Little Old Canarsie
"Ringolevio!" Was The War Cry Growing Up In Old Canarsie

Before the First World War, one of the games kids liked to play was Ringolevio. In front of Grace Church on East 92nd Street and Church Lane each weekday night we formed a big ring with maybe 10 or 12 on each side. The ones who went out to hide would then come trying to sneak back without being caught by one of the guardians of the ring. If a boy managed to get into the ring without being caught, he would yell "Ringolevio!" and free everyone that had been caught. This went until one by one we had to go home for the night.

Among the boys who played here were George and Herb Jelley, Charles Winterberg, Frank Gladwish, Sam, George and William Ryder, Dan Miller, Arthur McHugh, Robert, Ed and Lou Mathews, the Bell Brothers, Isaac, George and Elmer, Bert Fisher, Frank Carman, the Phillips Boys, Mervin and Frank, Ronald and Clarence Abrams, Herbert Morrison, Puggy Deiner, Archie McDonald, Jr., Knocko Krier, Ellie Morrison, the Gibbs boys, Alonzo and Ditty, Avery Timson and yours truly.

The streets were pretty dark those days as we only had about two lights from Flatlands Avenue to Avenue K and we could look up and see the big colored bowls in the drugstore on East 92nd Street and Flatlands which was owned by Louis Chrome. Those big glass bowls were filled with green and red chemicals, which showed you where a drug store was and they glowed very beautifully at night.

Down on Avenue L and East 95th Street in front of the yellow house covered in front with beautiful French lilacs on the corner, owned and operated by a lovable man who kids called Uncle Hen Butecke (who had a general store on the opposite corner next to Henry Winpkeimers Saloon and Liquor Store), the boys at this end also played the game and one night they had all but one caught so that the other side could go out and they were on the alert on all sides of the ring so he couldn't get in, when along came Sister Gussie Hoffman, pushing a baby carriage and when she got to the edge of the ring, jumped Brother Henry dressed up in baby clothes and yelled "Ringolevio!"

About 30 boys that were caught ran free to start all over again getting caught. We had good, clean fun those days and we respected our parents, teachers and, above all, our police officers.

When they told us to break it up, we moved and didn't stand with our hands on our hips and look defiant or we would get a couple of taps on our shins with the old nightstick to make sure we moved. It didn't do a bit of harm as we grew up to become good citizens of the good and mighty U.S.A.