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| Freddy on a hot summer's day on Chauncey St. c. 1948 |
Chauncey St. was designated a PAL street for
the summer. The street was closed to traffic. Delivery trucks, fruit men, and
junkies were all diverted. The city provided camp organizers, games, craft
materials, permission to use the fire hydrants, and mostly anything needed to
keep the neighborhood kids busy for the summer. We had use of pick-up-sticks,
jacks, art supplies, playing cards, and a shower attached to the fire hydrant.
We would be outside from early mornings ‘til the street lights turned on,
unless, of course, our mothers called us in for meals. On especially hot nights,
we were allowed to stay out ‘til 9:00, as long as we stayed on the stoop.
My sister, Mary, was interested in dress
design, and somehow she acquired “modeling dolls.” They were similar to Barbie
dolls, which we didn’t have then. When I was sick or alone, I got permission to
play with these dolls. Using scraps of fabric, scarves, and ribbons, I could
design all sorts of elaborate outfits for these dolls.
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| Patsy played Potsy |
I’m sure everyone interested in games of
this era has heard of stickball, boxball, Johnny on the Pony, hopscotch,
jump rope, street skating (with metal wheels), roller rink skating (with wooden
wheels), handball, and on and on. We did not play hopscotch. Instead, we
played a similar game called Potsy. The boxes for Potsy are arranged in a
different configuration. To us, it was a very significant difference, like
being a Dodger as opposed to being a Yankee fan.
Whenever a mother’s clothesline broke, we would
rejoice. The old clothesline became a new jump rope for the kids in the
neighborhood. Never mind the poor mother. Her wash lay in the dirty alleyway,
and it would have to be washed again, on a wooden scrub board by very chapped
hands. Jump rope was a big sport. I can still turn double-dutch, although I
don’t think I could jump it anymore.
© 2013, Patricia Jones
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