My brothers and I enrolled in John Clancy which required a walk through the woods to get to class. These woods were so interesting to us that we built a stick house there. Sort of like a club house only it was breezy.
School was not what we looked forward to. The fifteen minutes mid morning and the lunch break is what we relished. We engaged in games such as tops and marbles. The Yo-Yo's came later.
These games began with a circle in the dirt with the target circle in the middle. This is where you put your trading marbles or tops. The skill was to dislodge these 'up for grabs' items with the careful accuracy of your shooter. If you were lucky to have one, it was a steely. A steely is a giant ball bearing that has the weight to move the cache of marbles at the center. If you develop the skill, you can scatter the group with just one shot. Bowlies are giant glass marbles that also have the mass but not weighty enough to compete with steelies. Steelies rule the ring. These were ball bearings taken from the stash at the many garage shops around the Big Easy. All the marbles you knock out of the ring are yours to keep. The ones that stay in the ring you must continue to shoot for. Many a day, I came home with a sack of marbles greater than when I started with at the cost of the other players. Life was good on those days
Tops were played that invested much thought into making your shooter top deadly. The psychological advantage was important. I had a prize top I painted bright yellow. An egg shaped onion top and studded with nail heads all designed to maintain revolutions which seems to be the key to dislodging stationary tops in the center ring. The spindle was sharpened to cause gouges which is a sign of dominance. When your top enters the circle it does damage. We had many spindle designs so that we could change them to accommodate the circumstance. There was one spindle design that we hammered flat so that when it impacted the dirt it would dislodge a top by digging a trench like a shovel.
Tops were played that invested much thought into making your shooter top deadly. The psychological advantage was important. I had a prize top I painted bright yellow. An egg shaped onion top and studded with nail heads all designed to maintain revolutions which seems to be the key to dislodging stationary tops in the center ring. The spindle was sharpened to cause gouges which is a sign of dominance. When your top enters the circle it does damage. We had many spindle designs so that we could change them to accommodate the circumstance. There was one spindle design that we hammered flat so that when it impacted the dirt it would dislodge a top by digging a trench like a shovel.
Psychological warfare with tops was just one of the tools we learned. By the time I retired this yellow onion top was full of gouges from having been in many of these circles of warfare.
The string that one uses to wind around the top is equally important. There were many tricks to this string. Once you got the number of wraps right you then wax the tightly wound cord by pulling it over a candle. You still had to replace it regularly. The wax added life to the string...so anything that helps the longevity of this essential item was well worth it.
The string that one uses to wind around the top is equally important. There were many tricks to this string. Once you got the number of wraps right you then wax the tightly wound cord by pulling it over a candle. You still had to replace it regularly. The wax added life to the string...so anything that helps the longevity of this essential item was well worth it.
9ppp Throwing the top is learned through practice. Side arm like a baseball is best. The string whips in an arc. Sometimes a button helps save your finger from being strangled by the leash. The correct finger is the middle finger. That way you have a little more control over the physics of tops. This is a game of precision.
After the season of marbles and tops passed we picked up on yo-yo's. The science of yo-yos is also a discipline. One starts by being able to make the thing sleep which is stopping at the bottom of the throw. Then you can walk the dog and do other tricks like shoot the moon or around the world or rock the baby. Tommy Smothers had the yoyo moves down on his TV show.
After the season of marbles and tops passed we picked up on yo-yo's. The science of yo-yos is also a discipline. One starts by being able to make the thing sleep which is stopping at the bottom of the throw. Then you can walk the dog and do other tricks like shoot the moon or around the world or rock the baby. Tommy Smothers had the yoyo moves down on his TV show.
The other tricks get progressively harder and more and more time is needed for perfect execution. Go to any hobby shop and they will pull out the yo-yo display. Again, the string is the key to good yo-yo-ing. Getting the twist just right is essential. The string is separated and double back on itself so there is a loop at the end. You open this loop to mount it on the spindle. This loop is the ultimate weakness. Always carry a spare.
Nowadays, the library is the place to start looking for books on these games. We learned the hard way.... at the playground from the bigger kids. Life is hard and then you die.
Nowadays, the library is the place to start looking for books on these games. We learned the hard way.... at the playground from the bigger kids. Life is hard and then you die.
The jungle gym was interesting for exercise. The girls liked to climb and the boys would taunt them to climb higher. These recess breaks were only ten minutes long. Not enough time to even get started with a program of development. It was barely enough time to use the restroom.
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