Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Games people PLAY

I think everyone has a favorite game.The favorites change as we age. I can’t remember any child hood games before 4 or 5. I remember playing bus driver. I laid out a bus with rocks and bricks drove a stake up and put an old wagon wheel on the stick to make the steering wheel. I spent hours sitting on a block opening an imaginary door to let riders on and off. I played hop scotch but didn’t let the boys see me.





I got a used Indian bicycle when I was six. At that time we lived in Burlington, NC and had sidewalks to ride on. I got a Yo-yo, there were Jack-rocks. (Still can’t figure why we called them jack rocks!) At seven I started making and flying kites.







I think in Albemarle was when we started table games, Parcheesi, Sorry and the complicated one, Monopoly. That is a bad game for a devious boy. I always stole from the bank when I played with Shirl. Remember passing GO you collected $200, I usually collected $300 or $400 (we operated the bank on the honor system and my honor wasn’t too good!). I remember the names were pronounced in Southerneze. Especially the chance card that read ‘ take a ride on the Reading RR if you pass go collect $200’. WE said it like it was printed, like you read a book. Who in the name of common sense would have thought it was ‘Redin’ RR. Y’all from Pennsylvania have a rough time with pronunciations.




About 8-9yrs old, skating was big. I know you remember the steel wheels and skate keys. AT nine I was playing marbles.

Anyway I don’t remember any games in Valdese, except I learned to really spin a top there. I learned a game in Valdese I think was native only to Valdese. PEGGY was the name of the game. Using a stick cut from the woods, and trimming a peg about six inches long, sharp on one end. There was an art of laying one peg crossed another one and hitting the pointed end to make it go into the air end over end, just beside the hitter. You then tried to hit the peg in the air. When you hit it, you had to guess how many steps/jumps you could call without your opponent being able to reach it in that number. Scores were added. And the loser had to ‘root the Peg’. The winner got to drive a peg into the ground with his ‘stick’ the number of times he had won by. The loser then had to pull the peg with his teeth. Girls did not play this game.



Sherry taught me Spin the bottle and Post office (what did we do in the post office game, I forgot?)


Later it was bowling. But games have been part of society for thousands of years. They pass the time and entertain. Some keep you physically fit. Now we play card games on the computer. WE also have a States game, where you have to place all states in place. On a blank USA map, it is tough to place Nebraska and Kansas properly.


Did you have a favorite game?
Thanks for coming this way.
Nite Shipslog
PS:
A foolish husband says to his wife, "Honey, you stick to the washin', ironin', cookin' and scrubbin'. No wife of mine is gonna "work"."

Sherry wanted to marry a military man - he could cook, sew, and make beds and was in good health, and he was already used to taking orders.








10 comments:

Dar said...

Yeah to Sherry, she sure had the right idea about marrying military...already trained. My first marriage was military, but poorly trained, and cheated at all games, especially the game of life. Now, my present DH of 30 yrs., he's a keeper. Not only trained, but doesn't mind helping me out at all. He stays.
Games as a child, hmmmm, I still think jumping rope and hanging from one by my knees in the hay loft, was a favorite, seeing who could cross a slippery log across the creek without getting wet was a farm girls delight if she could also get her brothers wet in the process...and riding my horses standing on their backs at the same time. It took some finesse but I got pretty good at it...it was like countrykid olympics. We were too poor for real store bought games...but I do remember playing jacks. I never did get beyond the 'sixzies'...
Great post Jack and thanks for memory lane...
Blessya

Sheila Y said...

I remember the board games you mentioned,I had/have some of them. I remember one I had when I was young called 'PayDay'. Played 'Aggravation'(have one now too) and 'Trouble'. We used to play 'Rook' with friends. Now we usually play 'Mexican dominoes' I think some call it Mexican train, but we use one set of regular dominoes. I'll stop now before I think of others. Take care, Sheila
PS. I had a 'partridge family' game too...ha.

shirl72 said...

I was good at playing Jacks. We jumped rope, and high jump with the rope. We jumped planked.
Played Tag, "Dodge Ball". Bum Bum Bum here I come ready are not "Hide and Seek". Love to skate on the sidewalk. We finally graduated to
croquet. Now it is Charades, Scrabble and Bocce
when we feel like leaving our Rocking Chairs.

Shirl

Anonymous said...

WITH FOUR GIRLS AND THEIR MAMA THAT ALSO LIKED TO PLAY 'JACKS' THEY OFTEN DID'NT FIND ALL THE JACKS WHEN TIRED OF PLAYING AND JUMPING UP TO DO OTHER THINGS.
I HAD TOLD THE GIRLS, MOTHER AND I WILL FIND THE LOST JACKS TONIGHT WHEN WE ARE BAREFOOT ON THE WAY TO THE BATHROOM. sam

Anonymous said...

Only thing currently able to say, that i wish for people to be able to seperate what's a game and what's not - and for me, to be able to get lost into one again.
Thank you for this rather uplifting entry of yours. Please have you two a wonderful Wednesday.

Paula said...

Oh you found my jacks. I liked to play all the games and there were so many different one. No TV, no computer, no nothing so we played outside. I loved Annie Over.

betty said...

this was fun to read, Jack. Brought back lots of memories. I wonder if kids play half the games you mentioned. I loved playing jacks; could play for hours. We used to play a lot of card games too, sadly I forgot the rules for a lot of them, but always had a good time with them.

thanks for the memories

betty

Fred Alton said...

Hmmm. Takes me a long way back to remember playing Marbles, Mumbley Peg, Jacks, making and using Slingshots, Bows and arrows, Stick-ball, Making a Football out of an empty oat-meal box, and then coming to board-games. I remember when we got that Monopoly board that Daddy (being a preacher who preached against dice and gambling) would not allow us to use dice. He made us a cardboard spinner, numbered from 1-12, so it essentially worked as the dice would have, giving us the number of moves to make with each spin. Now, with the introduction of TA (Transactional Analysis) we play grown-up games in which one of the three parts of our psyche are displayed (Parent, Adult and Child). It's fun to watch those games being played. Well - at least part of the time it's fun!!! :D ☺

Lucy said...

I loved playing jacks if I could find a flat enough surface. No one would play board games except checkers. That was because all we had was a checker board. I am wracking my brain as to when you all watched me do whatever It was I did wrong. You all are so computer savvy and I come tagging along behind. Anyhow it must not have been to bad.

Rose said...

Loved this Post.

You seemed to have already named all my childhood favorite games and they didn't cost a fortune like today's games children play with.

Thanks for the nice memories!

Hugs, Rose