Spaldeen
Encyclopedia
A Spalding Hi-Bounce Ball, often called a Spaldeen (with the accent on the second syllable), is a small pink
rubber ball, somewhat similar to a racquetball
, supposedly made from the defective core of a tennis
ball without the felt. It was the more expensive and more popular version of the Pensie Pinkie (made by the Penn tennis ball company). These balls are commonly used in street game
s developed in the mid-20th century, such as Chinese handball
(a variation on American handball
), stoop ball
, hit-the-penny (involving trying to make a penny flip on a sidewalk), box ball, punchball
, and stickball
(a variation of baseball
). Then of course there is wallball
, another variation in the game becoming more and more popular.
-accented pronunciation of Spalding
, the sporting goods company that produced the balls. Across the Hudson River
in Jersey City, New Jersey
, the ball was referred to as a "high bouncer." It may also have originated with a mis-reading of A. G. Spalding's signature on the ball. The name has become so common that Spalding now uses it in marketing, and it is now a registered trademark.
s sparse in grass, Spaldeens became integral to many street games due to their bounciness and light weight. Citing the declining popularity of stickball, Spalding took the ball off the market in 1979, but it returned in 1999 to much fanfare. The retail price in the mid-1960's in Jersey City was 29 cents.
Jonathan Lethem
's 2003 book The Fortress of Solitude
contains many references to the stoop ball
game using a Spaldeen on the streets of 1970s Brooklyn
.
Don DeLillo
's novel Underworld
, set in the Bronx in the 1950s, also contains references to the Spaldeen, although the ball is referred to in the lower-case.
In the television series Weeds
, Shane's grandfather tells him that, "Real Estate always bounces back. It's like Spaldeens. You know what Spaldeens are? Well, they bounce..."
. Some of them are black
, blue
, green
, orange, purple
, red
, and yellow
.
Pink
Pink is a mixture of red and white. Commonly used for Valentine's Day and Easter, pink is sometimes referred to as "the color of love." The use of the word for the color known today as pink was first recorded in the late 17th century....
rubber ball, somewhat similar to a racquetball
Racquetball
For other sports often called "paddleball", see Paddleball .Racquetball is a racquet sport played with a hollow rubber ball in an indoor or outdoor court...
, supposedly made from the defective core of a tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
ball without the felt. It was the more expensive and more popular version of the Pensie Pinkie (made by the Penn tennis ball company). These balls are commonly used in street game
Street game
A street game is a sport or game that is played on city streets rather than a prepared field. Street games are usually simply play time activities of children in the most convenient venue...
s developed in the mid-20th century, such as Chinese handball
Chinese handball
Chinese handball , is a form of American handball popular on the streets of New York City, Philadelphia, and Bridgewater, NJ during the 1960s,'70s, and '80s and is still played today, mostly in New York City, Philadelphia, and San Diego. Different variations are played around the world...
(a variation on American handball
American handball
American handball is a sport in which players hit a small rubber ball against a wall using their hands.- History :...
), stoop ball
Stoop ball
Stoop ball is a game that is played by throwing a ball against a stoop on the pavement in front of a building. The game is also known as "Off the Point". Historically, it has been popular in Brooklyn and other inner cities. It first became popular after World War II. A Portable Stoopball...
, hit-the-penny (involving trying to make a penny flip on a sidewalk), box ball, punchball
Punchball
Punchball is a sport spawned by and similar to baseball, but without a pitcher, catcher, or bat.The "batter" essentially plays "fungo" without a bat, bouncing or tossing up the ball and then using a volleyball-type approach to put the ball in play, punching the ball with his closed fist...
, and stickball
Stickball
Stickball is a street game related to baseball, usually formed as a pick-up game, played in large cities in the Northeastern United States, especially New York City. The equipment consists of a broom handle and a rubber ball, typically a spaldeen, pensie pinkie, high bouncer or tennis ball. The...
(a variation of baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
). Then of course there is wallball
Wallball
Another rather unknown variation of the game butts up, aces-kings-queens, american handball and Chinese handball is "wallball". Created in the south-west of Western Australia, wallball requires the ball to be hit to the floor before hitting the wall...
, another variation in the game becoming more and more popular.
Name
The term most likely arose from a New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
-accented pronunciation of Spalding
Spalding (sports equipment)
Spalding is a sporting goods company founded by Albert Spalding in Chicago, Illinois, in 1876 and now headquartered in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The company specializes in the production of balls for many sports, but is most-known for its basketballs...
, the sporting goods company that produced the balls. Across the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
in Jersey City, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, the ball was referred to as a "high bouncer." It may also have originated with a mis-reading of A. G. Spalding's signature on the ball. The name has become so common that Spalding now uses it in marketing, and it is now a registered trademark.
History and attraction
Spaldeens were available from 1949 to 1979 to city kids. In urban areaUrban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
s sparse in grass, Spaldeens became integral to many street games due to their bounciness and light weight. Citing the declining popularity of stickball, Spalding took the ball off the market in 1979, but it returned in 1999 to much fanfare. The retail price in the mid-1960's in Jersey City was 29 cents.
Jonathan Lethem
Jonathan Lethem
Jonathan Allen Lethem is an American novelist, essayist and short story writer. His first novel, Gun, with Occasional Music, a genre work that mixed elements of science fiction and detective fiction, was published in 1994. It was followed by three more science fiction novels...
's 2003 book The Fortress of Solitude
The Fortress of Solitude (novel)
The Fortress of Solitude is a 2003 semi-autobiographical novel by Jonathan Lethem set in Brooklyn and spanning the 1970s, '80s, and '90s. It follows two teenage friends, Dylan Ebdus and Mingus Rude, one white and one black, who discover a magic ring...
contains many references to the stoop ball
Stoop ball
Stoop ball is a game that is played by throwing a ball against a stoop on the pavement in front of a building. The game is also known as "Off the Point". Historically, it has been popular in Brooklyn and other inner cities. It first became popular after World War II. A Portable Stoopball...
game using a Spaldeen on the streets of 1970s Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
.
Don DeLillo
Don DeLillo
Don DeLillo is an American author, playwright, and occasional essayist whose work paints a detailed portrait of American life in the late 20th and early 21st centuries...
's novel Underworld
Underworld
The Underworld is a region which is thought to be under the surface of the earth in some religions and in mythologies. It could be a place where the souls of the recently departed go, and in some traditions it is identified with Hell or the realm of death...
, set in the Bronx in the 1950s, also contains references to the Spaldeen, although the ball is referred to in the lower-case.
In the television series Weeds
Weeds (TV series)
Weeds is an American television comedy created by Jenji Kohan and produced by Tilted Productions in association with Lionsgate Television. The central character is Nancy Botwin , a widowed mother of two boys who begins selling marijuana to support her family after her husband dies suddenly of a...
, Shane's grandfather tells him that, "Real Estate always bounces back. It's like Spaldeens. You know what Spaldeens are? Well, they bounce..."
Colors
Since its return in 1999 Spaldeens have been manufactured in a variety of other colors other than pinkPink
Pink is a mixture of red and white. Commonly used for Valentine's Day and Easter, pink is sometimes referred to as "the color of love." The use of the word for the color known today as pink was first recorded in the late 17th century....
. Some of them are black
Black
Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...
, blue
Blue
Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...
, green
Green
Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...
, orange, purple
Purple
Purple is a range of hues of color occurring between red and blue, and is classified as a secondary color as the colors are required to create the shade....
, red
Red
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
, and yellow
Yellow
Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...
.
External links
- Streetplay.com: The Games > Rubber Balls
- Spaldeen.com (Spalding's promotional site for the ball)