The Bologna Blog

Games of the 60's and 70's

Games of the 60’s and 70’s

The Chinese Jump Rope was once a child’s game that I played daily. The real kits that were sold in the stores were striped rounded pieces of elastic tied together at the ends by knots. There was a colorful board with the rules written in bold print. I couldn’t afford the beast so mine were made by my mom from flat white elastic sewn together on the ends by a zigzag stitch. If it were to break she just pieced it together again. It was a game that could be played with friends or as a solo endeavor by strategically placing two chairs far enough apart to stretch the elastic. The rules have long escaped my memory, but there were levels with special movements between the elastic for the player to accomplish. Each level was a bit harder than the previous one and if you were unable to accomplish the task your turn was ended. There were also verses that we sang as each level was completed. For a long time now, I have been in search of a set of instructions for this game, but I will tell you in no uncertain terms, DO NOT GOOGLE, as apparently this game has new and despicable options that I was unaware of as a kid. When my kids were little and I was in my 30’s, I searched the internet to find this game (the kid friendly version) online and my computer went ballistic. Pornographic images cascaded on the screen and then a threatening banner warning of illegal content splashed across the monitor. I was never so scared in my life. I turned off the computer and don’t think I returned to using it for a week. I have never entered a search for the rules of that game since then and I was never able to teach my kids the joy of the simple game that I played as a kid.

Click-Clacks were a big thing in the early 70’s. It was a girly game that chased away many recess hours for us Catholic girls. It consisted of 2 sparkle-filled balls on a string. The balls were brightly colored and made sparks when they banged together at high speeds. It took a certain amount of finesse to get the balls flying hard and clacking in a pattern of high energy. The talent stemmed from the ability to maintain enough momentum to keep the action going for long periods of time. The winner was declared by the timer and the person with the greatest endurance. Click-clacks built arm strength and were great for building hand and eye coordination. However, sadly they also tended to put an occasional eye out, which is why they were pulled from the market. Who’d have thunk it? Glass balls burst from repeated battering! So for the sake of nostalgia, they made them small and put them on rubber bands for us to put in our hair.

Jarts were a much loved family game. But we were smart enough to not throw them at people’s heads. Here was another game pulled off the market for safety reasons. I did get hit in the foot once and boy did it smart. But it never stopped us from playing a daily game of barefooted stretch. This was the game played with a kitchen knife, a pocket knife, or any sharp shiny metal capable of sticking in the dirt. Opponents faced each other in the upright position as the game started. Turns were taken by tossing the knife into the dirt and attempting to get it to stick. If it stuck, the opponent would have to stretch their leg to where the knife stood without falling. On your turn you could either cause the other person to stretch or use the opportunity to stick the knife in front of you to get unstretched. Needless to say, there were injuries along the way, but it never stopped us from playing.

There was nothing better than a neighborhood game of marbles. There were some 20 odd kids clustered around a chalked circle hoping to win their friend’s cats-eye shooter. I kept my prizes in a homemade cloth bag. My Saturday mornings were spent stooped over the nearest outdoor marble shoot.


My family spent many hours playing the great game of Monopoly. It also often ended with fights and tears. It was a long and mentally taxing game capable of sending a mere child to the poor house. That mere child was usually me, the doggie of the game. I always wanted to be the dog token, for which my brother gave me the endless “Dog” nickname. It made my mother so mad. As I grew up I got better about loosing at games but Monopoly still takes me back to those childhood days and I tend to get a bit competitive.