70's-90s: CT and NYs Favorite Games from Childhood

The other day, while driving down Route 7 from Brookfield to Danbury in complete silence—no radio, no podcasts, and the windows rolled up—my mind began to wander. For a few moments, I found myself in a peaceful mental void, devoid of thoughts.

Get our free mobile app

But then, as if on cue, a song from my past began playing in my head. The lyrics came flooding back, almost like a digital ticker scrolling through my mind, reminiscent of the NASDAQ screen in Times Square. The song went:

"There's a place in France where the naked ladies dance,
There's a hole in the wall where the boys can see it all."

The melody and words felt incredibly familiar, triggering a cascade of memories from my childhood and adolescence. I saw flashes of running, playing, and laughing. It was a vivid reminder of the countless games we used to play to pass the time. I realized this topic was something we had to bring up on the I-95 Morning Show.

70's-90s: Connecticut and New York's Favorite Games from Childhood

On a recent episode of the I-95 Morning Show, we reached out to our Connecticut and New York listeners, asking them to share some of their favorite childhood games. With their help, we were able to recall many of the games that defined the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Those decades were filled with a delightful mix of absurd, often violent, and absolutely joyful games.

Gallery Credit: Lou Milano

After the show was over and I looked over all my mail and the notes I had made, I came to a simple conclusion about the way we used to grow up. Everything revolved around violence, isolation and substance abuse. Man, I miss that sh--!

Here are some of the I-95 Morning Show segments where we shared our memories of these games.

Segment 1

Segment 2

Check out the Ethan, Lou & Large Dave Podcast on Apple and Spotify

Here are some of the full text messages we got from our listeners that helped put us put this list together:

P. Diddlemetimbers - Brookfield - Punch for punch was a fun game.

Danny - Ridgefield - Bloody knuckles, Red Rover, Kick the Can

Deli Daddy - Danbury - A couple games I remember kick ball, spud, popcorn (needed a trampoline), 7 minutes of heaven and the game.

Joe Italiano - Monroe - And we used to play “mercy” on the school bus where you would lock hands and whoever was stronger bending your hand back would win after the other screamed MERCY!! How about pediddle? Where if you were first to see a car with a headlight out, the girl playing with you had to remove a piece of clothing.

Dela-Yooo - Yorktown Heights - Gm boys. We played Ringolvio.

Lonegoose - New Milford - Paper hornets. We used to put staples in the tips, so they'd stick to the victim.

Booklover68 - Redding - Mother May I and red-light green light.

Russel - New Milford - Lincoln Logs.

Dr. Evil - New Milford - Beer pong, which is just like quarters except you play with a ping-pong ball on a ping-pong table.

Southern Rock Joe - Carmel, NY - One of our middle school games growing up in Ossining, New York keep in mind. The home of sing sing prison was a game called butts up that you played against the wall and you threw the ball if you missed you get three outs and then everybody stood in line and winged the racket ball right at your ass, we literally used to take the ball from the walls of Sing Sing prison because they were over the wall and we would pick them up and then violent because a lot of the kids literally were descendants of inmates from Sing Sing prison. God, I have a good day, gentlemen.

Vesig - Stratford - Musical chairs!!

Markprostock - Lagrangeville, NY - Might be late to the game here, red light green light 123.

Cake Lady - Mahopac, NY - Freeze Tag

Fat Dad - Dover Plains, NY - Hide and seek in the cemetery. Fun and frightening at the same time.

O Dawg - Redding - I remember playing wall ball in elementary school.

Jess L - NY - 7 Minutes in Heaven

Shorty12 - Brookfield - Bobbing for Apples

Jimmy Bo - Southbury - Cowboys and Indians with “cap guns”

SlapHappyScotty - Southbury - Come to think of it, we basically gamified all forms of bullying and child on child abuse until high school, then transitioned to alcohol poisoning.

John - New Milford - Good morning, guys neighborhood kids we used to play flashlight tag.

Masshole - Danbury - I didn’t become the brain surgeon my parents wanted me to be because in 9th grade I started a paper football league in school…it consumed my life. We had conferences and 2 divisions. I named myself the commissioner. We had rules…. week 9, I had to suspend an owner because he covered his paper football with a thin layer of tape so his paper football would slide more. He was known as the Belichick of paper football. It ended when one day I walked in on a game and the class was standing and singing the national anthem before the “flip off” ….girls and recreational non fentanyl safe drugs replaced it. Damn i miss that league!

Dawnie - Newtown - We would get bowl of perfume & light it on fire & dip our fingers in it & it would be quick flame but would last only a few seconds. Can't believe I'm alive.

Hilarious 80’s Images from the Jefferson Valley Mall in Westchester

Wherever, there is money to be made, clever marketing will follow and the Jefferson Valley Mall had it in the 80’s. The mall had become the setting of a Westchester, NY cable access TV show called “What’s in Store.” The products, fashion and mall culture were on display. Frank McNanty and Debbie Weiner were the hosts, and thanks to Youtube, these videos are still available today. These are Some of the Most Hilarious Images from The Jefferson Valley Mall in the 80’s.

Gallery Credit: Lou Milano