I can always remember, as though it was only yesterday, all the games we played and the fun we had in those happy years.
We played lots of games with fag-cards; these were the free cards in most packets of cigarettes with a picture on one side and some information on the other. We would stand outside the cigarette shops and ask the men for their cigarette cards because the cards were in sets of fifty and it was always a race to get a complete set before your mates. The sets of cards had pictures of footballers, cricketers, planes, ships and many other interesting things. If you had two or three of the same card you could then swap your spares for ones you didn’t have. Sometimes it would be a straight swap, one for one, but sometimes you had to offer more just to get a rare card. I’m sure my brother and sisters increased their smoking just to try and get me a card I desperately needed. I hope they forgive me every time they cough.
Many of us kids would draw squares on the pavement and put different numbers in each square, and other kids were invited to flick their cigarette cards and if the card landed in a square they would win that amount of cards according to the number in that square, but if the card didn’t land in a square they lost that card. There would be many card games going on at the same time, all with slightly different rules, and most of us would play these games until we were called home by our mums for meal times or bed time. All our entertainment was out of doors in those days and our streets felt safe and secure, the bullies weren’t around and the friendly bobby was only a shout away.
There were many other games that we played such as; marbles and alligobs, knock down ginger and hopscotch, and various types of rounders and races. The girls were all good at skipping, but they wouldn’t let us boys near their skipping ropes so we played with our whips and tops and bows and arrows. There were always lots of team games when everybody played, the teams being picked by the two oldest children. There would be relay races, sack races, obstacle races and many other competitive games that taught us all how to win or lose gracefully.
Submitted by John Harwood
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