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<font size=3>At 04:22 PM 7/31/2004, Wilson Gray wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>Speaking of girls' games, is anyone
else familiar with "One, Two,<br>
Three, O'Leary" and/or "Heel, Toe, Stomp, and Over"? These
are the same<br>
game. "One, Two" is the white version and "Heel, Toe"
is the black<br>
version. Back in the '40's in Saint Louis, this game was played by<br>
pre-adolescent girls. While playing the game, the girls chanted the<br>
words sing-song style, with both whites and blacks using the same
tune.<br>
The game itself involved bouncing a ball, usually a tennis ball, in<br>
time with each syllable of the chant while, at the same time,<br>
performing the foot-and-leg actions described in the black
version</blockquote><br>
Margaret Winters reports that she learned the 'One, two three O'Leary'
version from her mother, which antedates it to the early twenties.
She notes that in NYC people used 'spaldeens', as tennis balls were
reserved for the rich kids (like Wilson ;-) )<br><br>
Geoff</font></body>
<br>
<div>Geoffrey S. Nathan</div>
<div>Department of English/Computing and Information Technology</div>
<div>Wayne State University</div>
<div>Detroit, MI, 48202</div>
<div><geoffnathan@wayne.edu></div>
Phones: C&IT (313) 577-1259/English (313) 577-8621
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