Growing up, he played stoop ball and stickball outside his Manhattan apartment building. With friends, he also played a remarkably dangerous game of jumping between tenement rooftops. How did he survive? Even he seemed amazed, talking about it to me many decades later.
During my childhood, Dad and his brother and two brothers-in-law would gather around a card table and play pinochle after a holiday meal. The men laughed and chatted as they played a fairly cut-throat version of pinochle, sipping beer and keeping score.
Maybe they played for pennies or nickels, and all shook hands with a warm sense of bon homie when they settled up. After every game, Dad would carefully tamp the cards in place and store them in their plastic case (shown above).
Remembering Dad and keeping his beloved pinochle set safe for future generations, along with these memories!
--This is my week #38 entry about "fun and games" for Amy Johnson Crow's #52Ancestor series.
What a great memory. My father-in-law and his "pals" used to play cards for a nickel a hand. Then you could add other dimes along the way. So by the end of the game the winner might walk away with a dollar or maybe two. They were so excited to win the pot!
ReplyDeleteA whole dollar! Yep, same with my Dad.
DeleteYour story brings back memories of my mom and dad playing pinochle with my grandma and grandpa. My grandpa wasn't too happy with the way my grandma played. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteJumping between buildings - good golly ned! You see that on detective tv shows all the time but I never anyone who really did that. I wonder if your dad and his pals ever considered "what if ...."
ReplyDeleteI don't remember beer. I do remember slivovitz in small glasses, liberally refilled.
ReplyDeleteMy story was about pinocle also. We grew up playing with my maternal grandmother. My daughter learned from her great grandmother and shot the moon the first time she played. The look on grandma's face was so incredible. They were partners at the game until her death. So many good memories. We still have a deck of cards rolling at family gatherings. No money changed hands, but lots of memories and laughter were exchanged.
ReplyDeleteHow old do you suppose the deck of cards is? The back seems a unique design. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteGreat memories, Marian. Neither my parents nor I really played card games much but my mother's parents loved cribbage, they even had a cribbage table. I don't know what happened to the table but I have the cards they played with and the little cabinet they kept them in.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading and commenting, folks! The pinochle set must date back to early 1970s or possibly earlier. Happy it's still in family hands.
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