Brooklyn Back When - Open Thread

carol dl

SINCE IT IS AFTER MIDNITE I WILL SAY GOOD MORNING :sunny:
TO THE EARLY BIRDS WHICH I NEVER GET A CHANCE TO DO

HAVE A GOOD DAY !

millie d.

Suzie, I am so glad to hear the words "johnny pump" I am always being corrected when I say those words with, "its a fire hydrant". No, its a Johnny Pump.
Carol, good morning to you also.

marilyn horan

Hi Millie.

millie d.

good morning, what is planned for today

guzzo here

Subject: What did you do to occupy the kids?

Carol DL wrote: * What did you do to keep the kids busy without spending a fortune.

FESTINA

Well you know we have the artist in us & that means creativity.
For me my favorite toy was a wooden box (just like a suitcase) filled with art supplies. It seemed like the art supplies never ran out which meant lots of use for the money.
Mostly just being outdoors was all you needed also.

For my kids BIG card board boxes turned into houses with doors. windows,Saran wrap for window panes, mailslots to slip the mail in, they decorated it for Xmas in July. They created it .
The best part was my brother & his son (very tall) taking turns squeezing to get inside, the adults had fun too LOL

Ok this is messy but hours of fun, flour on the table and matchbox dumptrucks , cars, making roads. Then when I was not in the mood for the big mess with flour, I would use a can of shaving creme FOAM. Cover the table & create roads with the tiny trucks, plow the snow and the best was color some of the foam with a drop of blue food coloring and instant ocean.
Out would come the plastic whales etc... hours of play.

I have to say I sure miss watching that.

Now that was creative!!! I remember too the cardboard box and playing "roll down the hill" in it for hours. You just brought back a fun memory. How about jumping rope, and when no friends could come out to play, I would tie one end to a lattace fence, hold the other piece of the rope in my hand, and jump it myself...not that I couldn't just hold the two ends of the rope in both hands and jump it, but it was just more fun the other way, lol. Good ole days....

debbie bonavita mccarthy

Millie, I remember many days playing in the sprinkler of the Johnny Pump!!!

Festina, how about playing double dutch, twiggy was great at that!!!!!

anonymous

Subject: DAILY SLOPE

GOOD MORNING ALL

I AM HAVING COFFEE AND BAGEL (MY FAVORITE WORK BREAKFAST) I AM ALWAYS THE FIRST ONE IN. THIS IS MY PEACEFUL TIME BEFORE ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE IN HERE. I READ THE PAPER AND THAN GET ON THE COMPUTER AND SAY HI TO ALL OF YOU. (AND I GET TO HAVE A CIGARETTE OUTSIDE BEFORE 9:00)

ANYWAY, HAVE A BLESSED DAY AND I WILL PEEK BACK LATER

janet m horan

Morning all

Patsy: I love Lipstick Jungle but think I fell asleep before the end last night, wahhhhhhhhhh !!

Coffee Pot: If you can't find a store that sells them, try any store that sells camping equiptment. Probably even Wal-Mart.

millie d.

Debbie, I remember a time that when I fell into the water without a sprinkler on it and looked up, a truck was coming down the street while I was under. That was scary.

janet m horan

We were dangerous with the Johnny Pump, especially when you went in front and your friends let it go full strength and you flew across the street into a parked car !! I can believe none of us broke our bones.

old goat in fl

Subject: Re: Coffee pot with pencil inside

Guzzo here wrote: [quote=Carol DL]FESTINA

I was mentioning to my in law what you said about the kids playing with the coffee pot. You made her laugh because she remembers a day many years back they were waiting for the coffee to brew & it was taking way to long so she opened it and there was a #2 yellow pencil in there in place of the stem. The kids replaced a part ! and she was to blind to see it was a pencil. She still has her pot also....... WITH THE STEM.

I guess I wasn't the only one who didn't spend a fortune in Toy's R Us to keep the kids busy (only for them to get bored again after 2 minutes!!) LOL!
Years ago, (did I just sound like my MOTHER, Oh NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! - we were so much more creative with the kids in having their time occupied. The coffee pot for instance, or sitting with them and coloring, or taking them to enjoy a day in the sprinkler at Dyker Park in Brooklyn, then a hot dog from Mike's stand outside.

What did you do to keep the kids busy that didn't cost a fortune?
Anybody? Just chime in if you want.

But thanks for the laugh, Carol. Me and mom appreciated it!! lv u fes xxoo

This is a bit of a twist on the "What did you do to keep the kids busy?" When I was a very small brat (about 150 years ago) I was told that I would go into my Mothers cabinets, pull out pots and pans and use them as drums. When I got tired of that I would find my Mothers clothespins (long before clothes dryers) and play with them as if they were toy soldiers. Times were rough but my Mother & Father dug up enough money at Christmas and bought me a little toy drum and a set of wooden soldiers. They told me I played with them for about 10 minutes and then went to the cabinets for the pots & pans and clothespins. I guess I never really changed because all the years I lived in Park Slope up until I was I was in my 60"s in NJ I would go out at midnite New Years eve and bang pots & pans and blow a bugle!!! When I first came to Florida I tried it but it was so quiet here New Years eve I felt like I was waking the dead

millie d.

YOU REMEMBER THAT?????????????

millie d.

J, I must have been 87 pounds back then lol.

karendritto

Pots and Pans on New Years Eve!! I remember that so well. My neighborhood in SI has some Brooklynites so pots and pans aren't quite taboo! Fireworks seem to be the thing though.

Clothespins! My oldest nephew (he's 36) always played with the clothespins and the yellow bucket my mother kept them in. They kept him occupied for hours! After she passed away, he asked for and got the yellow bucket, clothespins and all. I've never seen his children playing with it so I guess it's in the "Grandma Hall of Memories"! I'll have to ask him about that bucket.

Johnny pumps in the summer! We had a sprinkler cap on the one on 6th Ave. & 20th St. Wasn't quite so much fun but once in a while one of the guys took the cap off and the fun began. Nothing or noone was spared!

Another memory I have is learning to roller skate - the old kind, that came with the key and then you had to tie them on with string cause the keys always got lost! - equipped with pillows on my rear and knees! And no helmet! I'm still here to tell the tale!! Remember sharing your skates if your friend didn't have them or their siblings were using them? I learned how to ride a bike in much the same way!! Pillows and prayers. What a way to go!

Back to work. Hopefully I'll get back later. Enjoy the pretty day!

millie d.

Karen, that is something you should send to Marilyn for her book!

janet m horan

Warren: We always banged the pots and pans at midnight. When I first moved down to NC, up on the mountain top, I felt like a fool going out there on my porch to bang the pots. But, I did it anyway, lol. I only had one neighbor at the time and she must have been startled out of her sleep and thought I was crazy, he he he.

millie d.

OMG, I am a local now............

janet m horan

You know MILLIE, there is no help menu that I can find on this blog. I wanted to see when and why it changes from regular to local, etc, but can't find anywhere to search.

janet m horan

Just tried to search the web site again, but do not see any help or contact link.

millie d.

I was looking at the total of posts, it may be after 200 and then you are a local.

janet m horan

We will see what happens after 300

janet m horan

I have to run 3 of the grandkids to the dentist

janet m horan

WOW, now I am an insider after 300 posts, lol.

old goat in fl

I see messages from Staten Island quite often. Just wanted you in S.I. to know that it was considered "Country" years ago. In my pre-teen years I used to go to a YMCA summer camp located in Princess Bay. We used to buy special savings stamps all year at the Prospect Park YMCA on 9th street. When we had enough saved for two weeks in camp we made our reservations. School busses would line up in front of the Y and we would load on for the "Big Journey" to Camp Pratt. The nearest landmarks to the camp were a Dental Factory which made false teeth and a retreat camp for Monks or Priests. When our Parents visited us on Sunday they would take the 5th Ave Trolley or the 4th Ave BMT to the ferry. In those days there was a Terminal at 39th Street as well as 69th Street. On the SI side they would either take the bus or the Staten Island Rapid Transit System train. Believe me, this place was in the woods. A special treat for campers would be an occasional trip in the camp truck to Tottenvills and back to the Camp. We were swimming in water that was so close to the Channel that we could wade out in Low Tide and practicaly touch tankers going by. One thing I will never forget are the Horshoe Crabs. Man they were all over the place. Both my brothers became counselors in the camp.

guzzo here

Subject: She found the coffee pot!

Debbie Bonavita McCarthy wrote: Girls, I found the coffee pot in a hardware store, believe it or not!!!

Hooray Debbie!!! Enjoy it!

karendritto

Warren - I love your stories!! I don't think Camp Pratt exists anymore. If it's the area I'm thinking of, it belongs to the Archdiocese of New York and at one time housed a camp, Camp St. Edward (I believe). The reigning Archbishop of NY used to vacation on the land. The church that's (still)there, Mount Loretto, was the same church used in the baptismal scenes of the original Godfather movie. Another part of the land was used as an orphanage for boys. My history isn't anywhere near as good as yours though so some of this might be wrong. The expanse of land has been made into a park but everything else surrounding it are houses, houses and more houses. My mother would always say that if you bent over to pick up your hankie, they'd build a house on your ass in SI! How right she was. The SI (not-so) Rapid Transit still exists. It runs from Tottenville to the ferry terminal. It's probably the only bargain on SI - it's $2 and if you get off before the ferry terminal - the ride is free!

guzzo here

Subject: Old time games

Debbie Bonavita McCarthy wrote: Festina, we used to play hopscotch, skellsies (spell check) hide and seek and my favorite, ring and run!!! LOL

Loved hopscotch. I still play with my grand-daughter today!

old goat in fl

Karen, you rang the memory bell with Mt Loretto. Believe it or not we used to play the boys from Mt Loretto softball etc:. I know that Camp Pratt is gone. As a matter of fact I worked in another YMCA camp in PA for one summer, It was called Camp Brooklyn. Camp Pratt was already on the way to closing way back in the early 50's. The Dental factory I mentioned was right at the waters edge in Princess Bay.

guzzo here

Subject: Re: Coffee pot with pencil inside

"Times were rough but my Mother & Father dug up enough money at Christmas and bought me a little toy drum and a set of wooden soldiers. They told me I played with them for about 10 minutes and then went to the cabinets for the pots & pans and clothespins."

Nice to meet you, Warren. I remember the pots and pans days too on New Years Eve. That was so fun! My mom and I had a good laugh! She said to tell you it was after that that we graduated to fireworks!!! And, boy, was that awesome on 21st street! My block...
Mom used to let my kids open the cabinets and take all the canned goods out, and they used to just stack them, knock them down, then re-stack them for hours, and it cost nothing but an occassional mess.

Were you at the reunion? ..and sorry if I missed it in the blog if you mentioned it, but where did you grow up?
Festina

guzzo here

Subject: Jumping Double-Dutch

Debbie Bonavita McCarthy wrote: Millie, I remember many days playing in the sprinkler of the Johnny Pump!!!

Festina, how about playing double dutch, twiggy was great at that!!!!!

That was so cool! I could definately see Twiggy whippin' it!!
But the girls did have to be able to come out on that day - there was just no winging double-dutch!! Loved those days!!!