by Donna Shreve
Looking back to my childhood, I realize now I had a magical time growing up in the 50s. I lived in a new suburb called Lincoln Village. We lived in a social and racial bubble. Due to the housing, we were all middle class and blindingly white. Many young couples had bought their first home and had started their families. Just on our street we had many choices for playmates. We attended neighborhood schools together and played again when we got home.
Most of our entertainment was done outside, as Stockton weather allowed many hours in the great outdoors. Close to home, we played “Mother May I” and I remember getting bored rather quickly but it accommodated the younger kids in our group. “Hide and Seek” was the best in the long twilight of Stockton summers. There always seemed to be so many good places to hide but the challenge was coming back to the home base. Home base was usually put in an open space to give the “it” person a fair chance to catch all of us. We ganged up and used diversionary tactics to outwit our “foe.” This strategy was used with another game called “Capture the Flag.” “Kick the Can” was a similar game and gave us a bit of variety. Another outside game was “Red Rover” and again this allowed for a bigger range of players.
These games could be played in our front yards that were a large expanse of well-groomed lawns. We received a croquet set and played many a game on our front lawn with the neighborhood kids. Our parents could easily call us in as the day ended. Mothers did not hesitate to scold any neighborhood child who was out of line. One infamous neighbor’s child must have felt his name was “Randy Go Home”.
Our neighborhood street ran into Belmont Street and west of that was uncultivated land that extended several miles until the delta farms began. We were allowed to go into this wild frontier and explore the levees, create forts and come up with all sorts of games of our own creation. The land was covered with tall grass that was easy to pull up. The grass usually had a good anchor of dirt clods that could be used as weapons defending your fort from intruders. Very often the “wars” were girls against boys. Cardboard boxes could be cut up and used as walls for the forts. We felt they were wonderful creations.
Sometimes on a windy weekend day, our father would join us to fly kites. A cheap store bought kite was common but we also made our own from butcher paper and light wood frame. The real excitement for me was decorating the long tail for the kite. There was science to it for balance and weight but I remember the fun of scribbling a message or two and sending the note up the string to the kite as if the kite could read. Some how standing there watching and guiding my kites was a thrill and also rather calming.
When the weather did not co-operate or it was nighttime, we did have our variety of indoor games. We had the board games of Clue, Monopoly, and checkers. We also had Chinese checkers because our grandfather Elmer made us the board for a Christmas present. Brian and Grant, my brothers, did play Chess but it didn’t take with the sisters.
Cards were popular and we could play until a deck became incomplete. We had to go through the game of tricking unsuspecting neighbors into playing 52-card pick-up. Hearts was popular, and I remember my adrenaline pumping as I shot for the moon. Go Fish was an entry-level game for the younger siblings until we could move on to more difficult games. Our mother’s only brother worked in casinos and gave us a small casino kit complete with a small roulette wheel. We learned how to play Blackjack and variations of poker. Brian and then Grant learned how to play the card game Pinochle from our neighbors down the street. The Youngs did not have children and they “adopted” both Swagerty brothers in turn. Both boys played on a regular basis and even played as a substitute when the Youngs hosted their Pinochle parties. I remember Grant teaching me how to play when I was home ill with the mumps. Grant was in kindergarten and only went to school in the morning. I was amazed at Grant’s skill at adding up the score of my hand in his head.
On our back covered patio we could play jacks, or spin tops. Our father taught us how to make a heavy cardboard disc we decorated, put two holes in and then strung with string. We would wind it up and then spin it. Various designs on the disc made interesting patterns as we spun them. The master bedroom had been made into a playroom. The two of us girls shared the room and with the help of a trundle bed we had plenty of room for three old discarded desks our father had salvaged from some old school. The desks were painted with left over turquoise paint from our house trim. We also had a large black slate chalkboard with a matching turquoise border. We played pretend school and I usually made sure I was the teacher. One game we played was Hangman. We used old T.V. guides to inspire our attempt to stump the others. Mom had finally had enough of my growing pile of T.V. guides stacked in our closet. She clean out the closet and threw out all of the guides one day while we were at school. I felt the loss almost as strongly as Brian did when he had his baseball card collection thrown out.
Marbles became quite the craze for a while. We collected them and won them if we were good at the variations of the marble games. I think I hung on to my marbles long after I stopped playing. Brian spent hours learning tricks on his yo-yo. I can’t remember if Grant did but I am guessing he did as he followed Brian around.
When we first moved into our new house we were surrounded by construction. The street just north of us was vacant and we got to watch the houses being built. Brian used the left over shingles to make a bow and arrow set. He got it to actually function and spent time practicing his skill. Grant used the convenient construction workers’ portable potties for “losing” his hated glasses.
Our family was a member at the newly built West Lane Tennis club where we spent a lot of our summers. The family had left Lincoln Village and moved a block away from University of the Pacific. By this time I was working as lifeguard and gave swim lessons. There was free time and the parents organized and decided the next generation needed to be taught how to play bridge. We took lessons and then had a few tournaments. We also organized teen dances complete with slide shows and the latest music. Soon we were off to our own adventures in college and adulthood.
I watch our grandson and realize I was quite lucky not having all of the electronic devices to occupy my time. My own sons got to have my neighborhood experience with many playmates. Our era has passed.
Swagerty-Aldrich Family Web Site 