Don't forget hide and seek, kick the can or watches that only told you what time it was, and it was analog. Records and free love.
Hmm what is decent? Are we talking about your decent or my decent? I'm just curious because I don't want to offend anyone else's decent...
It is true, we were told to be outdoors if it wasn't raining or freezing. The edict was to be back on the front porch by dark. If you wanted to come inside, you'd better be bleeding or planning to do chores. Anyone else remember what happened if the phone rang during dinner? Not a damn thing! No answering machine either, you just let it ring, and they'd call back if it was important. Anyone remember what happened if one of your friends called late at night (after 9 at my house)? Someone was getting an ass-whipping. Not sure how, but parents could somehow will your friends into telling who was on the line. Mind-boggling.
Not even going to get started on typewriters...
Also, some games I remember with my 3 brothers:
Buns-up - (played with a tennis ball against a garage door, involved getting hit really hard in the ass/back)
Speargrass - (near our bus stop in Austin, certain grasses grew that made perfect "spears", you'd pick a handfull of dry ones, then nail someone in the back!)
Pencil Wars - You'd try to break someone's pencil by striking it with yours while they held it sideways. If you didn't break it, they got yours, etc.)
Also, we'd stand under the streetlight in our cul-de-sac on summer nights and throw our shoes up in the air, then watch bats chase them almost to the ground. If you had the balls to stand under it and catch it, you were the "man!"
Polished Turd Racing
Mick wrote: "I think Jerrett is the best autocrosser I have ever seen naked."
We called this wall ball or spread eagle. Played with a raquet ball if we could find one.
I played this with a painted chopstick. I was snapping a lot of pencils before someone figured it outPencil Wars - You'd try to break someone's pencil by striking it with yours while they held it sideways. If you didn't break it, they got yours, etc.)
We had a neighborhood pool that was our babysitter for most of the summer. Every day we'd be at the pool when it opened until it closed.
We shot each other with play guns, darn it!
We used pump-action BB guns. One pump was "legal" for anything but far shots, in which case you could use an "appropriate" amount of pumps. When my brother got me in the side with one of those pointed hollow point BBs that had to be muzzle loaded, nobody would play with us after that![]()
We had 1000s of acres of state land less than 100 yards from our house growing up in NJ. So we'd just go in the woods and play. We'd get all camoed up at times too, and just generally try to kill each other without getting shot ourselves. There were a few old abandoned houses scattered about back there, but we'd try to keep those in somewhat good order for parties and whatnot.
We'd also ride our dirtbikes on that land, but mostly on the streets. That was when you'd get pulled over - if you didn't feel like running, or couldn't find a clearing into the woods soon enough - you'd just get told to walk the bike "home." Cop would follow you for about the worst 20 minutes of your life, then drive away so you could just ride to wherever you were going in the first place. About when I left the area was when they started suspending licenses and fines galore for riding on the streets...cops got fast 4-wheelers and would start chasing you inthe woods. As much fun as it was to run from that, kids that didn't have racing experience ended up getting seriously hurt. Ah..the good ole days
Playing with marbles. You set them up, drew your line, if the person hit they got to keep them. That was big in the early 80's.
Still a young 36 but 40 ain't far away.
Smile![]()
93' LE #1136 - FM II
250k miles
33 and I *never* played marbles. Were you born in mayberry?
This was in Albuquerque NM, had to have been 1980-82 or so.
Smile![]()
93' LE #1136 - FM II
250k miles
Those big lawn dart things? Remember "Klackers"? My brother and I saw some show about South American Gauchos who used something similar to hunt with. They wind up and throw those things at animals legs and it would get tangled up and trip the animal. Of course, we thought'd it be neat to have each other run around the yard while we threw the klackers at each other's feet.
Haha! We used screwdrivers instead of lawn darts. Throw as close to the outside edge of the other person's feet as you could. If you hit them, you lost and caught a beating. If you missed, they had to spread their legs out to where the screwdriver was in the ground. Repeat till someone bled or fell over from not holding a split.
Also remember when you could play in any yard in the neighborhood. We had two yards hat where "off limits” one had a big mean dog and other a WITCH lived there. A real live one. Years later I talked to her and was as nice as could be, but as a little kids she was scary as hell. Kind of like this
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Hmm what is decent? Are we talking about your decent or my decent? I'm just curious because I don't want to offend anyone else's decent...
I've still got my "Klackers" in a box somewhere. We called'em "Click-Clacks" back then. Mine are purple with silver metal flakes. Can't believe they banned them just because a few shattered and flew apart or a few kids got smacked upside the head with them. Also still have my Whee-Lo if anyone remembers those. And at the risk of this going in the gutter real quick... I could still have a "Wooly Willy".
We played a similar game using pocket knives only you started out with your feet spread as wide as you could get them. you took turns throwing the knife into the ground between the other persons feet. If it stuck in the ground then they'd have to move the foot closest to the knife to that new location. It continued until your feet were really close together and someone eventually chickened out (or got stuck in the foot).
Growing up in the country and having an electric cattle fence also provided amusement when our city friends would come out to visit. you'd get them really close to the fence then grab them first and then the fence (in that order). The electricity would flow through you with no effect but shock the crud out of them. That was always good for a lot of laughs (maybe not from them but for me anyway).
90 Red NA
91 Red NA
99 Triple Black NB "Dimples"