Summer Dreams - 1978

I grew up in Bushwick, Brooklyn. On my block I would say there were about 10 to 12 apartment buildings on each side of the street, and buildings ranged from 3 to 4 floors, with two apartments on each floor. A whole lot of people lived on that block, which meant a whole lot of kids.

As I watched the kids in my suburban neighborhood ride their bikes around and enjoy the warm weather, I starting reminiscing about the games I played on the streets while hanging with my friends at the age of 10.

SKELLYclick title to learn more.

That was my look, jeans cut into shorts and tube socks up to the knees. LOL.

Also known as "skully, "skellsies" etc. this game was what all the boys would play. All you needed was some chalk, bottle caps and at least one other player, but room can be made for many more. You started out by drawing a large square on the sidewalk or street. The playing field look like this.



The goal of the game was for each player to take turns skillfully flicking his bottle cap through the numbered boxes in ascending and descending order. The first player to do so would get bragging rights for the day. If you were really good you could get from box to box in one flick, and if you did you got to go again, but often it took more than one try. You also were allowed to hit a competitors bottle cap if he was getting to close to reaching the box he was aiming for. It not only put them behind, but allowed you to advance to the next numbered box. But, if you missed his cap, you would lose a turn.

I played this game for hours and would end up at the end of the day with the dirty hands, scraped finger tips and sunburn on my neck. It was awesome.

My favorite bottle cap was a metal coke bottle cap with clay in it. It provided good weight and would blast my opponents' caps off the Skelly court.