August 12, 1964 Not as hot today. I had to stay in this morning becaus of yesterday but then mom let me go out in the afternoon to go to the A & P for some milk and bread. Gus and Chuck and Lou were still inside becaus of yesterday so Johnny went with me. I told him what happened and he said he was glad that he wasnt home becaus if he was there and Mrs. Lindsey called his mom he would have been grounded for the rest of the summer. We stopped at Gertzs on the way to get some bazookas. Johnny said that the gum is really free but they put a penny tax on it. We had a bubble blowing contest. I won. Johnny was looking at the comic and said why does bazooka Joe have a patch on his eye. I said may be a bazooka went off near his head and blew his eye out and thats why hes called bazooka Joe. Johnny said if a bazooka went off near his head it would have blown his head off. I guesed may be one time he was in a gang and thats why the comic is called bazooka Joe and his gang and he was in a rumble and someone hit him in the eye with a brick or something and thats why he wears the patch. Then Johnny said Mort probaly has no teeth becaus he wears his shirt over his mouth. I gues they draw comics like that to look funny. Archie has these lines on the side of his head like he got hit by a tenis racket and Dondi has giant ears. Superman and other super heroes look like normal people becaus there comic books are serius. On the way home we went by the Huddie school yard to look for spaldeens. We didn’t find any but I found a hoffmans bottle. We got 7 now. After dinner Chuck and Lou still couldnt come out and Gus went out with his dad so there was nothing to do. Johnny and I played box ball for a while. Not much on tv tonight.
August 13, 1964 Lou and Gus came out today. Chuck was still inside. I gues he really got in trouble for the other day. Johnny Lou Gus and I played punch for a while. Its hard when only 4 play becaus Gus hits the ball so far. You really need 6 for a good game. While we were playing crazy Raymond came riding down the street on his bike and cut throuh the game a few times. We yelled at him to cut it out but he kept doing it. Finaly Gus pegged the ball at him and he turned to miss it and he went up the curb near Davis driveway. The bike shot up in the air and he wacked his head on a branch of the tree near the curb. It was a good thing he had his old football helmet on becaus his head would have been scwashed like a grape fruit. Then he came down and he fell off the bike but the bike kept riding over peoples lawns. Then it crashed into Mazens bushes. Mazen must have been in the living room eating his lunch becaus he came out like a shot with a napkin stuck in the neck of his under shirt and a fork in his hand yelling like a nut case at all of us. Then he picked up the bike and threw it into the street. By that time Raymond was all the way down the street running home. After Mazen went in Gus took the bike and put it in his garage. He said if Raymond doesnt come back he will give it to Chuck. Later on I watched the end of the Yankees White Sox game. The Yankees won 5 to 2. Tonight I watched Rawhide on tv. Its better now that Sharon has a tv so we dont argyue abot watching shows.
August 14, 1964 Another hot day. Chuck came out today. He said his mom only wacked him once with a hairbrush and he had to stay in for a day after we got cauht. Then he was away at his aunts house for a couple of days. He said the night we got in trouble his dad got a call from his cosin and he said his uncle died. The next morning they went out to Forest Hills for the fewneral. Then they came home last night. I was glad that he was at a fewneral because I thoht his mom might have sent him to boys town after what happened. We went to Forest Hills once to visit moms cosin Viv. She has a real nice house. I dont know why its called Forest Hills becaus I didnt see any forest or hills there but there are lots of trees in the neyhborhood. This afternoon Lou and I went down to the junction. I got the Superman model kit with some of the money I got from Mrs. Dennisons dauhter. It is my first figur model kit. One time I got a battleship kit. Mom wouldnt let me use the regular model glue because it smelled bad so I used elmers glue insted. After it was finished I put it in the sink to see if it would float. After a while the glue got wet and it came apart. This time mom said I can use the real glue but I have to put it together outside so I wont get brain damege. After dinner I got a telephone call from Teddy Fredricks. He said his mom was going to the doctors tomorrow over on Nostred avenu and could he come over for a while. Mom said yes. Tonight we had a game of punch. Me Johnny and Chuck against Lou Brian and Gus. They creemed us 12 to 3.
August 15, 1964 Not as hot today. Teddy Fredricks came over today. His mom went to a doctors appoyntment and he stayed at our house for abot an hour. We were going to play nock hockey but he saw my Superman model kit and said he could help me with it. I didnt want to but mom said he was my gest and we should work on it together. Mom set up a card table in the back yard and I broht the kit outside with a box of paints that Mike gave me to use. I started to put the body together and he put the pieses of the wall together. Then I had to go inside to go to the bathroom and mom said she had some sodas for us. When I got back Teddy already painted the bricks on the wall and Supermans cape and face but he painted the bricks green and the cape a purple color and his face looked like yellow white.
I got real mad and said why did you paint it like that. Teddy said it would look cooler if the bricks were green like how the bricks were painted inside the school. Then he said he thout the paint in the bottle was dark red but it wasnt and he didn’t see any skin colored paint so he used the yellow white paint. I said he ruined it and he said no it looks cool this way. Then I said ill finish it later and we went in to play nock hockey. Then his mom came and got him and he left. I was real mad and felt like calling him a jerk for what he did even thouh hes one of my best friends at school. Later when Mike came home he said he could fix it. Hes good at making models. I hope he can becaus if he cant then I wasted a dollar. After dinner Lou came over and we watched part of the Mets Phillies game. Then we all had a game of punch until it got to dark. Just a couple more weeks until school starts again.
August 16, 1964 Not to hot but it was yumid. I got in trouble today after we got home from church and had to stay in this afternoon. After lunch Sharon went out so I thout I could watch tv in her room for a while becaus mom was watching an old movie on the other tv. The Yankees were playing the Orioles so I was watching it in her room. After the game was over I was looking at the picture of Georg that was in a frame on her dresser. I thougt I would play a joke and I took her lipstik and drew a big Bozo nose on the picture and I took this black make up pensil and gave him a black eye. I thougt it was real clever. Then I went downstairs to play flips in the celler. After a while Sharon came home and it must have taken her abot 2 minutes before she saw the picture. I could hear her yelling like she was being attaked by a maniyak with a bloody ax. Then mom yelled whats wrong and I could hear Sharon stomping down the stairs screeming the little creep was in my room and she must have showed mom the picture. Mom called me upstairs and asked if I did it and I said did what? and Sharon said you know what and showed me the picture. I just looked at it for a minute and said yes because I knew that I would get in more trouble if I lied abot it. Then mom rubbed off the marks and Sharon yelled at me to stay out of her room and dont touch her things and dont watch her tv then she stompt off. Mom kind of looked mad and said dont do that again and told me to go to my room. Then I went upstairs but it sounded like mom started laughing after I left. Maybe she thougt it was funny to but she didnt want to laugh in front of Sharon. After dinner we watched Walt Disney. The show was abot a guy called the scarecrow who was a hero in England in the old days. He is like Robin Hood but he dresses up to look like a scarecrow and scares the heck out of the kings solgers becaus they think he might be a ghost. Tonight was the first part. Theres another part next week.
August 17, 1964 Cloudy today. Not much happened until late in the afternoon. Lou and Johnny went to palisades park this morning. There school has a special bus that takes them there from the catholic school they go to a couple of times in the summer. When Lou went last year he told me that he went on a lot of rides and saw cosin Brucie there doing a rock and roll show. After they left I came home and asked Mike if we could work on the Superman model but he said no becaus he was going down to the junction with Susan. She was going to look for a dress and he got stuck going with her. Susan is OK. Once she was over and I was reading the Green Lantern and we talked abot super heros. I dont know if she was really interested or if she was just being nice. She said she used to read Archie comics when she was a kid. Then we watched some of Chuck McCann. She thouht he was funny. She is better than Mikes old girlfriend. Her name was Mildred. She didnt laugh or even smile that much. Chuck said she was about as fun as a dry heeve and Lou used to call her hachet face. One time she was over and dad told a funny joke abot a guy going to the white house and she said it was amuwsing. She will probaly get a job as a librareyin or a Sunday school teacher because she doesnt think things are funny. Later crazy Raymond came around to get his bike. We didnt know who he was at first becaus he didnt have his helmet or goggles on. He has red hair and bb eyes like the guy in the Dick Tracy comics. Gus got him the bike and then he left. Then Gus said Raymond had some big globs of wax in his ears and he probaly cant hear to good. After dinner Lou and Johnny got back from palisades park. They said it was good. No one got sick on any of the rides but this one kid in the back of the bus got sick on the way home. They had to open the windows becaus it stunk real bad. Johnny said cosin Brucie was there doing a show again this year. I never saw a famous person yet. Chuck once saw officer Joe from the 3 Stooges show at PS 193. He did a talk to alot of kids about being safe like look before you cross the street and dont play with matches and that kind of stuff. Chuck saw him coming out of the bathroom after the talk. I gues famous people go to the bathroom like everyone else. Later we played stickball for a while but then it started to rain. Not much on tv tonight. I watched part of Wagon Train then read some comics for a while.
August 18, 1964 Johnny came over this morning and told me that his dad is getting the turbine car tomorrow. He gets to drive it for a month then he has to tell the company if he liked it. We played army for a while. I was the german this time becaus Johnny played it last time. We were playing for a while then Mrs Mandelprice started yelling at Johnny becaus he was sneaking throuh the bushes in front of her house. He turned to get out but ran into the side of Mrs Davis stoop because he was wearing an eye patch like sargent Fury and couldnt see to good. He got a bad wack on his fourhead and got a big lump about the size of a golf ball. Then he went home to put some ice on it. After lunch me Gus Chuck and Mitch went over to Bettels. Tony the counter guy told us if we made any trouble like we did last time he would throw us out and we couldnt come back for the rest of the summer. We didnt do anything eksept when Mitch blew bubbles in his egg cream and it went over the top of the glass. He cleaned it up before Tony saw it. Nothing much else happened for the rest of the afternoon. I went over to Johnnys. The lump went down a little but he said it felt like it was going thump thump thump like in the cartoons. After dinner we played street long hide and seek. Its really cool to play becaus you can go almost anywhere to hide and at night its hard to find someone sometimes. Last year we were looking for Johnny for abot an hour. Then we went to his house and he was inside watching tv. The next day we all punched him in the arm for cheating. No one cheated tonight. I hid inside the Sanchezs empty garbage can. No one found me but I didnt smell to good when I got home. Mom made me take a shower for 20 minutes and scrub myself with a stiff brush. Im going to bed now.
August 19, 1964 I didn’t feel to good this morning. I had a bad stumick ach and stayed in for a while. Mike said I probaly caut something from the garbage can. May be dengee fever or berry berry or the heebee geebees. Mom smacked him for that and said I dont have those things and it was probley from the chilly dog I had at Bettels yesterday. Mom gave me some stuff in a blue bottle called milk of agneesheium or something. It looked like paint and tasted awful but she said it would make me better. Then she gave me some tost. I just watched Sandy Becker for a while. Hes on 2 times a day. One time in the morning then hes on again at dinner time. After that I felt OK. Mike did some of the Superman model last night. He painted the body and some of the wall. It looks good so far. After dinner I went out and Mr Donnelly had the turbine car.
All the neyhbors were there. It is copper colored and looks like a future car. I think it looks cooler than Mikes friend Philips thunder bird. Johnny said we can take a drive in it sometime. Then Mikes friends came over and had a game of stick ball. Me Lou Chuck and Gus played to. It was the first time Mikes friends asked us to play. We had mixed teams, young guys and older guys on the teams. Then we played for a while with the young guys versis the older guys. They won 8 to 2 but they said we were real good. Tonight we watched the Untochables.
August 20, 1964 I went over to Gertzs this morning to get the new issue of Strange Tales with the human torch. When I came out that fat slob Robert Maloney was there. He said he talked to his cosin and he told him its aganst the law for an older kid to pick on a younger kid so Mike cant do anything to him so I better shut up or he would beat me and Johnny up. While he was talking and acting real tough Nicky P came up behind him and stood there while he talked. Then Nicky waved at me because he must have remembered when I picked up his cigarettes a few weeks ago. I waved back and Robert said what are you waving at and I said Nicky and that he was standing behind him and he said yeah sure he is and then Nicky coffed and Robert turned around and Nicky looked at him and he said to me is this guy bothering you? I thought Robert would pee in his pants or faent or have a hard attack. Then Robert looked at me with a real scarred look. I said not really then Nicky stared at Robert with a mean look on his face for a while then he went in the store. Robert looked real scarred and then he left. I wish I had a camera to take a picture of that jerks face. After lunch I went over to Lous house and we watched part of the Yankees White Sox game. They got beat 5 to 0. Then we were going to Bettels but Mrs Dennisons dauhter called us over to the house. There was a box of bottles she said we could have. There was 15. A few looked real old. Later I went home and Mike finished the model. It came out real good. I watched the Flintstones and Rawhide tonight. Then mom put Doctor Kildare on. Then I read some comics. Im going to bed now.
August 21, 1964 Hot today. Me Johnny and Gus went down to get a haircut. Mom said I was looking shaggy and school starts in two weeks and I shouldnt look shaggy for the first day of school. The last time I went with Chuck back in May. We were waiting and there was an old guy getting a haircut. He had a big old ugly lump on his head like a crusty marble and I thouht that maybe he was shot in the head in a war and part of his brains leeked out. Chuck said it was a mole and old guys get them sometimes when they get old. He said his uncle weezer had one on the back of his neck. Chuck said that they called him weezer becaus when he was a kid he looked like weezer from the little rascals. Frank cut my hair today. The last time Hermen did it. I dont like him because he pulls the coam throuh my hair to hard and it feels like hes ripping the skin off my head like hes peeling an apple. Once he got to close with the sissors and I swere he almost cut off my ear lob. Johnny got him this time and it looked like he was going to start crying when Hermen started snipping to close. He didnt thouh. Gus got Benny. He doesnt speak English to good. But if you say something about Joe Dimaggio he will start talking abot baseball for abot 3 hours but you dont know what hes saying. He just says yes, yes Yankee clipper, 56 games, joltin Joe. After lunch I went over to Lous house and we counted the bottles we got so far. We got 22 counting the ones that Mrs Dennisons dauhter gave us. 3 of them looked real old and we didnt think Mr Gertz would give us anything for those. We added up the rest and figured we would get about 50 cents. Lou said it will probly take abot 2 years to make 5 dollars like his cosin did. So we cleaned them up and took them to Gertzs. Mr Gertz gave us 53 cents. He didnt want the old ones but he told us theres a guy named Herbey at the bowling alley on Nostred avenue that might want them. We are going there tomorrow. After dinner we had a game of punch. No one won. It was tied then Gus had to go home so the game broke up. Lou and I sat on the stoop for a while then I came inside and read some comics.
August 22, 1964 Not as hot today. It rained in the afternoon for a while. Lou and I went down to the bowling alley with the 3 old bottles. We talked to Herbey and showed him the bottles. He took them and gave us 50 cents for each one. He said they were old bottles from the civil war. He said he collects things from the civil war and he has some old bullets and knives and some uniforms and a rifle but he didnt have any bottles. After that we went to Gertzs and got a soda. I also got the new issues of the Flash and Tales of Suspense. Lou got 4 packs of baseball cards and hit the jack pot. He got 2 Mickey Mantles a Willie Mays a Joe Pepitone a Yogi Berra and a Hank Aaron. I never got that many good cards at one time. He gave me one of the Mickey Mantles becaus he already has 2 in his collection. Then we were talking abot super heros and who had the best powers. I said Superman was the best but Lou said the Flash could run faster. I said he couldnt so we asked Todd. He said the Flash would win in a short race like to New Jersy but Superman would win in a around the world race because he has a super body that doesnt get tired but the Flash has a regular body that gets tired. Gus and Chuck werent home tonight so we didnt do anything. There wasnt anything good on TV so I just read some comics.
August 23, 1964 Hot again today. We went to church and the service was short becaus it was hot. After we got home we went out to Jones beach. Dad got a new bathing suit that mom picked out that wasnt so tight so he wouldnt split this one like the last time. The water wasnt to cold and there wasnt any jellyfish. Mom put gobs of sun tan oil on us so we wouldnt get burned. So no one got stung or burned or anything. It wasnt as hot at the beach anyway. Dad layed down and fell asleep and snored a lot. Mom read a book and Sharon was looking at a wedding magazine. I think shes trying to rope Georg in to get married. Me and Mike went swimming for a while until Mike was swimming to close to shore and scraped up his chest on the rocks on the bottom. After that we went home. It was a pretty boring day at the beach. When we got home I went over to Johnnys and we were going to get a game of punch going but Gus wasnt around and Chuck was working on a bike. I played stoop ball for a while then we had some cold chiken salad and tomatos for dinner. After that the second part of the scarecrow was on the wonderful world of color tonight. There was a cool part where one of the guys in the scarecrows gang was going to tell the general about the scarecrow and the scarecrow found and then they had a tryel. They had a big meeting and the guy was gillty and they hanged the guy. Then after the rest of the gang left the scarecrow showed that he didnt really hang him. He rapped the rope around the back of the chair the guy was sitting in so he didnt get choked. The guy faented then he woke up and the scarecrow told him to run away and not come back. It was really scarry and cool to. The last part is on next week. School starts soon. I wish there was a few more weeks of summer.
August 24, 1964 Cloudy this morning then it got sunny later. Mom and I went down to the junction this morning to get some stuff for school. I needed a loose leef book some pencils and some paper to put in the book. While we were there I got the frankinstine figure. I need 3 more to get the set. The fantom the mummy and the creature from the black lagoon. After that we went down to the shoe store becaus I need new shoes for school. We looked at some and I wanted to get some boots like the type the Beatles wear but mom said there to expensive and impracktikel becaus my feet are still growing. Most of the time when I want something at the store mom will say its to expensive or impracktikel. This time it was both reasons. We didnt see anything good so mom said we will look somewhere else next weekend before school starts. When I was in second grade mom bouht some brown shoes that were round in the front. Bobby Neevers was making fun of them and said they looked like baby shoes. I just iggnored him but then he kept it up so I told him to cut it out and he didnt stop so I kicked him in the shin with my round brown shoes. He limped away and he didnt make fun of them again. Some times a good shot in the shin will shut a kid up real fast. After lunch we were going to get a game of stick ball going but Gus wasnt around again and Lou went down to the farmers market with his dad. Johnny said he saw Gus and Ellie walking down to avenue J before lunch and may be they went on a date. I told him he was nuts and was seeing things. I did remember that I saw Ellie looking at Gus a lot. After dinner Lou and Gus were back so we got a game of punch going. We won 7 to 5. Nothing much on TV tonight.
August 25, 1964 Hot this morning then rainy later. I woke up last night becaus dad was up walking around. Mom said he had a tooth ach and couldnt sleep. This morning he took some asprin and then he went to work. After breakfast I went over to Lous house this morning and played flips for a while. I lost 3 cards but I won two. Then we went to Gertz to see the new comics. I got the new issue of Metal Men and Green Lantern. Lou got the Hulk. Then we went to Chucks house. He was eating lunch and Mrs Lindsey gave us a tomato and cheeze sandwichs. We were going to go get Johnny and Gus to get a game of punch going but it started teeming outside. I ran home and got soaked. I watched some TV for a while but it was still raining so I read some comics for a while but it still was raining so I just listened to Dan Ingram on the radio. Hes a disk jockey thats on 77 wabc. He does some funny jokes and voices sometimes but mostly he plays records. I herd the Beatles, the 4 Seasons and some others like Del Shannon and the Supremes. Later dad came home and mom asked him how his tooth was and he said god awful and then he said hes going down stairs and pull it out with plyers. I guess it really hurt. Mike said he should put a rag around his head like on the 3 Stooges. Dad told him to shut up after that. Then mom called the dentist and he told him to come over and he could fix it. So he went and when he came back it felt better but he had to go again in a few days to finnish the work. Tonight we watched McHales Navy and Combat on TV.
August 26, 1964 Not to hot today. School starts next week and that stinks. I hate September becaus school starts but I also like it becaus the new TV shows start. There are some good new shows that I read abot in TV guide. Theres a show called Shindig thats going to have a lot of music groups on and a show called Jonny Quest that is a serius cartoon abot this kid who has a lot of adventures. There are also two funny shows that are kind of alike. The Addams family and the Munsters. They are 2 shows abot these creepy familys. The Addams family was a cartoon that mom reads in a magazine sometimes. The Munsters are a family that looks like monsters like frankenstine and dracula. They think they look normal but other people are scared of them and there house looks hawnted. Another show is the Man from UNCLE. Its a show abot these 2 secret agents. Its like James Bond except there are 2 secret agents insted of one. Some old shows are going to be on again to like the Flintstones and Combat and the Twilight Zone. That will be good. This afternoon me and Gus Lou and Johnny went to Bettels for a soda and got in trouble. We were sitting there and Gus told us a story abot his brother telling a guy that you cant flush a spaldeen down the toilet becaus it will float. The guy said he could and he tried to flush it a few times but it got stuck and the water backed up all over the floor. Then the guys dad went in there and slipped and flew up in the air and went whoooaaaa like Laurel and Hardy and came down like BAM. Then Johnny started to laugh with soda on his mouth and Lou said hold it in but that made him laugh more then soda shot out his nose and a big glob of something came out to and hit the table. It was abot as big as a peanut. Then Lou yelled look out its a nostril slug and then I laughed and nocked over my glass. Then Tony came running over yelling at us to get out and dont come back until we grow up. I guess we cant go back for a few weeks. After dinner we got a game of punch going. Me Chuck and Lou aganst Johnny Gus and Mitch. We lost 7 to 5. We should have won becaus Chuck is better than Gus and Lou is better than Mitch. I think Im better than Johnny even thouh hes a year older than me but he thinks hes better. Tonight I watched the Untochables with mom.
August 27, 1964 Nice day today. This morning mom and I went down to the junction to get some shoes for school. I didnt get the Beatle boots I wanted just some regular black shoes. There not as good as Beatle boots but there better than some of the others that were there. This afternoon me Gus Lou and Chuck went with Johnny and his dad and took a ride in the turbine car. We had to take turns because theres only two bucket seats in the back and Johnny was sitting it the seat in front next to his dad. We flipped a coin and me and Chuck went first. Mr Donnely started it up and it didnt sound like a regular car. Mr Donnely said thats becaus it has a turbine engine and not a regular engine. It kind of sounds like a vacume cleaner. Its real cool inside and everyone was looking at us while we drove around. We went up Nostrend avenu to the junction then came back down Flatbush avenu to Kings Hiway then home. Then Lou and Gus went. After we got back Brian and Mitch were there and we got a game of stick ball going. It was me Mitch and Gus aganst Brian Lou and Chuck. Johnny pitched for both teams. We were winning but then Mitch hit a long one and Lou jumped over a row of bushs at Mrs Stevens house to catch it and he landed on the ground. We couldnt tell if he cauht it because we couldnt see throuh the bush. He got up holding the ball but Mitch said he just picked it up and didnt really catch it. Lou said he did but Mitch said he was lieing. Then they were yelling for a while. Mitch called Lou a lieing jerk and Lou called Mitch a fat pimpely ideiot and I thouht they were going to fight but Chuck and Gus broke it up and the game was over. I think Lou did catch it because hes a good player. Lou told me he wanted to punch the jerk in the face but his fist would have probly got stuck in all the pimpel goop. After dinner I went over to Johnnys for a while. We played flips but not for keeps. Tonight we watched My 3 Sons then mom and dad watched a movie so I just read some comics.
August 28, 1964 Hot today. Mom set up a sprinkeler in the yard this morning so I could get cooled off. After lunch me and Lou went down to the junction to hang out at the 5 and 10 becaus its cooler in there. He got some greenie caps for his pistol and I got a spaldeen becaus mine went down the sewer a few days ago. When we got back we saw Johnny climing up the phone pole at the end of the block then he sliped and got a big splinter in his finger abot as big as a tooth pick. He got all scarred and started to run around yelling pull it out. Lou tried to pull in out but he just yelled more. I said may be he will need some plyers to get it out. Then Mr. Gottleeb came by and asked what was wrong. We told him and he said come here and Ill get it out and he took out a pocket knife. Then he said this is how we did it in the world war 1. Then he asked do you got a match to sterrelize the blade? Johnny saw that and yelled more then he ran home. Mr Gottleeb laughed a lot and then left. Lou and I thought that may be hes nuts for pulling out a pocket knife and scaring Johnny to deth. After that I watched the end of the Yankees Red Sox game. They lost 3 to 5. I hope they will be in the worlds series again. Mike said they probaly would be but doesn’t know who they will play. May be the Dodgers again.
August 29, 1964 Cloudy today but no rain. I had to go down to the junction with mom to get some more stuff for school. Another week until the first day of school. On the way back we stopped at the A and P for some stuff. We got a lot of things and mom used the pull cart that she broht with us to pull the stuff home. Its like a big square basket with 2 wheels. She told me to pull the stuff back home becaus she was holding the bags with the school stuff it them. I didnt want to becaus I didnt want any body to see me pulling a cart becaus they would razz me about pulling a cart down the street like a lady. Mom just told me to do it and that she would give me a quarter for helping her so I did it. We were almost back home and I saw Evalin Rojers coming out of Hudsons with her mom. She doesnt live near me and they must have been going throuh the neyhborhood and stopped at Hudsons for something. I didnt want her to see me because shes a blabber mouth and would tell everyone at school that I was pulling a grosery cart down the street like a lady. I tried to hide behind mom but she just got all mad that I was being an idiot and told me to cut it out. Then we turned down 31 street. I dont think she saw me. I hope she didnt. Even if she did she will probaly forget before school starts. Later I watched part of the Yankees Red Sox double header. They won both games.
August 30, 1964 Hot today. I went over to Johnnys this morning. He got some new big soljers from his uncle so we went in his backyard and had a battle. After that we went over to Gertz for a soda. We saw this kid from the apartments there that we call pisstasheeo Joe. We call him that because he always gets pisstasheeo nuts from the machine on front of Gertzs and his fingers are always red from the shells. Sometimes his mouth is red to and he looks like he has lip stick on. He left when he saw us coming. I think that may be Robert Maloney told the apartment kids to stay away from me because they think Im friends with Nicky P and if they bother me he will majically show up and nock there teeth out or something. We got a soda and I got the new Flash annual. This afternoon we got a game of punch going. Me Gus and Johnny aganst Lou Mitch and Chuck. They won. Later on Johnny and I went to Billys house so Johnny could get some comics that he loned to him to read. We got them then we found a dead bird in his back yard. It was small and stiff and it was missing a leg. Maybe a cat got it. Billy picked it up and started chasing his sister around with it. She yelled a lot and ran away then he picked up a wiffle ball bat and hit it like a ball. It went throuh the air and hit his house. It stuck there becaus this gook came out then it slowly slid down the side and it made a trale of a goowey mess as it slid down the wall. I could here his mom yell what the dikkens was that and Johnny and I left after that becaus Billys mom is real big and can yell pretty loud. Tonight the last part of the scarecrow was on. He and a couple of his men were disgised to look like sailers and they helped a lot of men escape from jail and the general. It was a good show.
August 31, 1964 Not as hot today. Today is the last day of the month so school starts soon. The summer always goes to fast. I gues thats becaus Im having fun doing stuff like flipping cards and playing punch and going to Gertzs insted of sitting in a boring class all day. Lou came over this morning and we played box ball for a while then it started to rain. Lou went home then it started teeming out. Then it slowed down but it kepped on raining. I just stayed in for most of the rest of the day and read comics. Tonight dad and I went to floyd bennet down by Marine Park. Its this big store that is near the army airport. He had to get a new lawn edjer and he got me 2 packs of cards. I got a Joe Pepitone and a Whitey Ford. The others were just regular players from other teams like the Twins and the Tigers. Tonight we watched part of Wagon Train then the Danny Thomas show.
September 1, 1964 The first day of September. Hot. School starts next week after laber day. I didnt do anything this morning. No one was around so I just read some comics and watched TV for a while then I had lunch. In the afternoon I went over to Johnnys and played flips for a while. After that we went to Bettels. Tony told us to sit at the counter so he could watch us. He didnt want us goofing around and making a mess in a booth. I had an egg cream and Johnny had a Coke. Johnny cant have egg creams because hes elerjic to eggs. I didnt see Tony put any eggs in it anyway but they call it an egg cream so I guess theres some egg in it. When we got back Lou Chuck and Mitch were around so we got a game of stickball going. I pitched for both teams. Mitch and Lou won. For dinner dad broht home some chinees food. We had chow main and eggrolls and some regular rice and some rice with meat in it. We also had fortune cookies. Mine said a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. I dont think I could walk a thousand miles. Some times my feet hurt just walking home from school. Tonight Gus came home from his aunts house so we got a game of punch going. Me Lou and Mitch aganst Chuck Johnny and Gus. They won by one run. Then it started raining so everyone went inside. We watched Combat and McHales Navy tonight.
September 2, 1964 Cooler today. I guess the rain cooled thing off last night. This morning dad wasnt feeling to good. He put some kind of hot sawse on his Chinese food last night and this morning he kept running to the bathroom. One time Sharon was in there and he said he couldnt make it to the bathroom downstairs in time and hurry up because the train is leaving the station. Then Sharon came out with her hair all wet and a towel rapped around her. Dad ran in and slammed the door then he must of slipped on the wet floor because I heard him yell DAM and the I heard a BAM then he said something else that I cant write. Then mom came up and tapped on the door. She opened it and looked in and said oh dear then she went in there. It got real quiet after that. I just went down stairs and had some cereal and watched Sandy Becker until mom came down. She gave dad some of that white stuff that she gave me when I got sick from the ring dings. She said dad will probaly be staying home today. Dad must be real sick becaus he never stays home. One time he had a cold and was blowing his nose so much that it was as red as a Christmas light and he still went to work. After that mom sent me down to Bohacks for some chicken and some bread for tost and green jello. She said that stuff is good for what dad has. I went to Lous house to see if he wanted to go and his mom said to go and bring her back some stuff to. So we both went. After we got back I had some lunch then we got a game of punch going. Me Chuck and Gus aganst Lou Johnny and Mitch. They won. Nothing else happened for the rest of the day. Johnny went somewhere with his mom Chuck worked on one of his bikes and Lou just went inside. I dont know where Gus was. A few more days until school. We watched the Untochables tonight.
September 3, 1964 Sunny today but not real hot. Dad was OK today and went to work. I went over to Johnnys this morning and his dad was going to take the turbine car back because he said the company needed it back. Mr Donnelly took us for a quick ride in it before he had to leave. Me Johnny and Lou went. Chuck and Gus werent around. When we got back we played army in Johnnys back yard with some solgers. Later I was walking over to Gertz and I saw Gus and Ellie coming out of Bettels. I remembered that a lot of times Gus wasnt around and once Johnny said he thout he saw them on avenue J so may be they were on a date. Im not going to say anything to any one because may be its a secret and he doesnt want anyone to know. After dinner we all got a game of stickball going. Me Lou and Gus aganst Chuck Brian and Johnny. We won. Its starting to get darker earlier so everyone went in after that. We watched My 3 Sons tonight.
September 4, 1964 Real hot today. School stars next week and that stinks. This afternoon me and Lou went down to the college theter to see a Hard Days Night again but it wasnt playing there anymore. A movie called Father Goose was there. We went to see it anyway becaus it was so hot outside and the theter was air condishoned. We were scared that the big smelly guy who threw us out last month would remember us and throw us out again but he didnt. The movie was abot this guy who has a big boat that he lives on and goes around the islands in the pasific ocean during world war 2. An English officer wants him to stay on an island and watch out for jap planes. He doesnt want to do it but the English guy hits his boat with his battleship and the guy is stuck there. After he is there for a while he goes to another island in a little boat to get another guy to take his place but the guy was killed and he finds a teacher and a bunch if girls there. He takes them back to his island in the little boat and they almost sink and they are a real pain in the neck to him. At the end of the movie they are friends and the guy marrys the teacher. Then they have to escape because the japs land on the island. The guy takes his boat and trys to get the jap boat to chase him because he knows that a US sub is out there. Then the jap boat blows up his boat but he jumps off in time and the submarine blows up the jap ship and they rescue the guy and the teacher and the girls. It was pretty good but I would rather have seen a Hard Days Night. Later on we wanted to get a game of punch going but Lou wasnt around and Johnny ate a hole box of Pop Tarts and wasnt feeling to good. I just stayed inside and read some comics.
September 5, 1964 Not to hot. This is the last Saturday until school starts so I wanted to do a lot today. First Lou and I went to Gertz this morning. He lost his copy of Spiderman when he gave it to Billy Duncan to read. Id never give my comics to him because he always looses stuff or dosent give it back. Lou thout about going over to his house to see if he could get it but he didnt know if Billy was home and he didnt want to talk to his mom because shes pretty scarry and he didnt want to talk to his sister Marjory because she has a googly eye and he wouldnt know which eye to look at. We never saw his dad but hes probly scarry to like his mom. So he desided to go buy another copy insted. He got the last one there. I got the new issue of Daredevil. Hes this new super hero that is blind because he got some chemicals spilled on his eyes and now his other senses are super senses so he can fight crime even thouh hes blind. I also got the new issue of the Flash. After that we came home and got a game of punch going. Me Johnny and Gus aganst Lou Chuck and Brian. We won but I thought we would loose. I think it was because Brian said he had a bad anckel and couldnt run to good. After lunch me Gus Lou and Brian went to Bettels. Tony said hes glad school starts soon because hes sick of us coming in there and acting like a bunch of retarted monkeys and making a mess. We were goofing around in the booth a little bit but then Lou finished his choclate soda and he said uh oh and he let go with a real blaster that stunk real bad. We could hear it go brappitty brappitty brap aganst the booth bench. Everyone started laughing and Brian started coughing and hacked up some of his egg cream. Tony came over and yelled at us to get out. So we just threw some money on the table and ran out. Lou said he had some peppers at lunch and that must have mixed up with the choclate soda and thats what made the blaster so stinky. Gus said he bets no one will go in that booth for a week. Id say a month. After that I watched the end of the Yankees Athletics game. The Yankees won. After dinner we got a game of stickball going. Me Gus and Lou aganst Chuck Mitch and Johnny. Brian pitched for both teams. We won. After that we sat on Guses stoop for a while because it was getting dark. Then I went home. Nothing good on TV tonight. Mom was watching Larense Welk anyway. I just read some comics. Im going to bed now. School starts in 4 days. PU.
September 6, 1964 Cloudy today and not to hot. Just a few more days of vacation. Tomorrow is laber day. We went to church this morning and after we got home mom got all my stuff ready for school on Wensday. The summer went to fast. I wish there was a few more weeks of vacation. This afternoon Gus asked if I wanted to go to Gertzs with him. Usally I go with Johnny or Lou. When we got there he got me a soda and asked if I wanted any of the new comics. I said no but he said get a few if I wanted them. So I got the new Action comics, Strange Tales and the Green Lantern. On the way home he asked if I saw him and Ellie coming out of Bettels the other day. I said yes and he asked me not to say anything to anyone because everyone will razz him and Ellie. I said I wouldnt. I guess thats why he bouht me the soda and comics. I wouldnt have said anything anyway but it was good to get the soda and comics. When I got home I went over to Johnnys and watched the end of the Yankees Atletics game. The Yankees won 3 to 2. I hope they will be in the Worlds series again. After dinner we got a game of punch going. Me Lou and Gus aganst Chuck Johnny and Mitch. They won. Then it cooled down and we just sat on Lous front stoop for a while. Tonight we watched Sullivan the last time before school starts. Im going to bed now.
September 7, 1964 Laber day. Not to hot. This morning Chuck and I went down to the college to look for bike parts. We hadent been down there for a while so we went and I found an old frame and a crank. The crank is the part that has the pedels and moves the chain around the wheel. Chuck gave me 75 cents that he had with him and he said hed give me 50 cents more when we got back. After that we got a game of punch going. Mitch Gus and Johnny aganst Me Chuck and Lou. It was a pretty close game but we won by one run. Johnny wanted to keep playing but Mitch had to go and Chucks mom was calling so the game broke up. This afternoon I went to Lous and we watched the end of the Yankees Twins game. They won 5 to 4. Then I went home and read some comics for a while. Later we had a barbakew in the backyard. Dad made some hot dogs and hambergers and Mom made some salad and beans and she got some watermelon and chips and sodas at Bohacks. We all ate a lot. Then Mike asked mom if she had any pineapple juice. Mom said no and why. Then Mike said he had eaten some beans and he wanted to drink some pineapple juice because he likes hawayan music. I dont know what that ment but it was probaly bad because Sharon said stop being croode and Mike just laughed. A little later Mikes friend Pat came by and had a couple of hambergers. Then Sharons friend Ann came over and she really loaded her face with food. She eats a lot but shes real skinny. Then Johnny came by and we toasted some marshmellows and we had some watermelon. We had a pit spitting contest until mom yelled and told us to cut it out becaus she didnt want a bunch of watermelons growing in her rose garden. Then we had to pick up the pits. Tonight I just watched the Outer Limits on TV. One more day of vacation.
September 8, 1964 Rainey today. It stunk becaus its was the last day before school starts and it rained in the morning so I couldnt go out or go to Gertzs or anything. I just stayed inside and practised playing flips in the basement. In the afternoon it stopped raining but it was still cloudy. I went over to Johnnys and we made some stuff with his thing maker set for a while. He doesnt go back to school until next Monday because he goes to catholic school. That seems to be pretty good but id rather go to public school becaus the teachers cant wack you with a yardstick. Some of them wack kids with there hand thouh. Mrs Stanner does it. So does Miss Mersdock a 6 grade teacher. Her name is Miss but she looks like shes 70 years old and was probaly the first teacher in the school after it was bilt. She grabs guys by the ear sometimes. Mikes friend Pat had her in 6 grade. He only got his hair pulled once because one time another kid who was sitting next to him farted and she thought that Pat did it so she grabed him by the hair and pulled him up out of his seat and stuck him in the back of the room for a while. Kids probaly held it in after that becaus they were afraid of getting hit or there hair pulled if they let one out. After dinner we were able to get a game of punch going. It was a short game but we were able to play anyway. I got my stuff together for tomorrow then watched the Untochables.
September 9, 1964 Cloudy today. First day of school. I walked with Gus Chuck Ellie and Linda to school. Chuck goes to Huddie junior high and its on the way to PS 193. Gus started this year to. Then Ellie and Linda and I walked the rest of the way. I walked behind them becaus if someone I knew saw they would probaly razz me for walking with some girls even thouh they live on my street and I know them. When I got to the school me and Craig and Teddy got together outside in the school yard before the bell. Teddy went away to South Carolinena this summer for a month. He got really sun tan and his hair got real light and Craig said he looks like one of those surfer guys from Californya. Craig went to his grandfathers farm in Pensilvanya for a few weeks. Outside we also saw Dennis Bole and Steven Goldberg and Billy Nevins. Then Maralin Scott and Evelin Rogers came up to us and said hi. I didnt recognize Maralin becaus she got her hair cut short. I was afrad that Evelin would remember she saw me pulling the shopping cart with my mom last month but I gues she didnt becaus she didnt say anything. I hope she doesnt remember. Then the teachers blew there wistles and everyone had to freeze. Its like a game they play to keep kids from goofing around. Then we lined up in our class lines and went inside. The inside of the school always smells funny for the first few days. It smells like they scrubbed everything with comet or ajacks. We went into class and Mrs. Thomas was there. I guess shes kind of old may be abot 30. She has short brown hair and brown eyes. Shes not fat or skinny. Just medium I guess. She had name cards on our desks so we knew where to sit. I sat on the side of the room near Mildred Bestraky. Everyone calls her Millie. Then Mrs. Thomas told us abot what we were going to do for the first half of the year until Christmas. Then she gave out our books to us. After that we all just talked for the morning. She said that she is married and has a girl in junior high school. I guess may be shes older than 30. May be 35 but she doesent look old. Everyone said what they did this summer and what they like to do. I said we went to Jones beach and the Worlds Fair and that I like to read comics and play punchball and stickball and flips. She asked what was flips so I told her and she said that it sounded like fun. I said it is except if you loose. Then she laughed. I think she will be a good teacher. At lunch me Craig Teddy and Billy sat together. Teddy had a egg salad sandwich that smelled kind of ripe. He said his mother puts chopped pikels in it and thats why it smelled. I just had ham like always. Some times I have baloney to. I asked Craig how Mrs Stanner was and he said she wasnt that bad but it was only the first day of school and she might get worse. He didnt say anything becaus he didnt want to say something wrong and may be get smacked. After lunch we went back to class and started to talk about history and what New York was like 100 years ago. After school I went home and me and Gus played box ball for a while. No one else was out. I guess they had homework. After dinner I watched the Untochables. The new TV shows start next week
September 10, 1964 Second day of school. It was hot as August and Mrs Thomas had me and Arty Ross open some of the windows. Then Arty said look over there and I could see the parashoot jump at coney island. I thought that was cool becaus I think coney island is about 10 miles away or something. It was hard to see with the trees in the way but we could see the top. Probaly it will be easier to see it in the winter. At lunch Dennis Bole was making some gulping sounds to be funny and then gulped down his milk to be funny but then he coffed and he burped it up and part of his lunch came up with it. Everyone ran from the table yelling and Mr. Denton the janitor came over and yelled at him for being an idiot. Then Mr. Johnson who teaches 6th grade and Mrs Stein who teaches 4th grade took Dennis up to the principle. I guess he got in trouble becaus we didnt see him after lunch. In the afternoon we just went over times tables. We also talked about flowers and plants. Its called fotosinthasis or something like that. Everyone will be growing there own plant starting next week. When I got home I did some math problems and had to write about something I did this summer. I wrote about the worlds fair. I was able to fill up one side of a sheet of paper and about four lines on the other side. After dinner me Johnny Gus Chuck Mitch and Lou got a game of punch going. We didnt keep score becaus we didnt play that long becaus Johnny had to go in to do homework. I watched My 3 Sons tonight now Im going to bed. School wears me out.
September 11, 1964 Friday! I got throuh the first days of school OK. We did some reading this morning. I guess Mrs Thomas wanted to be sure that we could all read and that there was no goof offs or nuckle heads in her class. I read something from Moby Dick. Arty and Todd laughed a little when I said Moby Dick but Mrs Thomas got a serieus look on her face and told them that was enogh. Shes nice but I guess she doesnt like goofing around. Then she made them read something from Little Women which is a book about girls. Then a couple of girls giggled at them. Everyone else did OK except Nat Balmont who studders a little but he can read. Hes an OK guy and we all have known him since kindergarden so no one laughs at him for studdering because he can play punch and stickball real good. One time after school in the third grade a kid named Donald Merrin who was in the fifth grade was laughing at him and called him a retard becaus he studdered. Nat got mad and told him to shut up but he studdered when he said it and Donald laughed some more and called him a retard again so Nat belted him right in the face pretty good and Donald ran away. No one made fun of him after that. I wasnt in school that day but I heard that he nocked out a tooth and there was blood everywhere. The next day I looked around but didnt see any blood or a tooth so I guessed they cleaned it up and put Donalds tooth back in his mouth. In the afternoon we went over the math problems that Mrs Thomas gave us last night. I got 7 out of 10 right. I guess thats pretty good becaus I didnt do any math problems this summer. When I walked home I saw Ellie and she waited for me to catch up. She had a bag and I asked what it was and she showed me a Beatles album that some of her friends gave her becaus today is her birthday. She said that I could come over tonight if I want to becaus her mom is having a cake for her. I told mom and she went out to the store and got her a card and put a dollar in it for her. After dinner I went over to Ellie and Chucks house for cake. Johnny Gus Lou Linda and Marion were there and also two girls from school named Clare and Donna came over too. After we had the cake me Chuck Gus Lou and Johnny snuck away to watch Route 66 on an old TV Chucks dad has downstairs in the celler because the girls were opening presents and we didnt care abot that. After that I said thanks to Mrs Lindsey and Happy Birthday to Ellie and I went home.
September 12, 1964 Rainy this morning then it got nice. Johnny and I went to Gertzs in the morning to see if there were any new comics. I got the new Batman annual. Johnny got Spiderman and the Hulk. We got some sodas and stayed there for a while because it started raining hard. We had a burping contest and Johnny won when he burped so hard some soda came up. Mr Gertz didnt see that because he would of kicked us out if he did. After that we went home. It was to wet to do anything so I got lunch. Later in the afternoon I watched the end of the Yankees Twins game. They won 4 to 3. Nothing much else happened until after dinner when everything was dryed out. We all came out and had a game of punch, me, Johnny and Gus against Lou, Chuck and Brian. They creamed us 8 to 2. Tonight we all watched Hollywood Palace on TV. Its a show like Ed Sullivan with a bunch of different acts like singers and comedians.
September 13, 1964 Hot today. I fell asleep before Hollywood Palace ended last night and woke up in my bed. I dont know how I got there. Mom said she walked me up stairs but I dont remember. We went to church and had a different minister from another town. He was short and talked funny kind of like a cartoon caracter. Mom told me to stop it when I was laughing a little but then she also started laughing a little. I guess mom knows a goofy talker when she hears it. It’s a good thing we were in the back where no one could tell. After church we had lunch and mom did some work in her garden. Dad was watching a movie on TV and fell asleep. Mike and Sharon went out somewhere. I just read some comics for a while. Lou came over and we went to Chucks to get a game of punch going. Johnny wasnt home and Gus was sick so we couldnt play. We went to Bettles for a soda. Tony the counter guy wasnt there. This lady named Nan was thouh. She was nice. I think she was Mr Bettels niece or sister or something. After that we went back home. Chuck finnished a bike he was building. Its real cool with a springer fork that he pulled off and old bike and a banana seat and some stingray handlebars. He let us ride it a little. He said he still needs some better petals and some hand grips.
September 14, 1964 Second week of school. Already Im waiting for Christmas. Mrs Thomas gave us a vocabulery quiz to see if we knew the meaning of some words. I got 7 out of 10 right. The 3 I got wrong were required, sediment and marvel. I said marvel was a comic book. She wrote on my paper that she knew it is a comic book but that wasnt what she wanted to know. After school I did some homework, math and science. I had to see how long it took a little dish of water to freeze in the freezer. Dad yelled at me because I kept opening and closing the freezer door every few minutes to see if froze and he said what are you trying to do air condition the hole house? I wish we had an air condishioner. We just have big window fans that make alot of noise.
September 15, 1964 Hot again today. Its bad enough to be in school but when its hot its werse. We did some times tables and division tables this morning. In the afternoon Mrs Thomas gave us all a small flower pot and some dirt and some seeds to grow plants. She didnt tell us what kind of seeds they were but I think we all got something different. Millies seeds looked different than mine. By the time school let out it was a little bit cooler but still hot. Johnny and I played box ball after dinner then rode our skate boards around for a while. Nothing much on TV. Next week the new shows start thats good becaus the old shows are kind of boring because Ive watched them once already.
September 16, 1964 Hot again today. I wish we had some fans or a air condishoner in school. I checked my flower pot but nothing happended yet. Today we talked about the planets for a while and how big they are and how far away they are and stuff like that. Jupeter is the biggest one and Pluto is the smallest. Walter Okossky thouht Mrs Thomas said play doh instead of Pluto and said they must have gotten the name for play doh from the planet. At first Mrs Thomas got a little annoyed but I guess she realized that Walter is not to smart and wasnt being disrespecktful just dumb. In the afternoon we had a math quiz. I got 8 out of 10 right. When I got home me and Johnny played hit the penny for a while. It’s a game where you bounce a spaldeen between two players and try to hit a penny on the sidewalk. I won. After dinner Sam the freezer fresh guy came down the street. I thouht he was done for the summer but I guess it was hot so he came out. We got cones. After that I went in and did some math problems then I watched Combat. Going to bed now.
September 17, 1964 Not as hot today. Not much happened in school today. We did some division problems and talked about Thomas Edison. My plant hasn’t started to grow yet. I hope I didn’t get bad seeds. Tonight for homework I had to get an article out of the paper about anything I wanted. I found one about the Beatles getting a lot of money to play a concert in Kansas. The Yankees played the Angels tonight and they won. I’m glad because they got creamed 2 days ago. I hope they make the worlds series again. Tonight on TV there was a new comedy show called Bewitched about a lady who is a witch but she doesn’t look like one. It was pretty good. Tomorrow night the Adams Family starts. Jonny Quest to. The commercials look pretty good. I hope the shows are good.
TO BE CONTINUED....
(Updated every few weeks)
The characters depicted in this website are from the story and screenplay 'One Summer In Brooklyn'
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