Here we are. Back in Flushing, Queens, NYC. It’s 1951, the year of the “shot heard round the world”. Bobby Thompson’s home run off Dodger, Ralph Branca, that won the pennant for the Giants. Just 73 freakin years ago. Why do I remember that? Worse than that, why do I remember playin Johnny Ride The Pony. Well, I do.
Ya gotta have at least six kids between 10 and 15 hangin around thinkin of what to do. “Let’s play guns”. One would say. “Nah” somebody else would snort. “Don’t got my gun today”. Of course he meant “cap” gun. But the “ cap” was always silent.
Next kid would ask, “How bout Johnny Ride the Pony?” There would be a rash of discussion while the brilliant minds took a census of how many and how big the kids were in our bevy. I was the new kid, and I was kinda tall. So, I didn’t get picked on too much. I was also kinda skinny and no weight lifter. “What’s Johnny Ride the Pony?” I asked. “Oh, you’ll see,” they said. “You can be the pilla (pillow for you English-speaking folks). I had no idea what that meant, but nodded knowingly, so I didn’t look like a complete schmuck.
Some of you may recognize this game from Bill Cosby’s comedy. But he called it “Buck Buck” probably its Philly moniker. Luckily, we had 8 of us on 37th Ave in Flushing that day. So we could play.
OK. The pilla, moi, would stand with his back against a wall or pole. The first part of the “pony” would bend at the waist and put his head right against my belly. I would put my arm around his head and try my damndest to keep his head from hitting the wall or pole when the pressure came. And it was sure as hell gonna come. The other two members of our team would form the second and last parts of our pony, by bending at the waist and holding on to the butt end of the kid in front of them.
Got the pitcha??

Our adversaries would gather across the street (or approximately 40 feet away). At a given signal, their first player would run like hell toward the artificial pony with three butts. He would leap frog over the rear butt (is that redundant?) and try to get as far up to the front of the pony as he could. He’d also try to get as high (not drugs but altitude) as he could to inflict as much pain and damage to the pony below
The goal of all this is to break down the opponent’s pony. If it collapses, your team wins. Hence, the value of a “Fat Albert” on your team. Cosby developed that iconic character. Once the first dude settled on top of the pony, the next adversary would come. Now you got two dudes sitting on top of one or two parts of the pony. God forbid, if the third was a Fat Albert. That would be curtains for our poor pony. If we were strong and lucky enough to survive the first onslaught, they would assume the “pony” position and we would try to “squash“ them.

Yes, that was a real game. And miraculously, we didn’t injure anybody We laughed a lot on the streets of New York in 1951. Enuf.

P.S.

My son, Jim Scooler, has played a pivotal role in the development of the Scoolerisms.com. For this musing, I did my level best to describe the game. He found and added a wonderful image, which depicts the game in a superbly clear manner. It epitomizes the adage “A picture is worth 1000 words.”  Our partnership in this venture has brought me great pride and joy.  Let’s keep em rolling.