Children

Kids Corner — Growing Up In Skinker DeBaliviere

By Susanne Knese, Mark Gorman, Rachel Boxdorfer, Andy Cross, Suzanne Leguey-Feilleux, Pat Cantwell

April–May 2020

Historical April–May 2020 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.

50th Anniversary edition! Cost of…………………………….. in 1970 Standard stamp……………………… $.06 Gallon of Milk……………………… $1.32 Hershey Milk Chocolate Bar…….. $ .15 McDonald’s Big Mac………………. $ .65 The year was 1970 when The Times first started so in honor of those by-gone days, I thought it would be fun to share some residents’ memories of growing up in Skinker-Debaliviere. Every single one said how much they loved growing up here and had such fond memories.

They also said each and every kid looked out for each other and learned the basics of life: play nice with others; doesn’t matter how good you were at a sport, just enjoy playing; stick up for others, don’t cheat and have fun!

Here are some of their stories: Mark Gorman (grew up on the 5900 block of Pershing) enjoyed playing Cork Ball with a stick and tennis ball with home plate up against St. Roch church.

He also said there were always basketball games going on in the school yard.

As for making money, many kids sold papers on the corner or with a paper route. Delmar / Skinker corner was the best for foot traffic especially for selling the Sunday Post-Dispatch on Saturday evenings because it cost $.07, and hopefully someone would pay with a dime and tell them to keep the change. Rachel Boxdorfer (nee. Bender, grew up on 6100 block of Kingsbury) fondly remembers playing on Kingsbury with the hundreds of other kids who lived in the neighborhood.

She said kids lived outside playing from sunup to sundown, only halting when parents would call each kid by name or bell for a meal.

In the Fall, leaves were raked into the street to build play houses. Toys like Barbie and Fischer Price doll houses would find their way outside where pop-up towns would be created for hours upon hours.

Some favorite games were Johnny Cross, kickball and step ball. Andy Cross (grew up on 6100 block of Kingsbury) added to this list of games with his favorites including cork ball, street hockey, freeze tag, hide-n-seek, Red Rover, Kick-the-Can, basketball and bike riding (aka Bike City where hundreds of kids would ride on the empty 6100 Kingsbury street because there were very few cars back then). Friday nights meant Groovy Movie Nights when someone would play an old black and white movie (like Elvis movies) on their TV and host a bunch of kids to watch with lemonade and popcorn.

A lot of kids made money doing yard work to purchase coveted tennis balls or pay off the occasional broken window or car antenna, thanks to ball games. Suzanne Leguey-Feilleux (grew up on 6100 block of Kingsbury) shared memories of fashion (bell bottoms, tie-dyed shirts, hip hugger pants and maxi dresses) and music (Carol King, Jonie Mitchell, Carly Simon, James Taylor, the Osmond Brothers).

Some of her fondest memories include sitting and talking with friends on the porch and catching fire-flies on warm summer nights.

There were several places in the neighborhood where kids could buy candy and special treats. Pete Fossel’s Vegetable and Fruit truck came to the neighborhood Wednesdays and Fridays to sell fresh produce to the parents and Bub’s Daddy Bubble Gum for $.10 to the kids. Ice cream trucks were an everyday occurrence in the summers. Pat Cantwell (grew up on 6100 block of Kingsbury) fondly remembers walking to St. Roch school. School was let out at 11:40 a.m. every day and started back up at 12:30 p.m. to allow enough time for everyone to walk home, eat lunch, and then hurry back to the school playground in the back of church to play games before classes started again.

During that time, the school was so big (2 classes per grade) many neighborhood kids had to take a bus to St. Joseph’s school in Clayton. Question for June Kids Corner: What is your favorite vacation destination? Share your favorite summer activities here in St. Louis? You may just inspire other families to try out your favorite places. Draw or write your answers to kidscorner@ sdtimes.org by May 10th! Kids share with us activities your school, club, scouts and sports teams doing.

This is YOUR corner, so make it what you want!

Please submit to kidscorner@sdtimes.org by May 10th! Kids share with us activities of your school, club, play, scouts and sports teams.

This is YOUR corner, so make it what you want!