Childhood Games

We were talking the other day, husband and I, about how we spent our summers when we were kids.
Forget TV. There was only one channel for the longest time. And one TV in the house.      
Forget computers. The stuff of science fiction.
Forget cell phones. These existed only in the comics and in science fiction.
Forget any kind of on-screen games. Truly science fiction!

We didn't need any kind of gadgets that could get you hooked and hold you hostage. No, we spent pretty well every waking moment outside. And what did we do outside? We ran, jumped, skipped, and played team games.

– Red Rover – The more players, the more fun. Two equal numbered teams [minimum three players each] inked arms and faced each other. One team yelled, "Red Rover, Red Rover send [usually who they perceived the weakest], Cathy over!" Cathy ran toward what she thought was the weakest link in the opposite team and tried to break through. If she succeeded, she took one of the players and returned to her team. If she didn't, the usual case for Cathy, she joined the team she tried to break through. The object of the game was to get all the players on one side, which became the winning team.

Because there were so many kids in the neighborhood, we always had 6 to 8 member teams. And we played on the front lawn of our house, certainly trampling and killing what grass there was. My parents weren't fussy about the landscaping [not with six kids] so we did a lot of playing there.

–Eevy Ivy Over , also known as Eevy I over or Anny I over, or any number of other names.
Again, two teams of players, one on each side of the house. Team one hollered "Eevy Ivy Over" and threw the ball over the roof of the house. Players from team two, on the other side of the house tried to catch the ball before it hit the ground. If they did, they raced around to the other side and threw the ball at a player from team one. If the player was hit, he had to join team two. If not, the player who missed had to now stay with team one. However if no one caught the ball when it was thrown over the roof, then that team threw it back over, hollering the words again. And again, the object of the game was to get all the players on one side.

– The block one street over was undeveloped and grassy. We called it "The Field" and got our friends together to play baseball there. Fewer players – we played scrub. Lots of players – we made teams and played softball. We had permanent bases and paths to run. Every once in a while someone would hit a homerun and the outfielders, usually Cathy among them, had to hunt through high grass and shrubs to find the ball. If we lost the ball – game over. And someone was in trouble with their parents. Usually only one person had a bat and a ball. Most everyone else had baseball mitts, often borrowed from their brothers.

If we couldn't make it to The Field, and there were only three or four of us, we played scrub on an empty lot four houses away from mine. Handy and quick, within earshot of parents, it was a great place to play on an early summer evening before dark. When it got dark, and if the sky was clear, we would sit on a hill there and watch the stars, looking for constellations, for shooting stars, and for Sputnik to orbit past. It seemed we could see the Milky Way from one and to the other. A most thrilling sight, which I'm sad to say I haven't seen in years because of all the light pollution surrounding us.

Time marches on, things changed. We kids grew older, found different interests, went to junior high, then high school and on. The Field was developed. As was the lot at the end of our block – the hill was flattened, a church was built. 

Olden days, my kids would call it. Did any of them play the games we played when we were young? I'll be asking.

– Cat