So What’s Your Story?

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Posted By: Gilbert Maines

Well Joe P. thank you for spending the early '50s over there so that we could grow up and have the peaceful enjoyable experiences described in these posts.

That "NYC 1952" was selected to portray to non-NYers a geographical point of reference. Not everyone knows that NYC = Manhattan. My youth was spent in Queens (actually Middle Village, Queens). There was a vacant lot owned by the phone co. one block from my house, which served as our ballfield. I remember once, one of us got a ball with the cover still on it (no tape at all!) I remember further "Don't drop it on the sidewalk!" And flipping, stoop ball, slap ball, etc. was there.

The first kid up (awake) would scour the immediate neighborhood to get all the deposit bottles and cash them in for cards. I caught a friend just coming out of the candy store, still opening packs. We flipped. I cleaned him out. The take included a '57 Mantle. I liked that card so much that I kept it in the front pocket of my dungarees, seperate from the flipping cards which were in my back pocket. That card now appears to have (barely) survived multiple washes, but I have it !

Share some more if you care to.

Gil