Late answer

Dotsie, we played out side I guess as much as anyone. It depended on the activities. Drawing pictures or playing board games happened indoors; running around was outdoors because in small apartments, if we ran around inside Mom would kill us!

Meredith, the only place I've seen kids playing while visiting New York is Central Park. I would have loved to play there as a kid.

[ February 16, 2005, 02:57 PM: Message edited by: Dotsie ]

My sisters and I used to play like we were on a boat and we'd put the cushions from this couch we had on the floor and sit on those and pretend the floor was water... We all really used our imaginations back then didn't we?

We played between the buildings and sometimes on the roof of buildings. I grew up in Queens, which has more "running around" space than Manhattan. I remember "ice skating" in the concrete area where we had community clotheslines. We'd hold on to the clothesline with our gloves and someone gave us a push! Smaller kids (who couldn't reach the line) threw their scarf over the line and held on to their scarf when we pushed. We played steeplechase by jumping over bushes. We played spy by going past the No Trespassing signs (and guess who was always the leader?? ) I also used to lead excursions climbing roofs where we weren't supposed to be, and sometimes going from one roof to another either by jumping or swinging across on a tree branch. Plus jumping from the stoop onto the sidewalk. Or chalk games like hopscotch on the sidewalk or in the middle of the street. We'd just move off the street when a car needed to drive by. Or stickball in the middle of the street. The game was declared OVER ASAP when someone hit a ball through a house or car window!!

See, there were a lot of places to play!

Mamma, I recall doing that!

meredith, sound like fun. those were the good old days. We played in the street too. There wasn't nearly as much traffic back then.

Did you relaize what a dare devil you were back then? the roof top play was over the top. Don't you think?

I was never one for other people's boundaries, especially if I deemed them arbitrary. I knew how far I could jump, and if the roof was within that distance I figured it was fair game.

When I led the roof-jumping expeditions, I only took the kids whom I knew had the ability to do the jump.

I always wanted to jump from roof top to roof top. It seemed like a great way to move about the neighborhood unnoticed.

I think I would have used Meredith's predictor of is it in my ability.

Nice to know about. Wonder if kids still do it.

Lynn

A couple of summers ago some boys got into the Mobile Home Resort I live in and were trying to break into some of the RV's in the lot and the police were called. When they showed up the boys scattered and several climbed up on to a roof and were running on the rooftops towards the main gate. I know one got away but one kid got caught. Funny site seeing them jump from roof to roof....No one can figure out how they got past the main gate, probably over the wall...

We played in caves in a bluff over the river behind my granny's house. There would sometimes be wolves and fox in them, but they would leave when we found the cave. Can't blame them for that. They were probably terrified of my and all my cousins. We had to be careful of rattlers though.
My sister and I always did a little home improvement on the caves with curtains and candles and sometimes the boys dug them bigger.
The nearest house was about a mile away so there was no jumping from roof to roof for sure. Instead we did a lot of swinging on the grapevines in the trees along the bluff. The bluff was straight up probably three or four stories from the river and we would swing out over the bluff on the grapevines. I guess the vines were pretty strong and of course we were pretty skinny. No one ever fell.
We also tried smoking the grapevines. Not a good idea. Probably what prevented me from ever becoming a smoker.
smile