OT - Winter Coming - "Skeeching"
 

OT = "Off Topic" of Fords ...



As winter approaches and my 35 Coupe is tucked in for its winter slumber... for some reason I started to think of winters in the 50's on Long Island, NY. Back then snow was common ... lots of it! So the streets were lined with packed smooth snow .. in those days sand or salt was rarely applied.



Us kids would hide behind the snow banks at our driveway entrances and wait for a car to come by ... then we'd scoot out fast and low and latch on to the rear bumper for a ride down the block, our boots positions as short skis if you will .. we called it "Skeeching". It was a blast!



One skeech I recall was memorable ... I was alone and it was late - say 4PM and losing light. I saw my neighbors 53 Cadillac headed my way so I thought I'd catch that one last ride ... so just at the right moment I flung myself out and just barely caught the right rear of the big fat bumper! Perfect grip but too far to the right side of the car so my face was right in front of the exhaust pipe! To make matters worse ... I think he saw me because he sped up and while I was crouched down good and low .. I must have hit a rough spot and my feet went straight back from under me and now I'm on my belly ... nose squarely planted up to that exhaust pipe ... hanging on for dear life at speed - now my pants belt started to dig into the packed snow and immediately started packing snow down my pants and filling fast!


Well, about then I got the genius idea that maybe I should let go! I picked myself up to go home but found it difficult to walk - a combination of inhaling more than my fair share of carbon monoxide and my crotch packed full of ice cold snow! Ahh ... dem was the days!:D

Re: OT - Winter Coming - "Skeeching"
 

Peter that’s some funny shit. Thanks for sharing your great story.

Re: OT - Winter Coming - "Skeeching"
 

Good story! Thanks.

Re: OT - Winter Coming - "Skeeching"
 

We pulled sleds behind cars and trucks, but the issue came in with going way to fast, getting unstable and then going end over end!

Re: OT - Winter Coming - "Skeeching"
 

.

And this similar activity is still called the same thing if'n ya look on the ol' interweb!

https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.E4qvnX...r=1.25&pid=1.7

Re: OT - Winter Coming - "Skeeching"
 

In Brooklyn we had no skis.

This is not me I always used two hands:)

Re: OT - Winter Coming - "Skeeching"
 

My dad used to pull two or three sleds around the neighborhood with his '53 Olds, great fun!

Re: OT - Winter Coming - "Skeeching"
 

We did it under more controlled circumstances. The public bathing beach had a long parking lot, two spaces wide, made a great oval track for skeeching, but the driver knew we were back there. As a west coast kid, my dad took a job in Boston during my high school years starting in '67 and I got a crash course in skeeching, hockey, street hockey, ice fishing, Carl Yastremski, Bobby Orr and Lobsta fishing. To name a few...... Good times for sure.

Re: OT - Winter Coming - "Skeeching"
 

I recently learned that '40 Ford hoods were the sled of choice or you could weld 2 together for a boat. Not too sure about the boat.

Re: OT - Winter Coming - "Skeeching"
 

The two hood boat would be a 'double enda' back east and perhaps and early kayak on the Left coast.....

Re: OT - Winter Coming - "Skeeching"
 

The closest I can get to a similar story is forgetting to let go of the tow rope after losing my water skis.
Those who know the feeling usually prefer not making it a habit.

Re: OT - Winter Coming - "Skeeching"
 

For sure...NO LOUVERS! My first thought when mentioning welding '40 Ford hoods together brought to mind the famous Chrisman Bros' "land speed" coupe (below) which utilized two '40 hoods welded together, one atop a second inverted hood! DD

https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.ItAvxB...r=1.25&pid=1.7

Re: OT - Winter Coming - "Skeeching"
 

Great story. We used to as kids (10) take the old steel wagon wheels and run a pipe through it. Take a 2x16 and nail them to the board (couple 2x4s so you could stear the front with your legs) and find the steepest hill. Sure no helmets. I've only had 3 concussions in my life (a couple on motor cycles and one on a horse that headbutted me), i think.... hahaha

Re: OT - Winter Coming - "Skeeching"
 

A woman I worked with years ago talked about how as a teenager they would sit in an extra large cast iron fry pan attached to a p/u truck with a rope tied to the handle and get towed around the Utah desert. I think snow would make for softer landings if/when you got ejected from the pan.

Re: OT - Winter Coming - "Skeeching"
 

living in queens ny we used to ride our whizzer motorbikes in the snow,one day i entered an intersection and it was snowing heavily i didn't see the car and ran into his right front tire and i flew across the hood and landed face down on the other side,the poor guy was shaken up i got up dusted myself of and said i was ok and pickup my bike and off i went crazy kids we were..

Re: OT - Winter Coming - "Skeeching"
 

High school in big Bear Lake, Ca., east of L.A. in the San Bernardino mountains in the 60's. We used to do the same, grab a bumper & hang on! Only we called it hooky bobbin', slick sole tennis shoes worked best. Got a few bumps & scrapes when the car went to fast to hang on. We should all be dead for some of the dumb things we did as kids!

Re: OT - Winter Coming - "Skeeching"
 

Great story PeterC living in wisconsin we had the same fun and like you say back in those days when the weather man said we’re going to get 18 inches of snow and 20 below temperatures he wasn’t lying hitching a free ride was always fun mom couldn’t understand why were wearing out shoes so fast boy how I hated when we would hit those bare spots

Re: OT - Winter Coming - "Skeeching"
 

Here in the tundra. We would take a feed shovel and tie the handle to a tractor. As we got older and had access to snowmobiles things got faster.


One of our neighbors had a "winter" model a that had no tires on the front (helped to stear on ice). Drive down to the lake and do donuts on the ice with a tuber on the back.

Re: OT - Winter Coming - "Skeeching"
 

I'm thinking the tuber on the back of a model A doing donuts may have become Very Tangled.

Re: OT - Winter Coming - "Skeeching"
 

Brought back memories! Was wondering how would Kids hook a ride today without numbers? Another thing kids can’t do. Enjoyed the stories brought back good memories! Stay safe!
Bob