Playing... CHICKEN 1960 style

[Ray Eklund]

Had my Cub Scout knife at ten or eleven. Whittling was OK. But... Chicken... a bit more edgy. (I do not know if the BOY or GIRL Scout knives were the same or not. Teens were not as interested in Real Skill.)

The RULES:

The Safe Game

- Two ROGUE SCOUTS.
- You would unfold the pocket knife to the longest blade.
- The two would face each other.
- It began where the one to get the knife to stick the blade first, tossed first.
- The idea was to spread the legs of the other so they would fall over trying to retrieve YOUR knife.
- If your knife did not stick... it did not count and you had to retrieve it without... falling over.

This is not for Senior Citizens or Adults as it could affect your health and your shoe wear. Eyesight is important. Sandals not advised.

I am sure someone may recall playing with amateurs... or experts.

The 'Other' Game

The experts... really rogue NON scouts, of course,... used the tip of the shoe as the Chicken. You would toss the knife and after a successful toss, you would mark the spot and try to get... closer to the toe. If the knife did not stick... you were the loser. Once the the stuck in the ground pocket knife was within an INCH of your toe, still intact in the shoe... YOU would say... "CHICKEN". No honor was lost and everyone.... limped away. (Never happened as if you hit the shoe... YOU were the loser and not to be trusted in this sport, again.)

Come to the Present Time: The Police would be called, if witnessed by an adult, and the participants and observers would go to Rehab and need Adult Supervision playing Chicken until the age of 21..

What were your ROGUE YEARS like? Tenderfoots? Ha ha ha. I did not get far into scouting. A bad penny, of sorts.

Hey... want to PLAY? Never too old to learn, you know.

[batman]

Back in the late 60's early 70's my high school years. We Juvenal delinquents used to play CHICKEN and MUMBLY PEG a lot. But not with boy scout knives. I had a 11" Puma Bowie I carried. It went with me everywhere. I wore it to school and used that to play games.

It was sure a different time back then. We had rife racks in our trucks and never thought twice about bringing guns or knives to school and taking off right after school to hunt or fish. It was part of our lives.

I got suspended once and my knife confiscated by an overzealous teacher who said it was too big. My father pulled my brother and I from school and wrote a scathing letter to the principal and superintendent of schools. My knife was returned and the suspension was erased from my school record.

Ray:
Shall we play a game?

-Dennis

[Ray Eklund]

Mumbly Peg... is that where you flip the knife off your arm? I had no talent in that... department. The edge into your arm and... flip to stick.

Many playing these games in the Big City High Schools were often over 21 years old and not eligible to compete with those under 17 graduating High School in the country. If you had whiskers, not eligible. Not like politicians who brag about their... hairy legs.

Today... toe nail clippers are possibly considered a weapon. I have carried a finger nail clipper since having finger nails. I carried a Sears round pocket screw driver forever with finger nail clippers. Nancy and I were going through a screening to get our Concealed Weapons Cards... and I was pulled aside. They took my Craftsman round multi use tool. They said I could give it to a prisoner at the Court House to help him... escape. I do not recall if the finger nail clippers were... confiscated. Old age creeping into my memory.

Times have changed? No, people have.

At my Wyoming Geology Field Camp... I carried a knife in a scabbard, for two weeks. Did not get arrested nor injure anyone in Wyoming or New Mexico.

This bone handled knife was made by a retired Rancher in Nebraska (Pickering- Crawford, Nebraska) from wagon leaf springs for $10 in 1967/68. Now... a collectable. No one thought it dangerous or out of place... until today. Look it up... appreciated a lot. Looking at it right now...

Our kids, sons especially, need to get out and learn. Getting pushed around required the younger kids to get some Fatherly advice on how to... hit back.

The gentler kinder world works for some. Great. Just do not come out West where danger can be found with equipment and just the forest outside your door. Where boys become Men and become responsible working citizens and parents.

We would make a SLING out of half of a softball or a hardball and see if I still have the... touch. Even Nomads used them for hunting small game and birds for food.

Today... these are dangerous and irresponsible, say some.

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by batman

Back in the late 60's early 70's my high school years. We Juvenal delinquents used to play CHICKEN and MUMBLY PEG a lot. But not with boy scout knives. I had a 11" Puma Bowie I carried. It went with me everywhere. I wore it to school and used that to play games.

It was sure a different time back then. We had rife racks in our trucks and never thought twice about bringing guns or knives to school and taking off right after school to hunt or fish. It was part of our lives.

I got suspended once and my knife confiscated by an overzealous teacher who said it was too big. My father pulled my brother and I from school and wrote a scathing letter to the principal and superintendent of schools. My knife was returned and the suspension was erased from my school record.

Ray:
Shall we play a game?

-Dennis

I played Mumbly Peg a few times too.


The Bronx high school I was in had a rifle club. There was a range in the basement and we were allowed to bring our 22s to school.

[Ray Eklund]

Originally Posted by Lumatic

I played Mumbly Peg a few times too.


The Bronx high school I was in had a rifle club. There was a range in the basement and we were allowed to bring our 22s to school.

*****
My Dad retired from Artillery in the U S Army around 1965. A Major he served with in Europe was offered a ROTC position and asked my Dad if he wanted the NCO job. He took it.

William Chrisman High School in Independence, Missouri (Before Truman High School was built after H.S.T.'s death.) They had a large rifle range at the High School in the basement that was used before the ROTC unit started. (Probably a Viet Nam era military funding from the US Government.) They used WW2 carbines converted to 22 caliber. I say 03-M3 Carbines, but not sure.

On weekends he had an Army van and a Honor Guard of High School ROTC cadets in full uniform for Vietnam soldiers funerals. They fired blanks in their rifles and presented the US Flag to the grieving parents. This was the America... I remember. Honor and Duty.

HIGH SCHOOL mid 1960's. Firearms. Live ammunition. More young women than guys were in the ROTC unit. They covered security at the Football Games by patrolling the crowds in ROTC Uniforms. No one spit at them nor called them names.

Unlike my experiences on the West Coast, people were different.

Former President H. S. Truman would come by and plink some. He was not surrounded by Security or an Army of forward agents looking for bad guys. He would be seen going to a grocery store... by himself. No locals chased him around for photo ops. He did not become RICH from being president. He returned to the same Farm House in Independence that he left to go to the White House. His daughter was embarrassed that Mr. Truman used tacks to hold the worn linoleum flooring in front of the kitchen sink. She would not let tourists into some rooms until she passed. (All TRUE.)

Today... it is a crime how some get Rich for public service. Mr. Truman had a chauffeur driving his old Sky Lark or some inexpensive automobile, and died in 1972. He was one of America's poorest U. S. Presidents. I shed a tear for America. People have changed. Much like the tear in the eye of the Indian commercial to clean up America. (The Crying Indian- Keep American Beautiful)