WE played outdoors always....kick the can...hide and seek....baseball and catch...snowmen, sliding, snow tunnels and forts, snowball fights, eating icicles, skating, ....swimming,...mud pies...biking...sling-shots and guns...toy and real guns..cowboys and Indians, home made bows...fishing...tag..leap frog...red rover..camps...tree houses...play-houses in woods...king of castle...skipping.





We made pets of the pigs...rode the cows..had cow-flapper fights..played on swings and teeter-totters...in wood pile and in dirt..picked berries...played cards in old cars...read comics...played marbles...walked and walked...had grass fires...firecrackers, caps and cap guns...yo-yos and old car tires to roll or to burn.



There was always something to do in those days. We didn’t have computer games or electronic toys, and the nearest thing we had to a mobile phone, were two Cocoa tins, one on each end of a length of string. But we always found something to do that although sometimes annoying to adults, was never vicious or cruel to them.
If you were playing out near your house you could nip indoors and get the cowboy guns you got last Christmas. If not, any lump of wood could be used as a rifle or six-shooter. If the worse came to the worst you used your fingers. A closed fist with a bent index finger was always a ray-gun. Thumb pointing upwards with index finger pointing straight forward was a six-shooter for when you were Roy Rogers or Hop-a-long Cassidy. We made toys from junk combined with vivid imaginations.

Red rover, red rover, send [name of player on opposite team] right over." or "Red Rover, Red Rover, let [name of player of opposing team] come over." The immediate goal for the person called is to run to the other line and break the chain (formed by the linking of hands). If the person called fails to break the chain, this player joins the team which called "Red rover". However, if the player successfully breaks the chain, this player may select either of the two "links" broken by the successful run, and send them to join the team that had been called out. The other team then calls out "Red rover" for a player on the first team, and play continues. When only one player is left on a team, they must try and break through a link. If they do not succeed, the opposing team wins. Otherwise, they are able to get a player back for their team.


Kick the can (also known as Tip the can) is a children's game which can be played outdoors, with as many as three to a few dozen players. The game is one of skill, strategy, and stealth as well as fleetness. One person or a team of people is designated as "it" and a can or similar object – paint can or metal pail or bucket – is placed in an open space: the middle of a backyard, a green, a cove or cul de sac, parking lot or street. The other players run off and hide while "it" covers his or her eyes and counts to a previously decided number. "It" then tries to find and tag each of the players. Any player who is tagged (caught and touched) is sent to the holding pen (jail) which is simply a designated area for all the captured players to congregate, generally in plain sight of the can. Any player who has not been caught can "kick the can". If they can do this without being caught, then all of the captured players are set free. If "it" catches all of the players he or she wins that round and generally a new "it" is designated for the next round.

Scrub baseball (also called workup - because the fielders work their way up to bat) is a way of playing with no teams. The number of players is variable, and score is not kept, as the idea is "each against all". The game is traditionally initiated by one person yelling, "Scrubs!" to claim the first batting position. Others quickly shout, "Scrub One!", "Scrub Two!", "Scrub Three!", etc. - one being the batter, two the pitcher, three the catcher, four is the infielder, and five is the outfielder. Thus a minimum of six players are needed.

WE played a lot of circle games...the Farmer in the Dell....Ring Around the Rosi....A tisket...a tasket..and hot potatoe. In bed we played "I spy with my little eye" or "twenty questions" and listened to radio drama.



Christmas in Saint John in 50's and 60's
How magical Christmas was uptown when we were kids? Toy Land with Santa in MRA's. The store window displays in almost every store. The Santa Claus parade...we had a grand time with our old stockings full of...an orange, apple, nuts, rinbbon candy and barley toys.

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