June 18, 1964   Cloudy day this morning then it got sunny in the afternoon. We went throug some old papers in our desks today. Miss Hannigan said we have to clean up for the summer. I found an old valentine that Mary Ross gave me on valentines day. I hid it in my desk and made like I didnt get it. She used to look at me alot. I was always bugged by her. She had bangs that grew over her eyebrows and almost no fingernails. She used to bite them down real far and it made her fingers look weerd and stubby kind of like those marshmello circus penuts candys. Im glad she moved to Yonkers in April. I also found one of the merry Christmas pencils that Miss Hannigan gave us at Christmas time and 2 choclate balls wrapped in foil. I threw the choclate balls out but Billy Nevins took them out of the garbage. I gues he will eat anything. In the afternoon Miss Hannigan took us up to the playground on the roof for a while. Its all fensed in so you can throw a ball around and if someone misses it wont go off the roof. You can probably squeez a ping pong ball throug the fence. Craig told me that about 10 years ago a crazy kid was swinging on the swings to hard and he flew off the roof and landed on a car crushing the roof in and making a big mess. So they put up the fence after that. When I got home I asked dad about it and he said yes the kid did a triple sumber salt and landed on a 1948 Hudson. He hit the car so hard that his eyes popped out. The police found one but the other one must have rolled down the sewer because they couldnt find it. Mom yelled at him and told him to stop that. She said it wasnt true. No one ever fell off the roof. They put up the fence for safety when they built the playground. I gues I beleive mom but dads story is cooler.

June 19, 1964 Johnny and Lou go to catholic school and there last day was today. After dinner I saw Johnny outside and he had the fingers on both his hands banmdaged up. I asked him what happened and he said this kid in his class Vinnie Pesto had a 2 dollar bet that no one would ask there teacher sister Mary Margret a question about God. I asked him what was the question and he said is God stronger than Superman? He raised his hand and asked the question. He said some of the kids laughed and sister Mary Margret got all serius and came over to his desk and wacked his left hand with a yard stick that she carrys thats about 6 feet long. She said he was a fool and should beg God for forgiveness. Then he had to sit in the back corner for the rest of the day. I asked him what happened to his other hand and he said after school he asked Vinnie for the 2 dollars but Vinnie just laughed and said he didnt think any one would be stupid enough to ask sister Mary Margret that question. He said I did so give me the money. Vinnie said no and Johnny went to punch him but Vinnie moved and he hit the wall and split open his knuckel. I asked him if he got in trouble when he got home and he said his mother yelled at him and his father told him to try harder not to be stupid. I thought going to catholic school would be cool because you get out one week early for the summer but now I dont think so.

  

Friday is a good night for tv. Route 66 and the Twilight Zone. When I grow up I want a car like the one that Todd and Buzz drive. Sharon hates the Twilight Zone since she saw the one with the store dummys that come alive but mom Mike and I like it. So she goes in her room and plays records or listens to Cousin Brucie on the radio or writes to Georg while its on. Dad goes bowling and he comes home in the middle of the Twilight Zone. Sometimes he lets me stay up and watch Alfred Hithcock to. Most of the time I fall asleep so I dont know how the show ends.

 

June 20, 1964 Very hot today. This morning I went down Nostrend avenu near Brooklyn college with Chuck to help him look for bike parts. Sometimes kids throw old parts over a fence by the railroad tracks. There is a small hole in the fence that I can fit throug so Chuck pays me for any parts I find. 25 cents for a good tire 50 cents for handlebars 10 cents for pedels. Once I found a frame and he gave me a dollar but that doesnt happen very much. He takes the parts and builds bikes with them. His garage is full of parts and he has abot 6 bikes. Some times he sells them or trades them for other parts. He said hes glad he lives today and not during world war 2 becaus all the parts would be melted down to make jeeps and tanks and guns and he wouldnt be able to make any money. I looked around for a while but I didnt find anything. Chuck said we can look again next week. We had a great punch game this afternoon. Chucks friend Brian came over and played on Gus and my teem. Brian is bossy and yells when we arent winning. Chuck just tells him to shut up becaus he sounds like a doofus. Johnny couldnt punch the ball becaus if his fingers so he played catcher for both teems. Gus hit a long one but Lou jumped over a row of bushes and cauht it. Lou is the best player. He will run anywhere to catch the ball. He can also hit the ball any where he wants to even between 2 parked cars. Gus can hit the farest. Almost 2 sewers long. Hitting a sewer lenth is from one manhole cover on the street to the next one. We were winning but the game ended when Brian was running after the ball and ran into Mr Cummings Cadilac Coop. That car must be made of super steel becaus Brian just bounsed off it about 10 feet and didnt dent it. He said he was ok but I think he got hurt. He was walking funny and didnt talk much for a while and bent over a lot then he went home. After dinner we watched Mike and his friends play stick ball. Mikes teem won. A little later it started thundering and everyone went inside becaus it was going to rain. I sat in my room and watched the lightning over the apartment buildings behind our house. It didnt rain but the lightning kept flashing. It looked like the lightning was hitting the buildings but dad said its miles away. Not much on tv tonite. Mom and dad watch Larence Welk anyway.

    

  

 

June 21, 1964   Not much happened today. Gus and his parents went to his aunts house. Chuck and his sister Ellie and there mom and dad went to Riis park for the day. Lou was helping his dad with something. I dont know where Johnny was. May be waiting for the rocket car. Mom wasnt feeling to good so we didnt go to church. It was very hot this morning and sitting in church would have been hard. I told mom that I watched Davy and Golieth on tv insted so it was like going to church. Mike herd me and said I was a dweeb and a goof ball and said watching Davy and Golieth wasnt the same as going to church. Mom told him he shouldnt call me names and that isnt the way he should treat his little brother espeshally on Sunday. Then she smacked him on the back of the head. After that I watched Wonderama with Sonny Fox. Sharon gets mad when I watch it becaus its on for 3 hours and she cant watch anything else. Mom was feeling better at lunch time so she made some sandwichs and we ate them in the back yard becaus it was to hot in the house. Later dad put on the sprinkler and I ran around in it for a while to cool off. Then Lou came over and I changed my clothes and we played box ball for a while until we got to hot. Dad said today is the longest day of the year. The sun will be out for the longest time this year. May be thats why its so hot. He said tomorrow the sun will start setting a minute earlier every day. At night we watched Ed Sullivan. There were some singers and 3 funny comedy acts on. Just 5 more days of school.

                                                                   

June 22, 1964   On the way to school I saw Johnny on his front steps looking at some baseball cards. It will be a few days until his bandades come off. He told me that the car his dad is getting is a Chrysler turbine car and they will be getting it in about 2 months. I saw Chuck sitting on his stoop with a lot of gawze rapped up on his foot. He said when they were at the beach yesterday he threw a pail of water on Ellie and she got mad and chased him with a sand shovel that she found. He ran away and stepped on something and cut his foot. His dad said what did you step on and he said I dont know. They went to the spot and found a broken shell. They rapped up his foot in a towel and then they went to the hospitle. The doctor said it wasnt to bad and he didnt need stiches. He just cleaned it up with some red stuff that really stung and bandaged it but he also got a tetnis shot. Chuck said the needle was about a foot long and he swheres he could feel it going into the bone. He was sure it was going to come out the other side of his arm. He said that hurt more than stepping on the shell. It felt like he got hit in the arm with a baseball. He said he will be home today but his mother said he has to go to school tomorrow. Nothing much happened in school. We started handing in books today and helped Miss Hannigan put away stuff for next year. We will start our talent show tomorrow. After dinner I talked to Gus to ask him if he had any good jokes that I could tell the class. He gave me 4. What time is it when an elefant sits on your fence? Time to get a new fence. Did you hear the one abot the karaty champ who joined the army? The first time he saluted he killed himself. How many hippos can you fit in a car? 5. 2 in the front 2 in the back and 1 in the glove compartmant. The last one is what do you do if you are swallowed by an elefant? You run around and around and around until you get pooped out. I dont think Ill use that last one. Miss Hannigan might not like it and get mad at me. Its a funny joke thoug.                                                                                                                            

June 23, 1964   We finished cleaning our desks today and they look just like the first day of school. I found another choclate ball but it was squashed. I snuck it in to the garbage so Billy wouldnt see it. We started our talent show today. Arlene Goloski played the clarinet. The song was nice but I didnt know what song she was playing. She said it was an old Polish folk song. I dont think she was playing anything she just said it was an old Polish folk song. Then Arthur Kindman went to the front of the class with this rolled up thing under his arm and wearing funny clacking shoes. He unrolled it and it was a small peice of wood floor and he did some tap dancing. Arthur cant throw a ball or play punch ball very good but he can tap dance very good just like some of those guys on the Ed Sullivan show. In the afternoon we all talked about what we were going to do this summer. I said we are going to the Worlds Fair a few times and may be Jones beach a few times. On the way home I saw Clark Cummings as the crossing gard at 26 street. Clark is 12 and lives on our block. His dad owns the Cadilac coop that Brian ran into a few days ago. Some times hes OK but most of the time hes a fat jerk. Usually hes the crossing gard at Bedford avenu but they moved him to 26 street for the last week of school. Today he treid to walk a second grade girl across the street. He walked next to her with his hand on her sholder. She said she could do it her self but Clark kept walking her and said its his job to help little children. She said Im not little and I dont need help. Then she turned and kicked him in the shin. She was wearing these big saddel shoes and that must of hurt. Clark turned an limped back to the corner. When I got home I made a deal with Sharon to watch Sandy Becker but not Chuck Mccann. She wanted to watch some show that was on at the same time Chuck Mccann was on. Norton Nork and Hambone were on Sandy Becker. They are 2 characters that he does. After dinner I read some comics and played stoop ball for a while. Tonight Im going to watch some of the Yankees game then Im going to bed.

June 24, 1964  3 more days of school. Craig played the guitar today. He put on a Beatles wig that he got for his birthday and played She Loves You. When he did the OOooo part he shook his head and the wig would spin around. Once it fell off and everyone laughed. Then Maralin sang Its My Party and did very good. Maralin is the nicest girl in class and will probably be a singer when she grows up. In the afternoon Steven Goldbergs mom brouht in his Jerry Mahony dummy and he did some ventrilakwisim. He did a lot of hickup and burp sounds. He was pretty good. Tomorrow I will tell my jokes.

                                      

             

After dinner we went to Sears Roebucks. Mom said I needed a new bathing suit for the summer. Mike went to look at motorscoters. He wanted a motorcycle but mom said there was no way he was going to ride up and down on Flatbush avenu on a motorcycle like Marlin Brando. So he went to look at scoters insted. Sharon went to look at clothes. She never looks at the cool stuff. Dad wanted to look for a barbecue grill but he had to wait for mom. After mom found me a bathing suit Mike came back from looking at scooters. Mom told us to stay together while she went to look at grills with dad. We went to look at the televisions for a while. We watched some of the Yankees White Sox game in color. Then we walked around some more. Then we saw Sharon looking at some dresses in the girls clothes departmant. Mike had an idea on playing a trick on Sharon. He remembered how she hated the Twilight Zone show with the store dummys that were alive. I walked over to Sharon and pointed to a dummy and said thats a nice dress. She looked over at the dummy and said yes it is and Mike was hiding behind the colum and started moving the dummys arm. She yelled a little then she saw Mike and she got mad and told us to cut it out. Mike was laughing and when he came out he bumped the dummy and the head fell off. He picked it up and treid to put it back on and the wig fell off. He bent down to get the wig and bumped it again and an arm fell off. Then mom and dad came back and just stood there watching Mike as he treid to put the dummy back together. Finaly he put the arm on the ground and put the head under the dummys other arm. Dad called Mike a moron and said we wont be coming back to Sears Roebucks for a while.

 

June 25, 1964  Today was my turn at our talent show. I told the first joke abot the elefant and the fence and everybody laughed. Then I told the second one and eveyone laughed at that one to. Then I told the one abot the hippos in the car and no one laughed. Craig said I dont get it you cant fit hippos in a car and a hippo wont fit in a glove compartmant. I said thats the funny part a hippo wont fit in a car. Craig said it wasnt funny. Miss Hannigan said I did very well. I dont think I did so good. At lunch I almost hit Craig I was so mad. I told him that I clapped at his guitar playing so he should have laughed at my joke. He said his guitar playing was good but the joke was bad. I said that friends should help friends and I clapped even thouh his guitar playing wasnt that good and I said he looked like a bozo with the wig on. He said my jokes stunk anyway. I was going to punch him but Mrs Leonard came into the lunch room. I hope Craig isnt in my class next year. When I got home mom asked me how the jokes went. I said OK and she said good. After that Chuck came over and asked me to help him get a tire that was up on one of the rungs of a telephone pole down at avenu J. We went to the pole and Chuck boosted me up. I climbed to the 3 rung and got the tire. When I got down Chuck gave me a quarter and then he said hey look and we saw Nicky P sitting on his bike outside of Gertz candy store. Nicky P is this kid who moved here from Canarsy last fall and lives a few blocks over. Chuck said hes abot 15 and has a JD card. He said you get a JD card for getting arested 10 times. Gus told me that he herd that Nicky once threw a bowling ball out of the boys bathroom on the 4 floor at school. No one saw it but they found the bowling ball and knew he did it. Another time I herd he took a police motorcycle and the police chased him all the way to Queens. Mom told me to stay away from him.

 

June 26, 1964  Today was the last day of school! Miss Hannigan brouht in some cookies and soda and some records and we had a party in the afternoon. Some other classes were still handing in books and cleaning up but we got that done already so we didnt have to do it today. I got my report card and I got Good in work habits and language arts reading oral expression and written expression and Excellent in health and safety and mathematics and social studies. Mrs. Thomas is my teacher next year. Mike had her when he was in 5 grade. Maralin is also in her class. Craig got Mrs Stanner and was real mad. I gues he wont be able to goof around next year. Billy and Teddy got Mrs Sanford. I think shes nice but is a hard teacher. At the end of the day Miss Hannigan was sad becaus she liked teaching us so much. She gave each of us a hug on the way out of the class. When I got home mom said I got some mail and it was the new issue of Metal Men comics. Metal Men are a team of robots made out of differant kinds of metal. They are tin lead gold iron mercury and platinum. They are all men robots except platinum who is a woman robot. They can do all sorts of things like make there bodys into other things like walls of steel or tanks or even parashutes. They fight killer robots from other planets and sometimes monsters from space. Other comics I like are Spiderman Justice League of America and the Flash. After dinner I went up to Mikes room on the 3 floor to play cards for a while. It used to be the attic but dad and a few of his friends made it into a bedroom for Mike a few years ago. Some times when you sit on the bed against the wall you can hear the radio playing throug the wall from the Davidsens house next door. Dad once told me that our house is called a duplecks. That means that there are 2 houses joined together. Most of the houses on the block are duplecks houses but there are some regular ones to. Tonight I will stay up later and may be watch Alfred Hichcock with dad.
                                         

        

June 27, 1964  I stayed up last night and watched Alfred Hitchcock with dad and it was the creepyest show Ive ever seen. The show was about this guy who buys a weerd jar at a carnival side show. It has some water in it and a bunch of other things like stringy things and shiney things and round things but you cant tell what the things are in it. His wife is scared by the jar becaus it is so creepy and wants him to get rid of it. He likes it becaus he becomes famous in the town. People come over to his house and look at the jar every night like they are watching tv. Everybody sees something different. His wife trys to get someone to steel it but that doesnt work so she nocks it open and there is just a bunch of junk in it. She thinks its funny and laughs at him. The man gets mad and starts walking at her. The next night everyone is looking at the jar and after looking at it for a while they see the wifes head in the jar. That was a scary show. I dont think Ill ever stay up and watch it again.

    

Today we went over to dads aunt Graces house in Statin island. She is moving to Florida and is getting rid of stuff that she didnt want to take with her. She had an old sewing machine that she said that mom could have so we went to get it. Dad told me to behave myself becaus when we were there 2 years ago I got into trouble when I said her house smelled funny. Mom gave me a good wack when we got home after that one. The house did smell funny thoug. I think it was becaus her furniture was probably abot 100 years old or may be one of her cats got stuck behind the furnace and died in the basement. I asked dad if he would give me 50 cents if I was good at aunt Graces house. He said 50 cents? When I was your age I was good for nothing. Mom Mike and Sharon lauged at that one. I didnt understand why but then I figured it out. We took the ferry over to Statin island. Dad said when the Verrazano bridge is done the trip will be much faster. Sometimes dad and I would park by the belt park way and watch them building the bridge. We dont know anyone else on Statin island but aunt Grace so after she moves I dont know why we would go there. Mom has a cosin in New Jersey that we see sometimes so we can take the bridge to Statin island then another bridge to New Jersey. I remember we went there when I was 7 and we drove past some factorys that really smelled bad. Sharon felt sick and thougt she was going to throw up. Dad said for Gods sake dont throw up in the car I just cleaned it. Stick your head out the window. She didnt throw up thoug. When we got to aunt Graces house I just said hi and didnt say anything else. The house smelled ok but I didnt want to take the chance that I would say something wrong and get smacked again. We took the sewing machine and a small table that mom liked. Dad took an old movie projector and some movies that used to belong to his uncle Martin. Aunt Grace gave Sharon a jewelrey box with some stuff in it and she gave Mike some binoculers. Then she gave me a box with some old comic books and baseball cards that she had in the house for when she sometimes watched her neyhbors kid after school. I looked throug the cards for a Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays but couldnt find any. There was a Gil Hodges and a Roger Maris and a few other good ones. There was also some DC and Marvel comic books like the Justice League of America and the Fantastic 4 and some others. On the way home we stopped at Wetsons for some hamburgers and french frys. Eating at Wetsons and the baseball cards and comic books made the trip worth it.

                                                        

  

   

June 28, 1964  We went to church this morning then I went to Gertzs to get the paper for dad. When I got there I saw Robert Maloney coming out. Hes a kid that lives in the apartment buildings on Nostrend avenu. Hes abot 13 is fat always has a dirty t shirt on and swets alot. He looked at me for a second then walked away. I had a problem with him last Februry after a big snow storm.

Johnny and I were walking on avenu J when Robert and 2 of his friends started throwing snowballs at us. At first they didnt hit us so Johnny started razzing them and said they throw like girls. They didnt like that so they chased us and caugt us in the doorway of the laundymat. Then Robert smooshed slush in our faces. Johnny started to cry but I got mad and kicked him in the shin. He shoved me down in a big slush puddle. They all lauged and left. I went home all soked and told mom what happened. Mike herd the story and took moms mopping pale and got 2 of his friends to go find Robert. When they found him Mike took the pale and filled it with slush and dumped over Roberts head. He told him that if he ever picks on me again they would tie him up and hang him upside down from a phone pole on avenu J. Robert didnt bother me after that. One time Chuck had a wicked fight with Robert. Chuck Lou and I were at Gertzs having a soda when Robert showed up. Chuck had an Archie comic that he got for Ellie and Robert thougt it was his. He said only a dweeb reads Archie comics. Chuck said Id rather be a dweeb than a fat stinking load of cat puke. Robert got mad and shoved Chuck then he swung like a spaz and hit Chuck in the side of the head. Chuck backed up and swung and hit Robert in the nose. The punch made a funny wump sound like when you drop a pumkin on the sidewalk. He started yelling my nose my nose and all this blood started coming out. He was a mess. He ran away yelling like a crazy person who looked like he came in third in a hachet fight. Chuck said if you are ever in a fight aim for the nose. It stops them every time. His uncle boxed in the navy and taut him a few things.

     

I got the paper and some bazooka bubble gum then I went home. After I got home mom packed some sandwichs and potatoe chips and pickles and other food and some yukon club sodas and we went to Riis park. On the way we drove past Floyd Bennett field. Some times dad drives past there when we go to the farmers market. Some times you can see the back wings of an airplane sticking out of a hangar. Dad said they used the field alot during world war 2. Then we went over the Marine park bridge.

 

                               

 

The middle of the bridge lifts up so that big boats can go throuh. I saw it lift up once but there wasnt any boats going under neeth it. I gues they were testing it or something. The beach was nice but the water was to cold and I came out after a few minutes. Chuck stayed in for a while but then he came out all shivering. Mom and dad and Sharon just stayed on the beach. Dad said the water will be cold for a few more weeks until the middle of July when the weather gets hotter. 

  

June 29, 1964 The 4th of July is coming and everyone is trying to get fireworks. Last year Lou got some from his cosin who brought them back from down south when he went to Florida. He had some bottle rockets and firecrackers. Chuck Lou and I did some cool stuff with the firecrackers. We put one under a tin can and shot it in the air. Then we put some in a dirt hill in Lous back yard with some toy solgers and made it like a battle. Chuck made a long fuse and tied it to all the firecrackers in the hill. Then he lit it and they went off one after another bam bam bam. That was cool. Mike and his friends also had some bottle rockets. Most of them were the fizzy ones but they also had some that blew up after they shot in the air. They shot a few of them off then one of them must have been bad becaus after it went off it went sideways into a window on the 4 floor of the apartments. We all watched and Mike said oh no and his friend Pat said oh crap then it went off BAM and we could see the inside of the apartment light up for a second like in a cartoon. Then we heard some guy yelling but we couldnt understand the words. He must have been from Germany or Rome or someplace like that. We all ran inside after that and didnt come out for hour or so. A police car came down the street 2 times but then it went away. Dad said it was a stupid thing to do becaus it could have started a fire and then he took Mikes fireworks and soked them in the basement sink and then he threw them out. I dont know if we will be able to get any this year. Probably just have some sparklers.

    

June 30, 1964  Mike and I went down to the 5 and 10 at the junction this morning. Mom needed some sponges and Mike had to get a birthday present for his girl friend Susan. The junction is a place with a lot of stores like clothing stores and gift stores and shoe stores and the 5 and 10. Flatbush avenu and Nostrend avenu cross there and there is also a subway station. We go down the stairs of the subway on one side of the street and come up the stairs on the other side near the 5 and 10. I got a plastic air plane for 25 cents and a wolf man figur for 19 cents at the 5 and 10 with some of the money Chuck gave me for finding bike parts. Mike got Susan a nice braselet at another store. We were on our way home then Mike remembered that he forgot the sponges so we stopped at Bohacks and got them there. We also got some twinkies to have with lunch.

       

                     

    

After lunch Lou Johnny and I went to Gertzs. Mr Gertz put out some new comics Green Lantern the Atom and the Fantastic 4. We all got some sodas and sat down to read them. I got a Hires root beer and Lou and Johnny got orange Hoffmans sodas. Johnny also got some Devil Dogs. We were reading the comics for a while then Lou saw some little black specs in his soda. Johnny picked up Lous bottle by mistake and drank from it and some of the Devil Dog crums were inside. Lou got mad and called Johnny an idiot and told him to buy him another soda. Johnny said I dont have enouf money to buy another one but you can have mine. Lou picked up Johnnys bottle and saw crums in that one to and he said this one has crums in it to. Then he said Im not drinking from a crummy bottle with moron germs on it. Lou and Johnny dont get along very good. Usally Johnny does something stupid like drinking out of someones soda bottle with crums in his mouth or something like that. Once Johnny tried to jump the curb on Lous bike and he twisted the handle bars side ways. I thougt Lou was going to punch Johnny in the mouth but Chuck had a rench in his pocket and fixed the handle bars in abot 10 seconds. The next time we go to Gertzs Ill sit in between them so there soda bottles wont get mixed up. After dinner we were all outside and Gus came back from the junction with a skate board that his dad got him. A skate board is a board about 2 feet long with 4 skate wheels on the bottom. Its like an orange crate scooter without the crate. You put one foot on the board and push along with the other foot then put both feet on it and ride along. Gus can ride it real good. The rest of us tried it but we didnt do as good. I gues it takes practise. Chuck said the kids in Californya ride skate boards to school.

    

July 1, 1964 3 more days until the 4 of July. No one got any fireworks yet. Johnnys dad got him some sparklers but they dont make noise or go in the air or anything so they wont be much fun. Gus and his parents and his brother Steve are going to Long Island tomorrow afternoon for the rest of the week. His uncle has a house way out there near the beach and every year they have a big party. A lot of people get fireworks and set them off on the beach. The next morning Gus and Steve go on the beach and find things that didnt go off or that people dropped and couldnt find becaus it was dark. Mom told me that Chucks parents dont let him have any becaus when Ellie was 3 a crazy kid that used to live on the block lit off a pack of firecrackers and one of them bounsed near her and she went to pick it up and it went off. Mr. Lindsey called the police and they went to the kids house and found a big box with abot 200 fireworks in his garage. Mike said he thinks they took the kid away to reform school or the nut house after that. The family moved a few months later. Mom said 2 of Ellies fingers got hurt and her hand was banmdaged up for a while. Then she had to do hand exersizes to get her fingers to work again. When she got older she took piano lessons to help. Shes 11 now and plays real good and her hand looks fine. 

    

July 2, 1964  Not to hot today. The day started out OK but it ended pretty bad. Gus and I went over to the Huddie school yard this morning to see if we could find any spaldeens or pensy pinkies. Some times kids leave some behind after they play stickball. We found 2 but one of them must have been there a long time becaus it was stuck under the fense and was all hard and moldy looking. On the way back we were walking past Rand cleaners and Gus looked up at the awning over the door and said hey look and there were some balls up there. Gus gave me a boost up and I nocked some of them down and grabbed a few more. Then the owner came out and yelled get out of here or Ill call the cops. We picked up the balls and left. All together with the 2 we found we had 9. 3 of them were no good so we threw them out. The others were OK but 2 of them didnt bounse so good. Gus said he could fix them by putting them in an oven for a little bit. Doing that makes them bounsy again. Once his brother put 3 in there oven on a peice of aluminium foil but it was to hot and he left them in there to long and they melted on the foil. He said by the time he got them out the kitchen smelled like a tire factory and the balls looked like 3 large rubber pancakes.

In the afternoon Johnny and I were having a catch in the street when Ellie and Linda Anderson and Marion Gotlick came along. They were watching us for a while then Linda said do you want to play us in punch ball? Johnny said no then Marion said are you afraid we will beat you? Johnny said theres no way they could beat us. I said to Johnny theres just 2 of us and 3 of them and Ellie can play good becaus Chuck taugt her. Johnny said there just girls and we can win. Johnny was stupid becaus he let them go first. We started playing and they started winning. Then Chuck and Lou came along and sat on the curb and watched. Every time we messed up Chuck would look at the ground and shake his head. Lou was trying not to laugh. We finaly got up and got 2 runs but then they got us out. Then the score was 2 to 7. Then Brian came over to see Chuck and he started watching to. He started razzing us and said we were faireys if we couldnt beat some girls. Johnny was getting mad and I thougt he was going to cry. They got 2 more runs then Ellie said hey guys I got to go. I think she felt sorry for us becaus we were loosing and the guys were making fun of us. Marion said I have to go to. Johnnys face got all red and he started yelling no finish the game finish the game. Then Brian said hey dweeb the girls are leting you loosers off the hook so give it up. Johnnys face got all red and he had spit dripping out of his mouth becaus he was so mad. Then he turned and threw the ball real hard at Brian. Usualy Johnny doesnt throw that strait but this time he threw it real strait and hit Brian right in the marbles. Brian bent over then fell down with his hands between his legs. His face got all red then purple and the vanes were sticking out of his forhead like he was going to die. It looked like he stopped breething but then he made a low moaning sound. Johnnys eyes got real big and he turned white. Then he ran home real fast becaus he knew that Brian was going to pound him if he ever got up. He will probably hide in his basement for a few days. Tonight Im going to watch the Flintstones and Rawhide on TV.   

       

July 3, 1964 Tomorrow is the 4 of July. Lou and I were going to Gertz this morning when we saw Clark Cummings out in front of his house. Lou said the big dope will probably tell us a stupid joke or try to do a trick on us or something. We passed him and he called to Lou. We went back and he mumbled something. Lou said what and then Clark grabbed Lous rist and started hitting him on his arm. Then he said name 10 cigaretes and wistle 2 times. Lou got this mad look on his face but Clark had this goofy smile on his face and he kept hitting him. Lou said hey Clark did you get the letter I sent you and Clark said no then Lou said I gues I forgot to stamp it. Then he stomped down on Clarks foot real hard. Clark yelled out and hopped over to his stoop yelling ow ow I think you broke my pinky toe. Lou is smaller and younger than Clark but he could whip him in a fight if he wanted to. I dont think he will try that on Lou again. After we got back Johnny Chuck Lou and I were talking abot tomorrow. We all thougt we wouldnt have anything but sparklers for tomorrow but then Mitch Zeterberg came over to our block. He is a friend of Chuck who lives on 32 street. He is making a big firecracker. He took one of his dads cigars and took out all of the tobaco to make the tube. Then he stuffed it with a bunch of gunpowder from alot of firecrackers and also alot of greenie caps to. Then he closed off the ends with wads of toilet paper and seeled it with wax. He said when he lights it off people will hear it 10 blocks away. Mitch does alot of crazy things with fireworks. Last year he taped 3 firecrackers together and put them on the manhole cover outside of my house. He was going to drop it throgh the hole on the cover but Chuck told him not to becaus there is alot of gas that builds up down there from all the stuff that gets flushed down the toilets from all the houses on the street and he could blow up the whole neyborhood. He put it on the cover insted and lit it off. It made a loud bang then a twang sound that eccoed from the sewer. Another time he took a roll of caps and smashed them between 2 bricks in Chucks back yard. I thougt my ear drums broke after that. My ears were ringing for about an hour. Tonight Ill watch Route 66 and the Twilight Zone. No more Alfred Hitchcock thoug.

    

July 5, 1964  I didnt get a chance to write yesterday becaus there was a lot going on becaus it was the forth of July. Chuck Johnny Lou and I got together in the morning to figur out what we were going to do for some fireworks. We had some money but didnt know where we were going to get some. Lou had abot 10 firecrackers left over from last year and Johnny had 2 fizzy bottle rockets but that was it. Then Brian came over and told us that there was this guy on his block selling fireworks out of the trunk of his car. We went over there and there were a lot of kids hanging around. The guy kept saying what do you want and the kids were yelling things like ash cans and cherry boms and romin candles. Finaly we got up to the car and Lou was going to buy something but the guy closed the trunk and said thats it and drove away. A police car came down the street after that. I gues the guy saw him coming. We went back to our block and got a game of punch going. Todd Martin was sitting on his stoop watching us play. He is 11 and reads comic books almost all the time. He has about 5 boxes of comics and knows alot abot super heros.

 

   

 

He also has some comics he got from his uncle with super heros I never herd of like blue beetle and bulletman. He also has some old Green Lantern and Flash comic books but there costumes dont look like they do now. Sometimes he plays punchball with us. He can play pretty good. He told us that his dad got a romin candle that he is going to lite off later. Lou said he would give him 25 cents to lite it off but Todd said no. After dinner it got darker and we could hear fireworks going off a few blocks over. The police must have been running around to try to find out who was shooting them off. We met in front of Lous house and Johnnys dad lit off the 2 bottle rockets and Lou lit off a few firecrackers. He dropped one of them down a syclone fense post. It went off and there was a flash then some smoke came out like a gun. A little later Mitch came over with his big firecracker that he made out of one of his dads cigars. He put it in the middle of the street and we all got down behind my dads car becaus Mitch said it may blow a hole in the street and shoot pieces of the street in the air. He lit it off and ran over behind the car. The fuze fizzed for a few seconds then stopped. It was smoking and Chuck said wait. After a few seconds more nothing happened and Mitch went over to look at it. He looked at it and said oh crap it didnt work. Then he picked it up and looked at it. It started to fizz then there was a woosh sound then it made a paff sound and it flashed like the flash on my dads camera. Mitches face was all scrunched up becaus it was so brite. We all ducked down behind the car again. Then we looked and we saw Mitch standing there with the firecracker in his hand still smoking. His face was almost all black and his eyebrows and some of his hair was smoking. Chuck and Lou ran over to him and started smacking his head becaus they thohgt he was on fire. I thohgt Mitch would start yelling but he had a smile on his face and said whoa that was cool. What did it look like. Then he went home. I think Mitch is ether crazy or stupid after he said that. A little later Todds dad came out and put the romin candle on the ground. He let Todd lite it and we watched a few of the glow balls shoot off. Then Mr Martin told Todd to pick it up and hold it like the statue of liberty. Todd didnt want to becaus of what happened to Mitch so Mr Martin said OK scardy cat I will. He held it up and a few of the glow balls shot off and he said see its easy. Then one of the glow balls shot out of the bottom and went into his shirt sleeve. He dropped the romin candle and ran around smacking his armpit yelling dam and hell a few times then he said another word I never herd of. It must have been pretty bad becaus Chuck and Lou looked at each other with there eyes wide open trying not to laugh. Finaly he grabbed his garden hose and stuck it in his shirt and sprayed himself. When he finished part of his shirt and a lot of the hair on his chest was burned off. He yelled at Todd to get in the house and he told the rest of us to beat it. Not a very good forth of July for him. It was pretty good for the rest of us thogh. 

 

July 6, 1964  Dad took the day off today and we went over to Aunt Graces house. She is flying down to Florida for a few days to sign some papers and check on some work that is being done on her new house. She asked mom if we would watch one of her cats while she was away. Dad didnt want to but mom said we have to help out and watching one of her cats would help her. We got to her house and she had Lolly in a carry bag with a screen door on the front. She gave us abot 6 cans of cat food and a litter bin and some cat toys. She said Lolly will probably sleep most of the time but she also likes to play. One of the toys is a rubber mouse tied to a long string. She said I should throw the mouse and then pull it slowly and Lolly will jump at it and try to catch it. When we got home Lolly just walked around looking at things then she climbed on the sofa and went to sleep on the top part. In the afternoon Lou came over and we played with some solgers in the back yard for a while. Then we went to Gertzs and I got the new issue of Justice League of America. After dinner most of the kids on the block came out and started riding skate boards and roller skating and riding bikes. After a while there were all these line marks on the street where they were skating. At about 9 oclock I went inside. There wasnt much on TV so I tried to play with Lolly for a while but she didnt want to. Mom said cats dont want to play all the time like dogs do.

  

July 7, 1964  This morning I woke up and was reading a comic in my room when I herd dad yelling downstairs. I herd him yelling get back here you dam cat. I went down stairs and he and mom and Sharon were in the living room. Dad was on his hands and knees looking under the sofa. I asked mom what happened and she said nothing everything is fine. Dad said the dam cat took one of my waffles and ran under the sofa. Mom said dad took 2 frozen waffles and put them on a plate on the table in the kitchen. Then he went to get the toster from the closet and Lolly grabbed one and took off. I dont think Lolly was going to bring it back becaus he was yelling I just think dad was mad and he started yelling like when he yells at one of us for doing something wrong. Mom cahmed him down and made him some breakfast. I had my breakfast and then I took a ride around the block on my bike a few times. Later Chuck and I went down to the college to look for bike parts. I found a fork and an old seat. The top part of the seat was rotted but Chuck said he could use the seat post. He gave me 35 cents for the parts. He is making a sting ray bike and has been getting parts for abot 3 months now. He has the frame some wheels a banana seat and a few other parts. He is looking for some sting ray handlebars but they are hard to find. Later in the afternoon it got hot and Lou and Johnny came over and mom shot us with the hose for a while. After dinner it was to hot to play punch or stickball so we just sat on the front stoop until about 8.30. Dad got out some fans from the attic and put a window fan in my room to cool it off. Not much on tv tonigt.

  

July 8, 1964  Another hot day today. Gus came back from Long Island late last night. He didnt find many fireworks this year just a few firecrackers and 2 bottle rockets. His brother found a big rocket but there dad made them light it off while they were there. He said they lit it off on the beach and it went about 200 feet in the air then came down in the bay. Gus said it they lit it off here it would probably come down in a tree or on someones roof. After dinner Mike asked if I could pitch to him and his friends. They were playing stick ball and were short a guy. I pitched a few and Mikes friend Philup said I was doing good. Then Mikes friend Pat hit a long one and it landed Mr Mazens lawn. Mr Mazen is a growchey old guy that lives down the street. He is kind of skinny and is almost bald with fuzzy gray hair on the sides of his head like Larry from the 3 stooges. He also has one eye that looks sideways. Lou said he could probably look at 2 people on both sides of the street at the same time. He takes any balls that that go on his lawn. Hes taken abot 3 or 4 from us. He also yells at kids that come close to his house. Chuck said that hes goofy becaus he was hit in the head by a foul ball at Ebbets field about 10 years ago. Gus told me that there is a cat in the neyhborhood that has a short tail becaus Mazen cut it off with some hege clippers becaus it was climbing on one of his bushes. I dont know if its true but I did see the cat a few times and it does have a short tail. Mikes friend Steve just walked over to the lawn and got the ball. I gues he wasnt home. After the game I went inside and watched McHales navy and part of the Yankees White Sox game on tv. Im going to bed now.

               

July 9, 1964  We are going to the World's Fair on Saturday. Chuck told me which things to see because hes been there 3 times already. He said a lot of the stuff that his parents went to were kind of boring. Just buildings that were like museums that told about history but they did see some cool stuff to. He said theres a stunt driving show where theres a lot of jumps and cars doing high speed driving. Theres a big tire feris wheel and a place where there are life size dinosaurs. Theres also part of the fair that just has rides. He said the log flume ride is great and theres a mono rail that goes all around the ride area. Dad said we probably wont see everything in 1 day but we will go a few more times before it closes for the year in the fall. After lunch Gus Chuck and I went to Bettels for a soda. It was to hot to sit outside at Gertzs so we went to Bettels insted. You can sit down at the counter or at a booth and get a soda or ice cream or even a hot dog if you want one. They have some pictures of rock and roll singers on the wall  like Chuck Berry and Dion and the Animals and the Beatles. Johnny once said that he thinks Bettels is really owned by the Beatles and they just changed some letters in the name so no one would know. Chuck said thats abot the dummest thing he ever herd and that his brain must have some extra stupititey inside it. On the way back we stopped at Gertz and I got the new issue of X Men. When we got back we all went inside becaus it was to hot to do anything outside. Sharon was at Jones beach with some friends and Mike was over at Susans house for a barbacue so I could watch tv all afternoon. I watched Chuck McCann then Superman then part of Sandy Becker and the 3 stooges. Mom gave me a hamberger and some potatoes and a soda on a tv tray and let me watch tv while I ate. Later it cooled off a little so I went outside and we had a game of punch. Me Chuck and Johnny against Gus Lou and Mitch. There team won. Then I went inside and was going to watch My 3 Sons on tv but mom was watching Dr Kildare so I went upstairs to read some comics.

     

July 10, 1964  When I woke up this morning I herd this sound coming from the hall. It was a sound like kak kak kak. I didnt know what it was then I herd Sharon yell oh God thats disgusting. I went in the hall and Lolly was sitting there and Sharon and mom were looking at this big grey hairy lump on the floor abot the size of a walnut. Mom said its a hair ball and cats get them from when they clean by licking them self. All the hair goes down there throt and builds up inside then after a few days they cough it up. Mom and Sharon didnt want to touch it then Mike came along and said whats the big deal? He picked it up and threw it in the garbage pail in the bathroom. Sharon said thats disgusting. Then Mike started waving his hand in front of her saying OOOOO HAIR BALL HAND BOOGIE BOOGIE BOOGIE. Sharon ran away and locked herself in her room. Then dad came out of his bedroom and told him to stop acting like an idiot and wash his hands. After breakfast I took a ride around the block on my bike a few times. Nothing else happened during the day. Johnny and Gus were away someplace and Chuck went to his aunts house with Ellie and his mom. Lou and I played army in the back yard with some solgers in the afternoon.

    

 

     

After dinner we were all outside and the good humor man came down the street. His name is Joe but everyone calls him little Joe because he is really short. Mikes girlfiend Susan said she thinks he was one of the munschkins from the Wizard of Oz. I got a red white and bluberry ice cream bar. It is a special flaver that they only have around the forth of July. A little later the freezer fresh guy came down the street. He sells ice cream to but his ice cream is the soft kind like Carvel. Mom usually gets 2 big cups one with vanila one with choclate. Sam the freezer fresh guy is missing the top part of his thumb. Mitch told Chuck that a friend of a guy he knows told him that Sam got into an arguement with little Joe abot 2 years ago because Sam came down his street to early and little Joe was still there. They yelled at each other for a while then Sam was razzing little Joe and he went to grab a good humor ice cream bar out of his truck. Little Joe slammed the door of the freezer and it cut off the top of Sams thumb and it fell into the freezer part of the truck. It is probably still in there all rotten. Someday someone will order a toasted amond or choclate eclare and little Joe will pull one out with the thumb tip stuck on the wrapper. 

         

July 11, 1964  We went to the Worlds Fair today and had a pretty good time. We got there about 9 this morning and there was alredy a lot of people there. We went to the main gate and got our tickets and some maps to decide where we were going first. Mom wanted to go to see a statue at one place Mike wanted to see the space park Sharon wanted to see some of the foren country buildings and I wanted to see the dinosaurs and the tire feris wheel. Dad Mike and I stayed together and mom and Sharon went together. Dad said we could meet at the unyisfere at lunch time. First we went to the feris wheel becaus dad said that it will probably have a long line. The line was long but not to long. We waited about 20 minutes. The ride was great. We could see all over the fair and even out to the highways around the fair. Then we walked over to the dinosaur park where they had the giant dinosaur statues. In side there was a show with volcanoes and lightning and rain that showed how the earth was a million years ago. On the way out I got a dinosaur figur from a machine that squirts plastic into a mold. You can watch it being made. They had abot 5 different ones that you can choose. Then we went to the space park and saw the mercury and gemini capsules that went into space and we also saw a model of a new one called apollo that is going to the moon in a few years. After that we went to some of the car exhibets. In the Ford building we sat in a car and went on a ride that went throuh time from the dinosaurs to space travel. In the Chrysler building there was a puppet show and we walked throuh a giant car engine. Then we went to the GM building and rode on a ride that went throuh different places like the moon and under the ocean and in a jungle. Finaly the ride showed what a future city will look like. We also saw a lot of new type cars they are making. After that we met mom and Sharon and had some lunch. They told us about the places they went to like the exhibets at Sweden and Ireland and Beljum and some other places. At the Beljum place they tried some Beljum waffles that they said were good. I was glad we didnt go with them because it sounded boring. After lunch we went over to the ride area while mom and Sharon took some pictures. Dad said I could go on a few things so I went on the log flume with Mike then a go cart ride then a plane ride that looped around. I got real dizzy on that one. We all went on the mono rail that went around the ride area after that. I asked dad if we could go on a helicopter ride but he said no becaus it cost a dollar each. We went back to the transportation area after that and showed mom and Sharon some of the cars that we saw in the morning.

I wanted to go to the car stunt show but it was real crowded. We went on some old cars at the Avis exhibet then we went over to the chunky candy exhibet and saw how chunky bars were made. Then we went to the general electric exhibet and there was a show that told abot the changes in how people lived from about 80 years ago until now. We sat in our seats and the whole theater moved in a circle like a merry go round around the stage each time the story changed to a different time in history. It had these remote controlled robots that looked like people. They talked and told the story of how the country has changed becaus of electricity. Mom said Walt Disneys company put the whole thing together. When that was over we went to see if we could get on the feris wheel again but it was real crowded. Dad decided that we would go home after that becaus it was getting hot and Sharon didnt feel so good. He said we will come back again in the fall when it isnt so hot. On the way out mom wanted to stop at the area with all the countries and go back to see the statue again. She told me it was a famos statue of Jesus and Mary called the peayata and we should see it before we leave. We had to wait abot 10 minutes then we went inside and walked through and saw it. There were a lot of people in there and I saw a few women looking at the statue that looked real sad. I asked mom about that and she said that the statue reminds people that Jesus gave his life for us and it makes some people sad. Before we left the fair mom said I could get a soveneer so I got a worlds fair lisense plate for my bike. We got back to the car and dad opened the doors and let it cool off for a while because it was abot 150 degrees in there. Then on the way home Sharon said she didnt feel to good. Mike started joking and asked her how many beljum waffles she had at the place she went to with mom. Sharon told him to shut up and Mike said just dont think abot food. Mom told him to be quiet and Mike said I didnt eat a bunch of waffles with sugar and strawberrys on them she did. That made it worse and Sharon said I think Im going to get sick. Dad got all nervous and said wait wait hold it in. I was sitting in the middle next to Sharon and I moved away as far as I could and almost sat on Mikes lap because I knew she was going to let loose with a real croaker. Mom grabbed a big soda cup she got at the snack bar and dumped the soda out the window. Then she gave the cup to Sharon and dad pulled over and Sharon burped a few times then she made a noise like BWAAUKK and let go right into the cup and a little bit hit the floor. Mike looked at the mess and said whoa you dont chew your food very good. Dad told Mike to shut up and it wasnt funny and mom took some newspaper and put it on top of the mess on the floor. I thougt I was going to get sick to but I was to afraid to say anything because dad was steeming. Then mom took the cup and put it on the side of the road. Id hate to be the cleaning guy who finds that cup. We rode the rest of the way home with all the windows open and dad must have been going almost 60 miles an hour. We had a pretty good day except for the last part. When we got home I watched Astroboy and Top Cat on tv. Im going to bed now.

  

               

     

July 12, 1964  We went to church this morning then I went with mom and dad to Aunt Graces house. I was going to stay home with Mike but Susan called him last night and said she was going to Coney Island with her family and did he want to go with them. Sharon was going to Riis park with a bunch of her friends so I had to go with mom and dad. Aunt Grace was back from Florida and we had to take Lolly back to her. We were all set to go and mom went to throw out some garbage and she yelled for dad. We went to see what was the matter and on the back steps were these 2 fuzzy things that were kind of mashed up. I think one was a mouse with its legs sticking up in the air and one eye missing. I dont know what the other thing was but dad said he thougt it was a bird. Mom said that she thinks Lolly got them when she was in the back yard this morning and left them on the steps as a present for us. Dad said thats the most redculas thing he ever herd because cats have a brain the size of a peanut and a peanut size brain would be a step up for this one. He said all the dam cat did this week was sleep on the sofa and cough up hairballs and steal my waffles. Mom said she read that cats will do that if they like you. I guess she really liked us because she left 2 things and not just 1. We got to Aunt Graces house and she thanked us for watching Lolly. She brouht us a bag of oranges and some coconut choclate candys that dad likes. After we left Aunt Graces house we stopped at Wetsons for lunch. 2 times in 2 weeks is pretty good. On the way home the car started making a clunking sound. Dad said it sounded like the transmishen was slipping and he better get it checked out. When we got home we just had some sandwhiches and maccaronni salad then I went outside and played box ball with Johnny for a while. He said that Gus and Mitch and Lou and him were playing punch this afternoon and they lost another ball on to Mazens lawn. He took it and put it into the big Charles chips can he has in his garage. Hes been taking kids spaldeens and pensy pinkies for abot 10 years now and must have 100 in that can. 

   

July 13, 1964 We went down for breakfast and dad told mom that he was taking the Chevy to a garage down by the junction to get it checked out. Its about 14 years old and it runs ok but he said that he wanted to find out what the clunking sound was.

  

                        

  

Mike said he should get a new car and that Pats cosin is selling his 1960 Corvet stingray. I think that would be cool but dad said it only has 2 seats and there are 5 of us in the family. He said may be a bel air or impala would be better. After breakfast I went down to Lous house to see if he could come out. On the way I saw Raymond tareing along the street on his bike. Everyone calls him crazy because he wears goggles and a old football helmet from abot 40 years ago and is always doing stupid things with his bike like jumping ramps and curbs and riding real fast even throuh our stick ball games. He lives over on 33rd street and is abot 11 or 12 but no one knows for sure. We just know that he is to big for the bike he rides. Gus brother Steve said hes nuts and that a guy he knows said he has six toes. I dont know if its true but if he does he can probabley swim like aquaman becaus of the extra toes. When I got to Lous house he asked if I wanted to go down to the junction. He had to get some mouse traps at the 5 and 10. He said his mom saw a mouse in the celler the other day and had a fit. She screamed a lot and it ran under the washing mashine. Lous dad wants to get it before it shows up in the kitchen or someplace else in the house. He said they can get into a small hole in the wall and into cracks that are about less than a half inch wide. While we were at the 5 and 10 I got a hunch back figur to go along with the wolf man figur I got a few weeks ago. I also got some big army men so I can have them have a battle with the monsters. I wanted to get a frankinstine figur but they didnt have one. When I got home I had lunch then it started to rain real hard. Mom said she was glad it rained because its been real hot and her garden was starting to dry up. I stayed inside for the rest of the day and watched tv becaus it was raining. There wasnt much on tv tonight. I watched the honeymooners with dad then Mike and I played nock hockey in the basement. Nock hockey is a game that has a big board with an edge around it thats like a side wall. Its about 3 feet wide by about 4 feet long. It looks like a minature hockey rink. It has a round wood puck and 2 small hockey sticks. You take turns trying to hit the puck to the other guys goal and ring a bell. You can rickoshay the puck off the side wall to try to score. Mike won. After that I read some comics then I watched most of  the Yankees Indians game on tv. They tied 2 to 2. Mickey Mantle hit a home run. Im going to bed now.

    

July 14, 1964  Rainey this morning then it stopped at lunch time and was real yumid the rest of the day. I went over to Lous house to see if they caut the mouse. He said it took the cheez but the trap didnt spring. His dad put some peanut butter on it insted. Then we went over to Gertzs to see if any new comics came out. Lou got the new issue of Action comics and I got a Batman annual. Regular comics are 12 cents and the annuals are 25 cents but they have 4 or 5 storys in them insted of 1 or 2 like the regular ones. Mike told me that they use old storys from about 10 years ago and make them into annuals. When we got back Johnny told us that we missed out on a fight. There wasnt any punching or kicking or anything like that but was kind of like a fight. Johnny and Gus were walking past Clark Cummings house and Clark was acting like a jerk like he usally does. He started skwirting Johnny and Gus with a water pistel. They ran after him and he ran on to his stoop and started saying Ill ring the bell and tell my mom if you come over here. Johnny said they started to walk away then Clark came off the stoop and started skwirting them again. Then Gus went to the Gessens lawn and picked up a chunk of dryed dirt from the flower bed. Clark started yelling no fair no fair and started to run away. Johnny said that Gus pegged it just like Sandy Koufax and hit Clark right in the crack in the middle of his hiney. He said there was a big poof of dirt smoke and it left a big mark on his white pants. Clark yelled like a baby and ran back to his house yelling Im telling my mom. He ran inside and Gus and Johnny herd Clarks mom yelling at him to put down the dam water pistel and go change his pants. I gues Clarks mom knows that he is a jerk to. Later dad came home and said the clunking sound in the car was a loose belt that the garage guy had to fix. He was glad it was nothing serius but I wish we could have gotten a new car. After dinner it started raining again. I watched Mchales Navy then read some comics.

    

July 15, 1964  Another hot day. I went out and rode my bike around the block a few times. It felt like it was 100 degrees out but it was only 9 oclock in the morning. It usualy doesnt get hot until after lunch time. I got real hot and swetty so I went down in the celler where it was cooler and practised playing flips for a while. Flips is a game 2 guys play with baseball cards or sometimes football cards. You stand on the sidewalk and the first guy flips his rist and drops a card and you see which way it landed. Picture side up or the back side up. Then the second guy flips his card and trys to match the other guys card. If they both match then the second guy wins. If they dont match then the first guy wins.

       

          

        

Chuck and Lou are the best flips players on the block. I played Lou a few times and lost most of the time. I never play my good cards like Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays becaus I could loose them. Once Chuck wanted to play flips three for one if I played my old Roy Campanella card but I said no. You can also play another game with cards where you toss them at a wall to see who can get closest. Who ever gets closer wins. Some guys dont play that game becaus they have baseball card collections and throwing them at a wall can dent up the edges. After lunch Chuck and I went down to the college to look for bike parts. I finaly found some sting ray handlebars that were a little bit bent and a little scratched. Chuck was happy to see that becaus they are hard to find. He said he could bend them back to normal and they would work fine. He gave me 75 cents for them. I checked my bank when I got home and I have 2 dollars and 85 cents saved up from finding bike parts. Then I went to Lous house to see if they caut the mouse yet. He said the mouse ate the peanut butter and the trap snapped but they didnt get it. He said his dad got mad and loaded it up with a big gob of peanut butter this time and said only Hoodeenee could get out of that. After that I played box ball with Johnny for a while then I went inside. At night Sam the Freezer Fresh guy came down the street and mom got some ice cream then I watched the end of the Yankees Oriales game. The Yankees won 2-0.

              

July 16, 1964 I was watching TV at abot 8 oclock this morning when Lou came over to tell me that they caut the mouse. We went over to his house and he had to clean it up becaus he said his dad was at work and his mom was to histericle to do it and she had to lay down. He said he was in the kitchen with his mom when they herd a SNAP from the celler. We went into the celler and the mouse trap was under the sink near the washing machine. It was a real mess. The trap snapped the mouse almost in haf and there was red gooshy stuff coming out that I think was the guts or something. There was also peanut butter splattered on the wall. Lou was going to take the mouse out of the trap but his mom yelled at him to just put the whole thing is a bag and throw it out then wash his hands becaus he could get a diseese. He put it in a bag then in another bag and threw it in the garbage. Then he cleaned up the wall and the floor and washed his hands in the sink with lawndry soap. His mom still wasnt feeling good so she told him to get himself something for breakfast. We had some sugar smacks and oreos. Then Lou said he would be out later so I left. On the way home I saw Chuck in his garage working on his bike. Gus was there to. He fixed the handlebars I found and was painting the frame red. Then Ellie came in to tell Chuck that there mom wanted him to go to Bohacks for some canned peas and some milk. I noticed Ellie kept looking at Gus. Ive seen her watching Gus a few times when we were playing stickball or punch. I think may be she likes him but I dont know if Gus knows that. I would ask Gus if he knows but he might get mad and hit me even thouh I never saw him get mad at any one. After lunch Lou and Johnny came over and we played with some solgers on the dirt pile in the back yard for a while then it got real cloudy and windy. They went home and I went inside and there was a wicked thunderstorm. The street got all steemy becaus it was hot and the rain was evaperating. I sat by the front window and saw some garbege can covers rolling down the street like they were wheels becaus it was so windy. Mom was going to call dad at the office but Sharon told her not to. She said Georg told her that lightning can come throug the phone line and fry your head. Something like that happened to Moe on the 3 stooges once. I stayed inside for the rest of the day. We all watched My 3 Sons tonight.

       

July 18, 1964  I didnt write yesterday becaus I got sick. Johnny and I went down to Hudsons grocery store in the morning for his mom. He had to get a pint of heavy creem. We walked over there and on the way Johnny found a 50 cent coin near the curb. After Johnny got the creem for his mom he got 10 ring dings. We sat down outside and had one. Then Johnny wanted to have a ring ding eating contest to see who could eat them fastest. We started but after I had 2 I couldnt eat any more. Johnny kept eating them and ate 6. We sat there for a while and burped a lot then we started to go home. Then Johnny looked kind of sick and sat down again near the corner of 31 street. He looked a lot like Sharon did when she got sick at the worlds fair. Then he looked dizzy then he burped real loud. Then he said he felt OK. He got up and walked a few steps then he let go. Everything came out. Ring dings and his breakfast. I think it was cheereeos. Then I felt bad and dizzy after he got sick then I got sick. Then Johnny got sick again and he was walking kind of wobbelly then he stepped in my barf and slipped and fell. The bag with the heavy creem hit the ground and broke. Then I got sick again. Then we went home. When I got there mom looked real surprised and asked what happened. I couldnt think of a story to make up so I told her the truth. She got mad and took my shirt off becaus it was a mess and told me to go upstairs and wash my face. Then I got changed then I layed down in my room. I burped a few more times and it tasted like ring dings and I thougt I was going to get sick again but I didnt. After a while mom brought me some toast and tea that tasted terrible but she said thats what I get for acting like a pig. I didnt eat anything else until dinner when mom brouht me some chicken. When Mike herd what happened he started laughing at me then dad told him to shut up and told the story of when they took Mike to Buddies when he was 7. Buddies is a place on Flatbush avenu that has all these rides for little kids and also a place to get food. He went on a ride after he ate some ice cream and a hot dog and about a quart of pepsi. He threw up so bad they had to shut the ride down to clean it up. They didnt go back there for 2 years after that. I dont think Ill be able to eat ring dings for a while. Ill stick with twinkies becaus I never got sick on them.

                                   
    
July 19, 1964  Very hot. Billy Duncan is a friend of Johnnys who lives over on 32 street. Some times Johnny goes over to his house to go swimming in a pool that his dad set up in his backyard. The pool is about 2 feet deep and you cant really swim in it but they go in to cool off. Johnny asked if Lou and I could come over to and Billy said OK. We got there abot 3 and were swimming for a while. Johnny was spraying water from his mouth and we were diving under so we wouldnt get sprayed. Then we pretended we were frogman and were blowing up jap submarines during the war. Then we played water tag for a while. After that Billys 3 year old brother Arty came out. He started running around and throwing things in the pool like a baseball bat and a badmitten racket. Then he jumped in to and started splashing us all. Billy told him to cut it out but he kept doing it. Then he stopped for a second and just stood there. Then he said I went toy toy. Lou said what was that and Billy said he peed. Lou Johnny and I jumped out and Billy said its not a big deal. He does it all the time. We grabbed our towels and left. On the way home Lou was saying what a jerk Billy was and his brother was a pain in the neck. Johnny said he wasnt that bad. But all I could think abot was Johnny spraying the pool water out of his mouth. I didnt say anything because I dont think Johnny was thinking about how Billy said Arty always peed in the pool it and I didnt want to make him throw up again. Twice in one week would be too much. We didnt do much for the rest of the day. After dinner we got a game of stick ball going. Me Chuck and Lou against Gus Johnny and Mitch. No balls went on Mazens lawn. We won.
    
July 20, 1964  Not to hot. There was a fight today. There was just one punch but it was pretty bad. Gus and Brian got into a wicked fight because Brian was making fun of Guses grandma. His grandma came to stay with his family for a few weeks. Me and Chuck and Lou were outside Guses house talking to her. Shes hard to understand because she used to live in yurope a long time ago and she doesnt speak english very good. Gus had to tell us what she was saying a few times. Then Brian came by to see Chuck and came over when he saw us talking to her. After a while we all left. Brian said to Gus whats with your grandmother? Gus said she doesnt speak english very good because shes from germany and moved here a long time ago. Brian laughed and started to walk around saying ock tung ock tung. Gus got mad told him to cut it out but he kept doing it. Then Chuck told Brian to shut up and Brian said so what if his grandma is a craut. He started to say ock tung again but between the ock and the tung Gus let him have it right in the nose. I never seen him move so fast. BAM. Brian fell back over the Davis hedges and hit the ground pretty hard. He layed there for a while and I thought he was nocked out then he sat up and looked kind of dizzy. His nose was bleeding pretty bad. No one said anything because we didnt think Gus would do something like that. We never saw him get mad before. Gus just stood there for a few seconds all mad stareing at Brian then he walked away. Then Brian got up and Lou gave him a napkin to stuff in his nose. Chuck told Brian it was a stupid thing to do because Gus is jewish and what he did wasnt funny. Then he told him he better not come around for a few days until Gus cools down. After that we didnt do much for the rest of the day. Gus stayed inside and Johnny wasnt around so we couldnt play punch or stick ball. Not much on tv tonight. I’m going to bed now.  
      
July 21, 1964  It was hot in the morning but then it cooled down after lunch becaus there was a thunder storm. Johnny Lou and I went down to the College theter to see a matinay of A hard days night with the Beatles. I got some jujubees and Lou got some good and plenty. Johnny didnt get anything becaus he usally sponges off of us. The movie was really good but abot half way throuh it these 2 stupid teenage girls came in and sat down a few rows in front of us. They kept saying things like oohh theres John ooohhh theres Paul. There so cute, no Ringo is cute, no there all cute and things like that. They acted like the Beatles were in the room with us. We told them to shut up a few times and they told us to shut up then another guy in the theter told us all to shut up. Then this big old guy who works at the theter came down the ile and told us to be quiet or he would throw us out. He was abot 7 feet tall and probaly 300 pounds and kind of smelled like dirty socks and cigarets and I dont think he was fooling around. I guess he was tired of screeming kids watching the Beatles and wanted to throw some one out but he couldnt throw girls out so he told us to shut up. Then he left and we just sat there watching the movie and didnt say anything. Then one of the girls turned around and said ha ha ha. Then Lou said what are you laughing at? Did you look in the mirror? Then she said no Im laughing at you. Then Johnny said just shut up double ugly. Then the other girl threw a milk dud and beened Johnny in the forhead. Then Lou threw a handful of good and plentys and you could hear then rickoshaying off the seats. One of them must have bounced back and hit the guy across the ile because he said you dam kids nock it off. Then the other girl threw her popcorn bag and yelled cut it out. Then Lou said just shut up. Then I felt the floor vibrateing like a big ape was running down the ile but I was to afriad to turn around. Then these two big hands grabed all of us by the coller and pulled us out of our seats and led us up the ile. I think my feet went off the ground for a little bit. Then he pushed us out of the theter. The guy yelled at us to never come back. We left and Lou said the guy will forget abot it in a few days because Chuck and him got thrown out back in May and he got in today and the guy didnt remember him. The guy wore thick glasses so he probly cant see to good. After dinner we got a game of punch going. Me Lou and Gus aganst Chuck Johnny and Mitch. We won. I watched Combat and McHales Navy tonight. I’m going to bed now.
   
                                        
      
July 22, 1964 Mom and I went down to the 5 and 10 at the junction to get me some new sneekers today. I wanted to get some PF flyers at the shoe store but she said no because they are to exspensive. I told her that I saw a comershal on tv that said they have this special wege inside that makes you run real fast. There were these 2 kids that saved a guy hanging off of a steepel upside down and they ran fast to get help and the guy didnt fall and get killed. She didnt say anything she just stared at me for a while then said there to exspensive and we dont have any steeples in our neyhborhood and you run just fine without a special wege inside your shoes. I asked her if I could get some Keds sneekers because I can get a wistle with them. She said there exspensive to and if you want a wistle you can get one at the 5 and 10 for a nickel. We got the sneekers and they looked ok. The last time she brouht some sneekers home from Sears Robucks that were on sale. They were white and the front part was kind of big. She said the front part was wide because my feet were wide and I shoudnt get cramped toes. I gues tight sneekers would hurt and Id get blisters or maybe the blood would get cut off and my pinky toe could rot and fall off. I didnt like them but mom said just wear them and be quiet. The guys called me duck feet for a few days becaus they were so wide in the front. I got mad and told mom never to get sneekers with out me again so thats why I went with her today. The sneekers are black this time but Id rather have PF flyers or Keds. When we got home I ran around in the backyard to mess them up so they didnt look so new. After dinner Lou and I played flips for a while. Im getting better. I won 5 cards. Yogi Berra Casey Stengel Bob Clemente Johnny Podres and a Senators team card. I lost 3. Sandy Koufax Don Larsen and Don Zimmer. Tonight I watched the Rifleman then I wanted to watch the Untouchables but Sharon changed it to The Patty Duke show when I went to the bathroom. Mostly girls watch that show. Some times its pretty funny. Then Johnny came over and called me out because there was a lot of lightning bugs flying around. We ran around and swatted some out of the air. They looked like little meeteores crashing to the ground. Johnny caugt a bunch of them and held them for a while. His hands stunk real bad after that. After that I went inside and read some comics.
   
July 23, 1964  Nice day. Not to hot. No one was around this morning so I just watched tv. After lunch I went over to Gertzs to get the new Fantastic 4 annual. When I got there Nicky P was coming out. I stopped and made like I was looking at the news papers on the rack out side the store. Johnny once told me not to look at him becaus a friend of a guy his cosin knows said if he sees you looking at him he will get mad and punch you or pull a knife on you. He said the guy his cosin knows saw the knife once and said its about a foot long and can probaly cut throuh a car door. Johnny said his cosin said Nicky has a scar over his eye where he got hit with a bottle during a rumble in Canarsy when he was 14 and another one across his chin from another fight and he also had his nose broke about 4 times and thats why he doesnt like people looking at him becaus hes deforemd. I kept looking at the papers then I herd something drop on the ground near my foot. I looked over and it was a pack of cigarets. Then I herd him say Hey kid pass me my butts. I didnt move and acted like I didnt hear him. I thougt may be he was trying to get me to look at him becaus he wanted an excuse to beat someone up so I didnt look over. Then he said Hey kid. The butts. I looked down and picked them up and held them out without looking at him. He said over here and I looked over to where he was sitting on his bike. I moved closer and gave the cigarets to him but he didnt hit me or pull a knife or even get mad. He just said cool thanks kid. I didnt see any scars on his face or chin or any other deformety. His nose looked OK to. He kind of looks like Kookie from 77 sunset strip except he has black hair and looks kind of italien. He rolled the cigarets in his sleeve then he rode off. His bike is pretty cool. Its black and red and has a large back wheel and a smaller front wheel and sting ray handlebars with 2 mirrors and a red bannana seat with a bunch of reflecters on the back. I think he probabley put it together from old parts like Chuck does. I didnt tell mom about it when I got home. I think she would have goten histericle and yelled a lot abot how I was lucky that I didnt get killed. I sat down and looked at my comic while I watched Chuck McCann and Superman. Then I was watching the 3 stooges but mom told me to turn it off when she saw Moe grabbing Curly by the nose with a giant pair of sissors. She doesnt think there funny. After dinner we played some stick ball. Me Chuck and Johnny against Gus Lou and Mitch. They creemed us about 13 to 4. I told them abot Nicky P and Chuck said I have guts and no one ever got that close to him before. Tonight I watched the Flintstones and Rawhide.
   
              
  
July 24, 1964 Cloudy and yumid today. Mike got a job at the A & P a couple of months ago. Its a pretty good job becaus he gets to bring home broken boxes of cookies and cakes that they cant sell. One time he brouht home a giant carton of ice cream that was dented. We had to eat it right away becaus it wouldnt fit in the freezer. Chuck Lou Johnny Gus Pat Philip Susan and some other nehybors came over and we made sundaes. Most of the time Mike stacks shelves and sweeps the floor. Some times he helps out when they get a delivery of boxes. The truck parks next to the store and they put the boxes on a long slide with rollers on it and they slide them down into the celler where another guy catches them and puts them away. Today Mike was working with this other guy Harvey Mursdock. Mike said hes a moron and was probabley dropped on his head or kicked by a horse when he was a kid becaus he acts like an idiot most of the time. Mike was in the celler and Harvey was putting the boxes on the slide. When they were done with the boxes Harvey climbed on to the slide and said hey watch this. He slid down the slide but couldnt stop and flew off the end and crashed in to a pile of boxes. He didnt get hurt but there was a mess of broken jars of mayonase and boxes of ronzoni spagetty all over the place. Mike was real mad becaus he had to stay late and help him clean up the mess. At dinner Sharon told us abot a letter she got from Georg. He is in the army over in Viatname. Hes a radio operator and has been over there for a few months. He hasnt been in any battles because he stays on the base most of the time. Sometimes he goes out on patrol with a lot of other guys but hes never had to shoot his gun. Mom said thats good because if you shoot your gun someone will probabley shoot back at you. It would be better to just operate the radio insted. Mike once said that it would be better if he didnt have a gun becaus Georg is such a dope that he would probabley shoot himself in the foot. Dad got real mad and yelled at him abot that. After dinner Gus Johnny and I went over to Chucks house to watch tv. Theres only 3 or 4 color tvs on the block and they have one. Last spring Mrs Lindsey had all of Ellie and Chucks friends over and we watched the Wizard of Oz in color. Tonight we watched part of the Yankees Tigers game. Mickey Mantle and Joe Pepitone hit homeruns.
  
                      
     
July 25, 1964 Cool today then it warmed up in the afternoon. I went over to Johnnys house and Lou and Billy Duncan were there. We played wiffel ball in Johnnys driveway for a while then Billy asked if we wanted to act out the crawling eye. Lou asked what that was and he said we act out the movie like the actors did. Its like when we play Combat where someone is sargent Sanders and someone is little john and someone is Kirby and someone is the german who gets shot but you act like the guys in the movie insted. Every week theres a monster movie on the million dollar movie that they show every day in the afternoon. Last week it was rodan the week before it was the giant beehemuth and this week it was the crawling eye. The movie is about these scientists up in a labratory in the mountains in Switserland. Its made out of concreet like a fort to protect it from an avilanch. One day these creatures come from space and land there. They look like octapusses and are are real ugly with big heads that bulg and long tentikles and a big eye. They are in this cold radio active cloud becaus they have to stay cold and its cold on the mountain. They can read peoples minds and turn people into zombies but most of the time they just rip guys heads off. At the end of the movie the army bombs them with fire bombs and they get burned up. They make a weerd sound like waaba waaba waaba when they get hurt. We played it for a while. Me Lou and Johnny were the guys in the labratory and Billy used Johnnys lawn hose as a tentikle becaus he was the crawling eye. Then he got stupid and started whipping it around like a whip. He slammed it against the house a few times and Johnnys mom started yelling to cut it out. After a while he did it again and Johnnys mom yelled and called Johnny inside so we couldnt play any more. Billy asked if we wanted to go to his house and we said no. Then he said we could go in his pool and we said no to that to. Then he left. Lou and I went over to his house for lunch. His mom made these little pizzas on english muffins with tomato sause and chopped meat and cheez. They were really good. Lous house always smells good becaus his mom is a good cook. Shes always cooking spagetty or raveolli or some kind of food with tomato sause. It started to rain in the afternoon so I stayed inside for the rest of the day. Tonight I watched part of the Mets Phillies game but after a while mom changed it to Lawrence Welk. I just read some comics after that.
        
July 26, 1964  We went to church this morning. After Sunday dinner I played with some solgers in the backyard for a while then I played nock hockey with Mike but then he went over to Susans house. Lou and Chuck were away and Johnny had a stumick ach so he didnt come out. I went home and watched bowling on tv with dad. Later Lou came home and we played box ball and flips for a while. After I left Lous house I saw Brian talking to Gus outside his house. I could see Brians nose was all bamdadged up and he had a black eye. I gues he apolajised to Gus because it looked like they were joking around. Brian is OK most of the time but some times he can be a real jerk like when he bosses us around or yells we arent winning a game. Then I went over to Johnnys house and he was feeling better. We played with solgers in his basement for a while then he got out his creepy crawlers set. You can make all types of bugs and creatures with this little heater and metal molds and this stuff called goop that you pour into the molds. After the goop heats for a while it turns to rubber. I made a few bugs and a rat. Johnny made a few to and an octapuss. He put a metal BB inside of the ones he made so he could put them into there fish tank so they would sink to the bottom. The tank is pretty big and has abot 20 fish in it. It also has these sucker fish that grab on to the sides of the glass and eat the crud off the inside of the glass. Chuck came home later then we got a punch game going. Me Gus and Chuck against Lou Johnny and Mitch. We won. After that I went inside and we watched Ed Sullivan. The show was boring tonight. There was no music groups on. Just some people from yurope and England. There was a comedy team from England that was pretty funny. Im going to bed now.
  
July 27, 1964  Its almost August already. The summer is going to fast. It was real hot today. This afternoon Johnny and I took a screw driver and were digging pieses of tar from the street becaus the heat made the street real soft. Mom once said that grandpa Dernally used to chew on tar when he was a kid. I gues thats why his teeth fell out when he grew up. I took a peise and made it into a square. Then I put some dots on it like a dise. Johnny took a big peise and rolled into a long shape like a cigar. Then he put it into a peise of news paper and went and showed it to Marion and Linda and said it was a turd. They yelled and then he chased them around with it. They ran away screeming and we thougt it was real funny until they went and told his mom and he got in trouble. He had to say he was sorry then he had to stay in. Girls dont think things like a fake turd are funny. I thougt it was a good one. I went in for the rest of the day becaus it was so hot outside. I went down the celler and bounced a ball aganst the wall for a while until mom yelled at me to cut it out. So I just played flips for a while. After dinner it got cooler so we got a game of stickball going. Me Mitch and Lou against Chuck Johnny and Gus. We won by 1 run. Lou hit one that landed in Mazens bushes. We didnt know if he was home so no one wanted to go get it. It was an old ball anyway. After that I went inside. We watched Danny Thomas on tv tonight.
    
July 28, 1964  Not to hot today. I went down to the junction with Lou and Johnny this morning. Johnny went to get some gold fish becaus when he woke up this morning 3 were floating on the top of the fish tank. Lou had to get a birthday present for his mom. I just went becaus I had nothing to do. We got to the 5 and 10 and Johnny got 3 new goldfish for there tank. Lou was looking for something but couldnt find anything. I said maybe he should get her a pot or a frying pan. He said his dad did that once and he had to sleep on the couch. He got her some stayshonery instead. On the way back we stopped at the pizza place next to the subway for lunch. I was trying to eat my slice but it kept flopping down. Lou told me to fold it and it wouldnt flop. Johnny said Lou knows abot that stuff. Then Lou said what stuff then Johnny said folding pizza and eating spagetty with a fork and spoon and other italeian food. Then Lou said I eat other stuff to. Then Johnny said like what? Chineese food with tomato sause? Then Lou said how would you like to finish that slice with a fat lip? Johnny shut up after that. Then I took a bite and the cheez burned the top of my mouth and that was a wicked pain. I just took some ice and held it in my mouth for a while. When we got back Chucks cosin Jack was at his house with two of his friends. He and his friends are abot 14. They rode on there bikes from the apartments where they live down by Marine Park. We got a big game of stickball going. Me, Chuck, Gus, Johnny, Lou, Mitch, Jack and his friends Tim and Will. Our team won. 7 to 4. After the game Lou and Tim almost got into a fight. They were argyuing about who was the better pitcher. Lou said Sandy Koufax was and Tim said Whitey Ford was. Tim called Lou stupid and said that he was a trater because Sandy Koufax wasnt on a New York team. Then Lou called Tim a dope because Sandy Koufax was pitching in Brooklyn until the team moved to Californya. Then Tim said he was stupid anyway and Lou told him to shut up and called him an idiot. Then I think Tim was going to take a punch at Lou but Jack stepped in and broke it up. Then they left. Chucks cosin was OK but I hope he doesnt bring Tim the next time he comes.
   
   
July 29, 1964  Cloudy today. I went over to Lous house this morning and there was an ambulanse outside Mrs Dennisons house. Lous house is next door and when I got there he said her dauhter found her this morning and she died in her sleep. Mike told me that Mr. Dennison died abot 10 years ago and she lived by herself. She was a very nice lady and we said she was the grandma of 31st street. We would help her by shoveling her sidewalk in the winter and sometimes Chuck would mow her lawn. Johnny Lou and I helped her put up the lights on her windows last Christmas. She would always let us drink from her garden hose when it was hot and she always had 2 large tins full of cookies for the kids on the block. One had hydrox and the other had some plain ones that looked like windmills. I always took the hydrox. Once I went to Hudsons for her to buy some sardeens. I got the wrong type but she didnt get mad and thanked me anyway. One time she even yelled at Mr. Mazen when he wouldnt give us our ball back. She told him to stop being an old fool and give us the ball. He wouldnt give it up so she said just keep the ball. Then she called him an old buzzard. We didnt get the ball back but we all thouht it was real cool how she told him off. Then she gave us a quarter to buy another ball. I think everyone will miss her.
     
Later I went to Johnnys house. He couldnt come out becaus he said there were 2 more dead fish in the tank. His mom yelled at him when she found out that he put creepy crawlers in the tank. She thinks the creepy crawlers that he put in the tank killed them because may be the rubber is poison to fish so she cleaned the tank and threw out the creepy crawlers. He had to stay in for the day. Then I went down to the college with Chuck to look for bike parts. I found an old crank and some pedells. He gave me 50 cents. Nothing else happened for the rest of the day. Tonight I wanted to watch Combat but mom was watching Mr Novak instead. I wish we had another tv. I just read some comics.
  
July 30, 1964  I went to Lous house this morning and we played stoop ball for a while. Then we went inside and he showed me a hamster that his sister Anna got last week. His name is Willy. She has him in a glass tank with a lot of wood chips and a ball and a wheel that he goes in and runs around. Lou took him out and we played with him for a while in Lous room. Then Lou put him in a coffey can that he had in his room so we could play monopoly. Lou called the race car so I took the top hat. We were playing for a while then I looked over and the coffey can was gone. We looked throuh his room and couldnt find it. Then we went in the hall and saw it rolling down the hall to the stairs. We yelled and ran after it and it stopped for a second then it went over the edge. It went bink bonk boppity bomp bam bam down the stairs. When it got to the bottom Willy came out and was running in a circle like he was dizzy. Then he ran into the wall. Lou picked him up and put him back in the tank. He just layed down and was breathing real fast then he peed and pooped alot. Finaly he seemed to be OK. I think Anna would kill Lou and he would be in big trouble if anything happened to Willy. After lunch we got a game of punch going. Brian came over and played. This was the first time he played in a game sinse Gus hit him a couple of weeks ago. His nose looked ok and he only had a little black eye left. It was me Gus and Lou against Chuck Brian and Johnny. They won. We all went over to Gertzs after the game. I got some penny candy. Some of those dot candys on the paper and some toosie rolls. Johnny was drinking some soda and Gus told a funny joke something abot a goat with no nose or something. Then Brian said aww PU and made a fart sound. Then Johnny started laughing and the grape soda he was drinking shot out of his nose. Then Lou started laughing at Johnny and spit out the devil dog he was eating. Then Chuck started laughing and gagged up the hershey bar he was eating. When we left there was grape soda and hershey bar and devil dog all over the side walk. Then we all went home. Lou and Johnny went out with their parents tonight so we didnt do anything. I just watched the Flintstones tonight.  
      
July 31, 1964  The last day of July. Not to hot today. Me Gus and Lou were over at Chucks house this morning. We were in his backyard just talking and Chuck was carving on a board with his dads old scout knife. Then he started playing stab the shadow. You play it by throwing the knife in the ground into someones shadow. He got me and Gus then he went after Lou but he didnt throw the knife right and it stuck in his own foot. We stopped and all looked at it in Chucks foot. Then Lou started saying oh no oh no and then he threw up a big yellow blob. I think it was banana turkish taffy. Then Gus said dont panic because that will make it bleed more. Chuck stayed calm and pulled it out. He was lucky that the knife went between his toes and he only got a small cut on his big toe. He did better than I would. I think I would run around screeming like a wild man if I got a knife stuck in my foot. After lunch me and Gus were hitting a wiffle ball in his drive way and he hit it over the fense into the cort yard of the apartments. There was no one back there to get it so we had to go around the block to get it. Most of the time the apartment kids wouldnt throw it back anyway becaus there mentel. After we got it we were leaving and Ralf Migurskee came out side. Hes an idiot kid from the apartments like most of the other idiot kids there. He told us to beat it or hed call the super. The super is this old scarry guy who takes care of the building. He burns the garbage in the insinerater and sweeps the floors and yells at kids when they make to much noise. His name is Nat and I think hes from Greese or Hungery because he talks funny and has black hair and a big mustach. Gus told Ralf to cool it and we were leaving becaus we didnt want to spend any more time there than we had to anyway. After dinner Sharon read a letter from Georg. He may be coming home for a while in November. We were going to play punch but Johnny went out with his parents and Chuck couldnt run because of the cut on his toe so we didnt. I went inside and watched part of the Yankees game on tv tonight. Roger Maris Bobby Richardson and Tony Kubek hit homeruns but they didnt win. The Twins won 4 to 3.
      
August 1, 1964  The summer is half over. Real hot today. Maybe becaus its August. This morning Johnny and I played with some solgers in the backyard. Then after lunch Lous friend Hank came over. He was in his class last year at school. His name is really Theeyadoor but kids kept asking him hows Alvin and Simon? Then he said his name was Ted but kids kept calling him teddy bear. So he said his friends just call him Hank because he looks like Hank Aaron. Hes a good punchball player and he can hit at stickball almost as far as Chuck. We had a good game of punch then we went to Gertz for a while. After Hank left I played box ball with Johnny for a while then I went in for dinner. Mom had some tomatos and maccaronni salad and pickles and made some tuna fish and we made sandwhiches becaus it was to hot to cook. At night Sam the freezer fresh guy came down the street. Chucks dad got us all cones and Sam was giving out monster iron ons for t shirts. I got a mummy one and Lou got the wolfman. Johnny got frankenstine. I traded mine with Lou because mom said the mummy one was discusting because it had vanes hanging out of one of the eyes. I like the wolfman one better anyway. Nothing much on tv tonight.

                            
     
August 2, 1964   Another hot day. It was abot 100 degrees in church this morning and I thoht I was going to be soked by the time it was over. Scott Westerfeeld was the candle lighter this morning. His cosin was making faces at him from the front row and Scott set some flowers on fire because he was trying real hard not to laugh and he didnt notice that the thing that lights the candles got to close to the flowers. He blew it out before the flame got to big. Reverand Stoddard had a mad look on his face. I dont think he will be lighting candles anymore. When we got home we had the left over salad stuff from yesterday for lunch then I went in the yard and mom shot me with the hose for a while. After that Lou and I played box ball for a while. We were swetting a lot and we bent over to let the swet drip off our fore heads so it would hit the ground. It was so hot that the swet evaperated almost as soon as it hit the ground. Mike once took an egg and fryed it on the street. I wanted to try that but mom said she didnt want to waste an egg. After that we went to the Huddie school yard to look for bottles. Lous cosin said he made 5 dollars with return bottles so we went to see if we could find any. We found 3. A pepsi a 7 up and a hires root beer. Lou put them in his garage and said we should wait until we get more to get the money. We watched Walt Disneys wonderful world of color on our black and white tv tonight then Mike and I played nock hockey in the basement.
  
                                    
           
August 3, 1964  Another hot day. Dad said we are in a heat wave but its suppose to rain tonight so it should get cooler. This afternoon mom got a letter in the mail from Mrs Dennisons daughter. It said that Mrs Dennison wanted to give the kids on the block some money for all the things we did for her over the years. I got 10 dollars. Johnny Gus Ellie Linda and Marion got 10 dollars to. Chuck and Lou got a little more because they helped her out more. I asked Johnny if he was going to buy 10 dollars worth of ring dings. He just said shut up. Clark didnt get anything because he didnt go near the Dennisons house so Mrs Dennison didnt know him. Clark once said that he never went near the house because Mr Dennisons ghost lived in the attic and he saw it in the attic window a few times. I think Mrs Dennison was pretty sharp and knew that Clark was an idiot and never did anything to ern some money anyway. I was thinking of something to do with my money. Dad said I should save it but mom said I should take some of it and get something. I told mom may be Ill take a dollar of it and get a Superman model kit. She said that was ok but Ill have to set up a tv tray in the back yard to build it becaus she said the smell of the glue can give you brain damedge. We got a game of punch going but it didnt last to long because it was so hot. We all went to Bettels for a soda insted. We didnt stay there to long becaus Gus and Johnny started to goof around and Chuck was sticking straws in his nose and ears so Tony the counter guy told us to beat it. We just went home after that. Tonight we watched Danny Thomas and Andy Griffith on tv.
    
August 4, 1964  I was sleeping last night and I bounced out of bed in the middle of the night by some loud thunder. It sounded like it hit the house. Mike came running down from his room upstairs. It must have woke him up to. It must have been really loud up there. He went and slept on the couch. Then the rain started and it was teeming for abot a half hour. Mom came and sat in my room for a while. She woke up to but dad was still sleeping. She said dad could sleep on a picket fense while a frate train went past and not wake up. Sharon just slept to. When the rain stopped it wasnt as hot. Then I went back to bed. After breakfast I went to Lous house. We were playing box ball for a while then Linda and Marion came around. They were being real annoying like girls mostly are. They were trying to mess up our game by saying miss it miss it and saying stupid rimes like ladybug ladybug fly away home, your house is on fire and your kids are burning. Then they laughed. Mike once told me that girls laugh at the stupidist things. They dont laugh at real funny things like fake barf or hitting a guy in the hiney with a mud ball and things like that. Lou just told them to shut up but Marion said make me then Lou said you are already made and your a real mess. Then Linda said play me in box ball and if you win we will go. If you dont then we will tell everyone you lost. Lou said OK but I told him abot when they played Johnny and me in punch and we got creemed. They started playing and Lou started winning. Linda was getting real mad and Marion kept yelling jinx jinx but it didnt bother Lou. The score was abot 12 to 3 and Linda got all mad and said forget it and then she grabed the ball and threw it away but it didnt go to far becaus she throws like a girl. Then they left. Lou always does the best he can and he wasnt going to let a dopey girl beat him. I dont think Linda will do that again. We got the ball then I went home for lunch. Nothing much happened for the rest of the day. Chuck and Johnny were away some place and I think Gus went to Riis park. I watched Chuck Mccann and Superman. After dinner I played flips in the basement and read some comics.
         
August 5, 1964  Not as hot today. The rain cooled things off yesterday. Mikes friends came over this morning and had a game of stickball. Me and Johnny were watching. Mikes friend Roger hit a long one down near Todds house. Todd was reading a comic on his stoop and he came off for a second to get the ball. He threw it back and when he was going back to the stoop he wasnt looking where he was going and he stepped in a pile of dog turd that Mr. Maleskys great dane left in the street. Me and Johnny went to see and it was a pretty big pile. It looked like there was a button and some fuzzy stuff in it and Johnny said maybe he ate a coat or part of a matress or something. He probably could becaus I saw him chewing on a old oil can once. Todds shoe got stuck in it and his foot came out of his shoe. He put his foot back in his shoe and pulled it out but it was a real mess. He tried to rub it off on the street and the curb but his shoe was still pretty bad. I guess his mom will have to throw them out. After lunch I went to the Huddie school yard to look for some bottles. I found another pepsi bottle. When I got back Johnny said that Clark was right when he said that he saw something in Mrs Dennisons attic window. He said he was walking past the house and saw something moving in there. We went to the house and looked. We didnt see anything but then we saw something slowly appear then disappear. I dont know what it was but we saw it. After a few minutes we saw it again. After that I went home and watched the end of the Yankees Kansas City game. They got creemed 10 to 1. Joe Pepitone hit the one homerun. After dinner Chuck Gus Lou and I went back to the Dennisons house to look again but we didnt see it. They said I was nuts and probably saw a reflecshon or something. I didnt look like a reflecshon to me. It was kind of grey and it looked like it was floting. Tomorrow Ill go back and look again.
     
August 6, 1964  I went over to Lous house this morning. I looked at the Dennisons house and didnt see anything in the attic. May be it was a reflecshon. Lou and I went over to the chinees resterant near Ottersteds bakery to look for bottles. Lous cosin said some times there are some near the garbege cans. We went around back and we saw a box with abot 10 big hoffmans bottles in it. We thougt we hit the jackpot. Lou went over and picked it up and we were abot to walk away when this chinees guy came out yelling at us. I dont know what he was saying but he was pretty mad. We put it down and walked away. We were almost back to Flatbush avenue and he was still yelling something like MA WA BU CHU NO NA NO NA or something. Lou said he probabley was a waiter and not the cook because he would have been waving a big bucher knife around if he was the cook like you see in the movies. I guess they turn in the bottles for money to. In the afternoon we got a game of punch going. Me Johnny Lou Mitch Chuck and Brian. The game was going good but then Mitch said he had to go. Then Brian said you cant go yet. Then Mitch said I got to go. Then Brian said then you got to run the mill. Run the mill is a punnishment that a guy has to do if he leaves a game early. Everyone lines up with there legs open and the guy has to crawl underneath and each guy smacks him in the hiney as he goes through. The only way you dont have to do it is if your mom calls you and you have to leave the game. So Mitch went throh and me Johnny Chuck and Lou didnt hit him to hard but Brian was last and he really waled on him real hard. Then Mitch said that wasnt to bad and Brian said yeah? Then do it again. So he did it again but this time when he got to Brian he swung his head up real fast and nailed Brian in the marbles. Brian fell over on the Stevens lawn and just layed there all curled up for a while. I gues he deserved it for acting like a jerk. Chuck said Brian getting hit in the marbles is turning into a habit. Then the game broke up because Mitch left and Brian wasnt getting up so I just went home. After dinner I read some comics for a while. Now dads yelling for me downstairs. I have to go to Sears Roebucks with him and Mike. I was going to stay home but Mom is going to a ladys club meeting at the church and Sharon is going out so I have to go. Dad needs a new bathing suit because were going to Jones Beach on Saturday. Ill probabley look at the color tvs and may be look at the bikes.
        
August 7, 1964  Not to hot. This morning I was going over to Lous and I saw some thing in the Dennisons attic again just for a second. I kept looking but then Mrs. Dennisons dauhter came and asked me what I was looking at. At first I was scarred to say but then I told her that one of the guys on the block said that Mr Dennisons ghost was in the attic and we thout he was nuts but then the other day me and Johnny saw something in the window and I saw something this morning. She laughed and said that was silly. She went inside and after a few minutes she came to the door and called me in. I went in and a lot of the furnichure was gone. We went up stairs and in to the attic. There was a bunch of old stuff in there like furnichure and boxes and golf clubs and other things. Near the front window was a grey plastic bag like the ones from the cleaners hanging on a hanger and the hanger was on a string. It was slowly moving around and that is what we saw. I was glad to see that it wasnt a ghost. Then she was looking throh some boxes and asked me if I liked baseball and I said yes. Then she tossed me a ball. The ball was kind of old and dirty but I was looking at it and it had Gil Hodges written on it. She said her dad got it sined after a game at Ebbets field a long time ago and she didnt have any sons or neffues to give it to so I could have it for helping her mom. I thanked her for it and then I went home and showed it to mom and Mike. Mike said that was great and I should take good care of it and not play with it and just put it in a box in my closet becaus it will be real valuble some day when Gil Hodges gets into the hall of fame like Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson. Later I told Johnny and Lou that there was no ghost just a plastic bag from the cleaners. I also showed them the ball and they said I was real lucky to get it. A good day. No ghost and a sined baseball.       
       

                                

    
August 8, 1964  We got up early this morning and went to Jones beach. It wasnt to hot and we got there pretty fast. Mom brouht a lot of sandwhiches, chips and sodas for lunch. We set up our stuff on the beach then Mike and I went down and went in the water for a while. The last time we went there were stinger jellyfish in the water and I got stung pretty bad on the side of my face. It happened when I dove under water and swam for a few feet. I could feel the tentickles rubbing along my face and I probably swam right throuh it. There were no jellyfish this time. Mike said theres these jellyfish in Californya that are real big and can drag a kid out to sea. He was probaly kidding but if we ever go to Californya, I wont go in the water. Sharon and mom just stayed on the beach. Sharon spent most of the time getting a sun tan and mom read a book. Dad went and got his new bathing suit on and mom said that it looked tight. Dad said it wasnt and it was just snug. Me and dad and Mike went into the water for a while and threw a football around and dove into the waves to catch it. It was a lot of fun then dad went to pick up the ball and when he bent over the bathing suit split up the back. He stood there for a second then he yelled for me to get a towel. I ran and got one and he wrapped it around his waist and he was going back to change. Mom told him just keep the towel on and dad said Im not walking around with a towel on like Im from taheetee. So he got changed. After lunch I was looking at some small white rocks and Mike said that they were kwarts and that they were real special becaus sunlight passes right throuh them. I didnt believe it so he said put a few on Sharons back and the sun will pass right throuh. I think Sharon was sleeping because I put 3 small ones on her back and she didnt move. Then Mike and I went swimming. After abot an hour we came back and Sharon woke up and she got up and felt the rocks fall. The sun didnt pass throuh like Mike said it would and she had 3 white spots on her back. Mom got mad and wacked me then Sharon started to yell and I said Mike said the sun would pass through and he started laughing and mom wacked him to and dad started yelling to pack up and thats the last time we will come here. I think dad was just mad becaus he split his bathing suit and mom was mad becaus she told him it was tight and he didnt listen to her and Sharon was mad becaus she has 3 white spots on her back. We went home and on the way nobody said anything. When we got home I watched the end of the Yankees Orioles game. They lost 5 to 6.   
   
August 9, 1964  Church this morning and it was real hot. They had to stop the service for a while becaus Mrs Rumsen faented. A few men took her downstairs to let her lay down for a while. Then Reverand Stoddard finished the service pretty fast. Mom said it was to bad about Mrs Rumsen and it was so hot in church and dad said she probaly faented because she weyhs abot 300 pounds. I laughed becaus I thouht that was pretty funny but mom didnt and she gave me a mean look. If it wasnt Sunday she probaly would have smacked me. Dad never gets hit when he makes bad jokes mom just says thats not funny then smacks me or Mike for laughing. After lunch Lou and I went over to the Huddie school yard and found 2 more bottles. We have 6 so far. We came back and it started to rain so we just went inside. Dad and I watched part of the Mets Phillies game. It wasnt raining down in Philedelfeeya so they could play. The Mets lost. There doing better this year but there still not doing to good.  There wasnt much on TV tonight. No Ed Sullivan. I read the daily news comics and now Im going to bed.
   
August 10, 1964   Nothing much happened this morning. Lou and I went to Gertzs for a soda. I got the new issue of Spiderman. After lunch we all went over to Johnnys house becaus it was his birthday. He also had some cosins there to. Mrs Donnelly had a barbacue in the backyard and we all had hot dogs and hambergers. Johnny got a lot of stuff. His aunt gave him a perriscope that you can look over bushes and around corners with.

                           

His uncle gave him a snub nose cap gun with a holster that uses greenie caps and shoots. His mom said thats for the backyard. I gave him a Frisbee. He also got a wiffle ball set some thing maker goop some GI Joe stuff a water rocket and some clothes from his grandma. After we ate we had cake and ice cream sang happy birthday. Then we all punched him in the arm because thats what you do to a guy on his birthday. He was real sore but he didnt cry. Then Chuck made a brown cow with root beer and vanila ice cream. Johnny wanted to make a purple cow with his grape soda but there was no more vanila so he used choclate ice cream. It looked kind of like a muddy mess. He took a sip then dumped it in his moms flower garden. Later on dad came home from work and he had a tv for Sharon. She had some money from working and birthdays so she bought it and dad went to get it. It has a 10 inch screen and is black and white. It will be better now becaus she can watch it in her room insted of changing the channel when I go to the bathroom. We watched the Outer Limits tonight. Its kind of like the Twilight Zone. I saw the story once before. The story was abot these bug creatures that are sent to earth as prisoners from another planet. It was pretty good.
   

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