Monday, April 14, 2008

Black girls and playground games

Hey y’all, remember those old hand-clapping rhymes from when you were little... like “Miss Mary Mack”? And the jump-rope chants and the circle games?

Well, there’s an 18-minute anthropological film made 40 years ago called “Pizza Pizza Daddy-O,” and it shows little girls on a Los Angeles playground playing playground games.

This movie is streaming on a folklore site called – appropriately enough – Folkstreams. (Hat-tip: Bay Radical.)

A minute-long preview of “Pizza Pizza Daddy-O” is embedded below.

To stream the full 18-minute documentary right now, hit this link.

Folklore rocks!

12 comments:

Kellybelle said...

That was spectacular! I love the white ankle socks and the three-braid-and-bangs hairstyle!

bklyn6 said...

Okay. Now that takes me back to "Do-or-Die," Bed-Stuy. Do kids these days still play like this?

Thanks for this gem, UBM!

Bay Radical said...

Isn't it cute? I even kind of like the ultra-square sociologist voiceover.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful! I watched the 18 minute joint, seems like only yesterday. This is some deep stuff, a lot going on in this one here.

Peace

Undercover Black Man said...

Thanks again, Bay Radical. That John Houseman-sounding muhfugga cracked me up.

Nope said...

Awesome! Wow takes me back. I remember these games but I wasn't very coordinated so I stuck to Miss Mary Mack lol. Folkstreams is great sight especially for an anthropologist like myself. They have Style Wars on there and it is equally as cool. Actually this reminds me a great book that studied the communication among Black youth in a Philly neighborhood in the 1970s called He Said, She Said.

btw... lol@ bay radical

Undercover Black Man said...

^ Wow, NunaOni, they do have "Style Wars." I remember watching that when it was first broadcast, and bought it on DVD a couple of years ago... but haven't rewatched. ("That's never-forgive action!")

I'm gonna have to devote a full day to messing around in the Folkstreams archives.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much! It was so joyful! I showed it to my five and a half year old daughter who, after she finished crinkling her nose because it was in black and white, began to imitate the girls. She especially liked the Susie Anna song. Unfortunately, we couldn't figure out all of their moves. My daughter did get a bit upset when the crowd made the one girl cry.

I loved the little girls in their white socks and dresses. Who dresses kids like that to go to the playground any more (other than Spaniards)? I loved the pig-tails. You just don't see such innocence any more.

I also loved that there were no crazed parents on the sidelines watching their every move. They solved their own little problems and had fun.

Undercover Black Man said...

^ My daughter did get a bit upset when the crowd made the one girl cry.

Drama! But isn't that how it always was? Wasn't there always somebody going, "You're sayin' it wrong!"

I can see why anthropologists are intrigued by this. Because even though it's a "cooperative" game (as opposed to a "competitive" male game), it's all about social training... teaching people how to deal.

I'm so glad all you folks enjoyed this one.

Destruction said...

That was great...my girls say they still do a variation of "pizza pizza daddy-0", but it's more of a "miss mary mack" style.

Took me back to my 2 summers as Harlem Park Jacks champion in W. Bmore. Yeeeaahhh Jacks!

I loved the comments about no crazed parents and the "drama"....so so true.

bklyn6 said...

Took me back to my 2 summers as Harlem Park Jacks champion in W. Bmore. Yeeeaahhh Jacks!

You did not say, "jacks!" LOL

I saw a pack the other day, and for a hot second, I thought about buying them! :-D

bklyn6 said...

They have Style Wars on there and it is equally as cool.

I watched "Style Wars" today. I had no idea that some of those graffiti artists were white.

I remember when the trains were that way. In hindsight, what an eyesore. I wonder how the guys feel about that now. (Notice how female graffiti artists were referenced, but you didn't see neary a one?)