OVER MY SHOULDER

During the past few weeks, we have spent some time attending grand
children activities----one of the great benefits of being retired is that one can usually get away to go to such functions. There have been Little League Basketball games, AAU track meets, school Musicals, and school music programs. As I attended these programs, and observed the games and activities that todays youth have, I could not help but think of the games and entertainment that we had when I was a youngster.

There were no ‘organized’ programs outside of the school---no little league basketball, no little league baseball, no AAU Track (at least in our neighborhood), no Kids Wrestling etc. The only non-school athletic activities involved ‘sand lot’ games that we might get together in the neighborhood or at a social function. We did not attend many such activities that were sponsored by the school. I played in the first football and basketball game that I ever saw.

I look around kids rooms today, and it almost looks like a department store, all kinds of box games, and electronic games, several footballs, basketballs, and softballs or baseballs, along with T.V. games and or Computer games are present.
Then there is the T.V. and VCR’s and in most cases several shelves of Videos,----rental Videos are available, as are multiple movies at the local cinema----a far cry from those activities that were available when I was a kid.

We of course did not have a T.V.---no one did until I was in college---then it was several years later when my folks got the ‘tube’. When I was young, we did have an old radio that operated from a 6 volt battery that was charged during the day by the wind charger that was mounted on the smoke house, so that we could play the radio at night. When I was in upper Junior High or early high School, we did get electricity, and a little later, an electric radio. I did not have a record player until I was out of college---my college room mate did have a small 45 player that we used on occasions. I do recall that some had one of the old Victrolas that ‘cranked up’ to play those large old records.

The only movies that were available were the ‘tent movies’ that would be shown at a vacant lot in town on Saturday night. They were called tent movies, because the walls of a tent would be set up, and the movie would be shown on the side of the building. If you had a nickel or a dime you could get into the movie---if you were ‘crafty’, you might sneak in under the tent in some far corner---but not many tried this. Later, movies were shown on a screen in the upstairs of the old Stowe Hall---still a nickel or a dime---sometimes, we could afford to go and sometimes we could not.

We played a lot of different games----most of the time, we were expected to entertain ourselves. We had a few ‘box’ games available---Checker, Chinese Checkers, several playing card games---- Rook, Old Maid, Slap Jack, Crazy 8, Books, --- and the adults played Pitch and Pinochle.

On days that we could not get outside, we would play some of these games, or play ‘Cat and Mouse’ (the X’s and O’s), hangman, or draw pictures or make up stories that we would write in our “Big Chief” tablet. Usually these would be evening games-- if it was too bad to be outside, we would often make up games in the barn. One of my favorite places was in the hay mow---where we could swing from hay pile to hay pile on the ropes from the hay fork, or ‘hand walk’ along the hay fork track, or build ‘caves’ in the bales of hay, or play tag. Sometimes, we would play hide and seek in the barn.

Then there was always the ‘corn cob’ fights, and the ‘rubber gun’ battles. The rubber gun was a piece of lumber cut into the shape of a gun, with a clothes pen either tied or taped to the handle, Strips of rubber would be cut from an old inner tube, clipped in the clothes pen and stretched over the end of the ‘gun’----then when one squeezed the clothes pen it would release the strip of rubber and------if you were accurate it would strike your intended target.

Most of the time we would play out side---there were field games such as tag, Red Rover, King of the Mountain, anteover, and hide and seek that were a lot of fun. We spent a lot of time hunting in the timber or along the hedge rows or fishing, in the pond or in the Irish Branch----usually with worms that we dug behind the barn or around the old chicken house, or with grasshoppers that we would catch and put in a tobacco can that was always around. Sometimes, we would use minnows that we would seine just below the riffle in the creek, or in one of the many little branches that emptied into the creek. Of course we would often end up swimming in the pond or in the the creek----often with a couple of old inner tubes used to float one around, or to dive through.

Then there was always the exploring trips---along the hedge row west of the house, in the timber, or in the small shallow caves along the Creek. One could spend hours on these outings, and do nothing but look at rocks, rattle squirrels nests in the grape vines or with rocks or hedge balls, or dig in and investigate all of the ‘good stuff’ in the local junk piles. On these outings, there was always bee trees to find, livestock and wildlife to observe, and rocks to skip over the water in the creek or the pond.

Sometimes, we would ‘roll out hoops’----yes there was such a thing. We would build a ‘T’ shaped handle---a stick or board about 30 inches long with a small board about 8 inches long across the lower end was used to roll the metal hoop that came from the hub of one of the old wooden wagon wheels. This hoop was about 8 or 9 inches in diameter and was fun to roll down the handle and then to push and follow around objects in the yard--along the drive way and along the road. Sometimes, we would roll by hand an old tire, or one of the larger metal hoops that had come from some of the old wooden wheels.

Most of our ‘toys’ were home made---often from spools that were left over from Mom’s sewing, with nails and scraps of wood from Dad’s shop. We made trucks, cars, tractors, wagons or about any toy that we wanted. Then of course there was always the ‘beanie flipper’---made from the crotch of a tree limb----the limb formed a ‘V’ --- a handle was left at the bottom ----strips of rubber inner tubes were tied to the upper part of the ‘V’-- a piece of leather---a piece of an old leather shoe worked best---was tied between the two strips of rubber. If one found a fairly round rock about the size of ones thumb, a marble (usually we did not use marbles, as they were a part of other games), or a ball bearing, and with a careful aim you could knock a tin can over at 20 paces, or even on occasions knock a blackbird out of the top of one of the big old cedar trees in the front yard.

Sometimes we would make a ‘mallet’ from a couple of pieces of wood, and ‘knock’ a tin can around----usually, we would make a game of it to see who could be the most accurate, or who could score the most points---how ever we decided that points would be scored. ----Mom always preferred that we play this rather than---’kick the can’----which consisted of kicking a can from one place to another---this was rather hard on shoes. We usually played this one while bringing the cows up from the south pasture, or when walking from one place to another.

We always had a swing in one of the big trees in the yard that was fun to play in, and we always had Corky to play with and to take exploring with us. There are many simple games that we made up and played for entertainment and relaxation---but time and space does not allow discussion of all of them.

No we did not have the organized games, and all of the fancy and great toys that kids have today, but we enjoyed what we did have, and I am not sure but what we had just as much (maybe more) fun than they have today----and we learned to entertain ourselves, and learned a lot of logic and organizational skills along with it----I don’t remember of being bothered by one of the maladys of kids today---”bored”. LDC