Boyhood games.

wanderlust wrote:As a kid we used to play (and I'm totally guessing the spelling) "Finger, thumb or icky" which involved 2 teams, one of which would make a sort of caterpillar single file rugby scrum against a wall and the other team would have to flatten them by jumping as far down the line as possible and staying there until the whole team was on board.

There doesn't appear to be any reference to it on t'internet, but it was right up there with British Bulldog.

We used to play that up against the wall in the playground at Church Rd in the 70's until it was banned after James Heald got his take-off wrong and wound up with his Nashy Health specs embedded in his face.

(Unusually for me on here, completely true and un-embellished for comic effect.)

Mrs B grew up in Little Hulton and swears that "Rally Evo" was (and still is) a real game.

I naturally assumed it involved stealing performance motors and then instigating a car chase with the police, before burning them out but it turns out it was what we in Bolton called "Sardines" which was basically hide and seek but with only one of you hiding and the rest of "the seekers" (other kids, not the band) joining you in your hiding place until there was only one kid left searching.

You then all legged it back to "base" and the last one back became the hider in the next round.

Breadman wrote:

wanderlust wrote:As a kid we used to play (and I'm totally guessing the spelling) "Finger, thumb or icky" which involved 2 teams, one of which would make a sort of caterpillar single file rugby scrum against a wall and the other team would have to flatten them by jumping as far down the line as possible and staying there until the whole team was on board.

There doesn't appear to be any reference to it on t'internet, but it was right up there with British Bulldog.

We used to play that up against the wall in the playground at Church Rd in the 70's until it was banned after James Heald got his take-off wrong and wound up with his Nashy Health specs embedded in his face.

(Unusually for me on here, completely true and un-embellished for comic effect.)

The violence and injuries were all part of it's appeal. I was going to say "timeless appeal" but the game seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth. If it was still going in the 70s, what did you call it Bread?

The same.

But I could never work out where the finger or thumb figured in it or what an "icky" even was.

Back on British Bulldog, we happily played that with the full blessing of teachers and Scout Leaders (46th Bolton - Delph Hill circa 1981) and, as you say, injuries were seen as almost necessary for a game to be deemed to have been successful.

Kids today are soft.

Used to play a game called "kicky out ball". Same as hide and seek but instead of counting whilst the others hid you had to retrieve the ball after someone booted it and the others hid. You had to find everyone before someone got back and booted the ball again. 

I am currently undefeated champion of connect 4, not lost a game for 5 years.

Breadman wrote:The same.

But I could never work out where the finger or thumb figured in it or what an "icky" even was.

Sounds like the options you outlined in the "End of the World" thread. Yeeewwww.

Split the kipper!

boltonbonce wrote:Split the kipper!

I'm intrigued.......and a bit wary.

Go on....?

Breadman wrote:

boltonbonce wrote:Split the kipper!

I'm intrigued.......and a bit wary.

Go on....?

It's the knife-throwing one where you make your opponent do the splits.

Ah, I see.........

Didn't the CIA get done for using that at Guantanamo?

I remember countless arguments about whether or not the knife was stuck in the ground properly and how far away from their foot you were allowed to throw.

Very popular in certain parts of Lancashire.

Some I remember
Marbles ... Marps
Stretch ... Lusty's knife game
Cards ... 7 card brag, rummy, knock out whist, etc.
All Hands In ... Scissors, paper, fist.
Conkers ... On a string.
Most of them already mentioned and many more

Anyone young enough ro have Pogs?

Were they them cardboard things you got sellotaped to the back of crisp packets?

I loved Blow Football.
My brother was asthmatic. 64-0 every time.
Get in there.

Breadman wrote:Were they them cardboard things you got sellotaped to the back of crisp packets?

Yes and no.

You bought them just like the football stickers in a foil packet and you got 5 pogs and one shiny (this was a shiny piece of thick plastic) in every pack, obviously every pack was different inside. 

After they became popular, many other brands appeared so possibly they had a promotion with some branded crisps.

These were them...


I'm sure I still have a small tin full of them somewhere.

Anyone remember this sort of stuff? We used to act out the 2nd world war in every room in the house.
American civil war soldiers were popular too.

boltonbonce wrote:Anyone remember this sort of stuff? We used to act out the 2nd world war in every room in the house.
American civil war soldiers were popular too.

Had some of them, fecking hurt like hell stepping on them.

Mr Magoo wrote:

boltonbonce wrote:Anyone remember this sort of stuff? We used to act out the 2nd world war in every room in the house.
American civil war soldiers were popular too.

Had some of them, fecking hurt like hell stepping on them.

It's a good job your myopia was diagnosed at an early age.