out to help.
My parents both worked but the rules were strict. They always knew where I was or how to find me. Mom called to check in and I knew when to be home. I was a latch key kid before they ever thought of that and I am sure some of you were too.
JJ, you are so right I may not post everyday but I do check in when I can and am here in spirit.
Maggie

Lynn, my memories are so similar. Isn't it wild to think about how times have changed? Sometimes I walk the neighborhood and hardly see a child. So sad!

Maggie, you mention your mom always knowing how to find you. Just think...you didn't even have a cell phone and she could find you!

Hi Maggie, nice to have you here again.

I wonder what some of our grand kids will be saying to their children about growing up.

"When we were your age, we were on the computer communicating and researching or playing video games to hone our motor skills. We watched TV for news stories and movies to sharpen our creative minds. You youngsters are out running all over the neighborhood." "What's the world coming to?"

JJ, write us a funny on your take on this.

chick

oh, this has been a super topic to read through,
love what you said at the end Chick.

We used to play jacks all the time when I was at summer camp. I seem to recall being very good and both that and pick up sticks.

At home it was skates with skate keys. I think I spent most of my childhood roller skating, the bumpier and more downhill the better. Talk about a crazy kid!