Our neighborhood was proud of our park, and we took care of it, even the kids; we all thought we had the best one in town. The park lay between two widely spaced streets and stretched three blocks long. Inside the park was covered with large trees along with gardens and foliage, with meandering concrete and gravel walks throughout wide enough for both pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Along the walks were park benches and water fountains. Even on the hottest summer days, it always felt cool inside the park with its trees and greenery. Entering the park was like entering a magic garden.

On any decent day, our park was full of kids. Mothers might bring kids 4 years old or younger unless there was an older sibling, but for 5-year olds and older, we came on our own to play unsupervised. A pretty day might see 50 or 60 kids playing throughout the park, maybe more, along with a few mothers sitting on benches reading or talking with one another while their little ones played in the huge sand box. People were constantly in the park, old men out for a stroll, business people and delivery men cutting through the park, folks jogging or walking for exercise; the park was well-used by the entire neighborhood.

At the far end of the park were lighted basketball and tennis courts along with a grass field as large as a football field where you could play catch, fly kites, or play pick-up sports games. Beside the field were several baseball diamonds, kid-sized rather than full-sized.

On one side toward the middle of the park was the kids' playground, a separated area with swing sets and seesaws, carousel, monkey bars and jungle gym, plus the large sandbox for the little ones which was around 50 feet wide by 100 feet long, contained by a low wall which was capped by a narrow seat board.

A concrete building housing the public restrooms bordered and faced the playground. There were separate boys' and girls' restrooms, the doors of which opened toward each other in the inset alcove separating the two restrooms, and in the middle of the alcove attached to the wall was a drinking fountain. Back behind the restrooms was a small building which housed the water well serving the park, and this little building was also available for privacy when needed. The water well building had an outside hose bib with a hose attached where the kids could clean themselves.


The playground was where the men came who wanted to play with kids. I don't know when this activity began, of men coming to the playground to play with kids, but it was flourishing by the time of my first memories of the park. I'm sure it began as most things do, some man gave a kid a quarter to go into the restroom with him, and all the kid's friends wanted to get in on the excitement and easy money. By the time I came along in 1946, it was a flourishing business for kids, the way most of us made our candy money.

The men who came to our park had varied tastes, some looking for little ones and some bigger kids, some liking boys and some only interested in little girls. They enjoyed the variety the playground had to offer and took advantage of it, sampling all the various choices.

The girls usually played in small cliques of 3 or 4, and they took turns deciding who would make herself available for play, often by the girl walking out to meet the man coming up. It was fraught with excitement and shyness and embarrassment, and often the girl's friends would have to double-dare the girl, egging her on to go with the man. Looks mattered, and a pretty little 9- or 10-year old could demand as much as a dollar before she would agree to accompany a man into the restroom.

During the summer months, it was not unusual for a half dozen men to show up in the course of a day. Some men liked littler kids, 4- or 5-year olds they would pay a nickel each to go behind the well-house so he could expose himself and jack off, often cumming in their faces. Other men would pay more for a boy or girl to go into the boy's restroom with them, and that's where the real money was. The more a man wanted to do, the more it cost. I don't know of a girl actually letting a man fuck her, but everything else went on.

Relationships developed for the older kids, and the girls who were in relationships often became rich by us kids' standards. Our playground was the meeting place for these relationships where the girl would go off with the man in his car for a while and then he would drop her back off at the park. Some of these girls I feel pretty sure were fucking.

Moms would bring their little 2- and 3-year olds to play in the big sandbox while they sat on the park benches nearby, reading or chatting with other moms. Older siblings would often bring along their little brothers and sisters to the playground, leaving them to play in the sandbox while they joined friends in the playground. Men targeted these kids, catching them alone when no moms were around.


On a summer day in 1946 I was playing in the sandbox with the little sister of one of Joyce's friends, a little girl named Emma and we were both 4. We were busy as we could be constructing a little town in the sand, carving out roads and streams, using wood blocks for buildings and cars, twigs for people and foliage from nearby bushes for foliage, when we heard a man's voice say, "My, that's some town you kids are building there."

We looked up to see a casually dressed, gray-haired man standing beside the sandbox watching us, and I'm sure we beamed with pride from his compliments. Glancing around to make sure no one was near, the man stepped inside the sandbox and sat on the bench atop the containing wall, spreading his knees wide as he held out his arms to us, inviting us to come tell him all about the town we were building.

We hopped up to run join him, excited the man had taken interest in our endeavors. Emma was a chatty girl, pointing out all the aspects of our little make-believe town to the man as his arms encircled us, drawing us further in between his knees as we rested our hands on his shoulders for balance. "That's really some town!" he laughed, and as he and Emma chatted, I felt his fingers curling around my butt cheeks, squeezing and massaging them through my play shorts. I could see his other hand was under Emma's play dress, squeezing and massaging her butt cheeks as well.

"You sure are a pretty little girl," he said, looking around again above our heads while he pushed his hand between her legs before returning his smile to her. "Yes sirree," he laughed, letting his fingers explore up and down her inner thighs, "you sure are a cutie."

Emma giggled, blushing at the direct compliment as her chin dropped down, causing the man to chuckle again. "Oh, you know what a cutie you are," he said. Glancing around us again, he said, "Let me see how good you feel," bringing his hand up to cup around her pussy mound underneath the skirt.

Emma made a little squeal as he did, laughing as the pressure from his hand made her step her feet apart to make room, and the man chuckled with her. "You feel good!" he said, as if surprised that she did.

"You're being silly," Emma said, laughing and squirming her hips, relishing the compliments as the man's fingertips pushed their way up through the panties into her slit.

"I guess so," the man laughed, "but this," sliding his fingertips up and down the slit, "really feels good pretty girl." Emma laughed at his silliness, giving his shoulder a pinch.

Looking around again over our heads as he lifted the front of Emma's play dress up above her panties, he said, "Hold this up for me, okay honey? I want to see what you've got inside your panties," and a laughing Emma held the dress up out of the way as his fingers pulled out the waistband of the panties.

Emma squealed with laughter as the man leaned over to look inside. "You're being silly," she said again, giggling as she clutched his shoulder while he pulled her around for a good look inside.

"Oh, that's a pretty little pussy you've got in there, Emma. Let Jimmy have a look." I leaned over to look inside the panties at the bald little pussy mound inside.

"You can see Jimmy's, too," the man said, and to me he said, "Hold out your shorts so Emma can see your pecker." I held out the waistband of my shorts and underwear, thrusting my hips forward so Emma could see inside.

"Looks like it's getting stiff for you, Jimmy," the man laughed. "Let me feel." I could feel my pecker get rock hard as his thumb and forefinger tugged on it. "Here, you feel," the man told Emma when he had the pecker good and stiff. I danced with excitement as giggling, blushing Emma reached her hand inside for her fingers to feel over the pecker. "Feel of it good, honey," the man told Emma, pushing his hand down inside her panties. I watched as he masturbated Emma's slit while I felt her fingers feeling over my pecker and nut sack.

The man laughed. "You like that, don't you, naughty girl?" he said. "Look at mine," he said, using his thumb and fingers to outline the man-cock pulsing inside his thin slacks, watching as our eyes grew wide. "Can you see it good?" he asked us, stretching the fabric tightly over it so we could see the clear outline of the throbbing cock. "Here," he said, bringing my hand down on the cock, "feel of it. You can feel, too, Emma," he said, bringing her hand down on it. "Do you like how it feels?"

"Yeah," I said, and giggling Emma shook her head a big yes as our hands felt up and down the shaft, squeezing to see how hard it was.

"Do you kids want to look at it?" he asked.

"Yeah," I answered excitedly, and Emma danced with excitement. "Can we?" she pleaded, her excited eyes begging the man.

"Okay then," the man laughed, looking around over our heads again as he undid his pants. Both of us squealed and laughed, vibrating with excitement as the man-cock sprang into view, and the man laughed with us, slipping his hands inside the back of our underwear to pull us around closer into his spread knees as his eyes roamed over us, making sure no one was close.

"You kids feel of it," he said, continuing to look around as his fingers clenched into our bare butt cheeks. "Go ahead," he said as our fingertips felt over the hot cock, "feel of it good." He continued watching over our heads as our hands felt and squeezed the cock.

"You like it, don't you, honey?" he said, withdrawing his hand from my butt to pull Emma's head closer so he could kiss over her flushed, excited, pretty little face. "It makes you hot, doesn't it, baby?" he said, sliding his hand back inside the front of her panties for his fingertips to slide inside her slit.

Emma stayed focused on her hands feeling over the man-cock, her little body trembling with excitement and feeling the man's fingers in her pussy as he continued kissing over her face while his other hand clenched the flesh inside the back of her panties.

"Come on around here, baby," he said, pulling Emma around facing him, pulling her hips in tight against his crotch as he masturbated her, leaning in to whisper in her ear, "Do you like that, baby?" and kissing over her flushed cheeks returned to whisper, "Is it fun?"

"Uh-huh," Emma said, her eyes locked on her hands wrapping the shaft of the hot man-cock.

"Watch me cum for you, pretty girl," he said, wrapping his hand around Emma's to push the head into Emma's panty-clad pussy as he pumped the cock faster. Emma leaned back to watch, holding her skirt up pressed to her tummy so she could see good.

"Oh fuck, I'm cumming," the man groaned, tensing up, and with a moan the first load of hot cum shot up over Emma's hand holding the dress up, causing an excited squeal from Emma. I leaned in to watch with Emma as load after load gushed up from the cock to splash over the panties and run down over her legs.

"God, that felt good," the man sighed, his fingertips smearing the cum over Emma's panties and thighs. "Was that fun for you kids?" he asked, returning his cock inside his pants and redoing them.

"Yeah!" we both laughed, still trembling with excitement.

He laughed with us as he stood. Digging into his pocket, he came up with a nickel for each of us before waving goodbye as he headed off. Emma and I ran to find our big sisters to tell them about our adventure before heading across the street to buy us some candy with our newfound money.


12-year old Elizabeth was in charge of the playground. My memory plays tricks with me here, because from the time I first began going to the park until I was probably 8 or 9, I remember Elizabeth as being about 12 years old. I know that can't be right, but it is my mental image of her. Elizabeth was a take-charge kind of girl. Nobody ever appointed her, but none of us doubted the playground belonged to the care and maintenance of Elizabeth. Whenever someone was hurt, or misbehaved, or simply something went awry, Elizabeth was there to take care of it.

I've often wondered if it was Elizabeth herself who got it started, maybe in 1945 when the soldiers began coming back from the war. I remember those days well, all the soldier boys wandering around town, not knowing what to do. I think a good many were suffering PTSD, but back then we didn't know about PTSD. People watched them and told us kids, "Be careful but be nice and give them time. They've been fighting in war for us."

Sometimes they would scare us kids, but our parents would admonish us: "Those brave boys fought the Germans and the Japs and kept our country free. You kids respect what they have done for you!" So we did our best to be friendly to them, no matter how drunk or coarse they acted.

One of the things Elizabeth took care of was the men who came to the playground. If they didn't behave properly, Elizabeth saw to it that they promptly left, persona non grata. Most of the men coming into the playground we all knew: some came practically daily; some once a week or only once in a while, but we knew and trusted them.

Occasionally we had a new man show up, and he needed to know the rules of the playground. Elizabeth considered that her job. She would watch a new man entering the playground. Sometimes he was simply a dad coming to get his child, but it didn't take long to see his intentions. Once she knew he was after fun with the kids, Elizabeth would approach him and explain how it was done. She expected the man to have the correct money in his pocket when he got there, and she expected him to pay her a little something from time to time for her services in maintaining order. She was good at it; we never had any problems at the playground.


Joy sat in the grass near the swings with a couple of her friends, three little7-year olds playing dolls. When the war ended, a new doll topped every little girl's Christmas list. Girls like Joy had never known anything but raggedy cloth dolls, usually hand-me-down dolls at that, so when fancy, realistic looking plastic dolls came on the market after the war, replete with cute little doll clothes to dress them in, girls went crazy for them.

Joy's favorite doll was called the Mary-Lu Walker, a "dress me" doll which came with an 8-piece wardrobe: panties and bras, nylon hose, a slip, high heel shoes, pearl earrings, and a couple of cute dresses. Additional clothes were sold separately, and that is one of the reasons Joy was always at the playground, to earn money to buy more doll clothes. Many of the little girls went to the park to earn money for doll clothes. Mothers didn't like wasting necessary household money on doll clothes, so the little girls would go to the playground, to let the men take them into the restrooms so they could earn money to buy doll clothes. You could never have enough doll clothes, so a little girl like Joy would let as many men have her as she could, and she would do her best to please them so they would come back to her for more.

Looking up to see a nicely dressed, middle-aged man walking toward them, the girls buzzed with excitement. New doll clothes were coming up! They giggled with excitement and blushed, watching him look them over as he walked up. Kneeling before Joy, the man said, "Hi, there. You're a pretty little girl. What's your name?"

"Joy," she answered, giggling and scrunching her nose, laughing as she saw her friends laughing as they watched.

"Want to come play with me, Joy?" the man asked, holding out his hand.

Giggling, Joy looked bashfully toward her laughing friends. "Okay," she laughed, reaching up to take the man's hand. This was not her first time, by any means.

Leading her by the hand into the men's restroom, the man locked the door behind them. Inside the restroom was a single bare light bulb attached to the middle of the ceiling, a urinal standing beside a single enclosed commode, and about a 4-foot stainless steel lavatory with the sink at the far end and a mirror behind it running the length of the lavatory. Turning to scoop Joy up into his arms, holding her pressed to him, face to face, the man looked her over. "Now I've got you all to myself, don't I?" he laughed.

"Yeah," Joy laughed, squirming and giggling in his arms as she wrapped her arms and legs around him. At 7, Joy was a little over 4 feet tall and thin, weighing only about 40 lbs., a nice, comfortable size to fit in the arms of a grown man.

Kissing her cheek, his hand came up under the back of her play dress to feel of her firm, round butt cheeks. "We're going to have fun, aren't we, Joy?" he said, his fingers clenching into the flesh of her butt through her nylon panties.

"Yeah," Joy laughed, her hips squirming at the feel of the hand caressing her bottom.

"Why don't you give me a kiss?" the man asked. "Do you like to kiss?"

Joy laughed and blushed, squirming more. "I guess so," she admitted, and wrapping her arms more tightly around his neck brought her lips to his.

"Oh, that was sweet," the man laughed. With her arms around his neck and her ankles locked behind him, Joy held herself in place as the man's hands felt over her bare legs. "You've got nice, smooth, velvety skin," he said, watching his fingertips feel over her inner thighs. "I like that. Does your skin feel this good all over your body?"

Joy laughed, blushing at the compliment. "I dunno," she said. "I guess so."

"Let me see," he said, running his hands up under the play dress. She felt his fingers caressing over her back. "Uh-huh, you feel good there," he said. Sliding his hands around her body, he felt over her tummy and chest. "Very nice," he said as his fingers felt over her, finding her nipples which were just beginning to puff out a little. Pinching them with his forefinger and thumb, he laughed, saying, "You're going to have some titties pretty soon, aren't you, honey?" Joy blushed again, giggling as his fingers rolled the nipples and tugged at them. "They feel good," he said.

"How about here?" he asked, and Joy gasped as he cupped his hand around her pussy mound and squeezed. Rubbing his fingertips against her pussy, he said, "It feels smooth. Your pussy feels nice and smooth, Joy." Joy flushed with embarrassment, laughing nervously, and the man laughed, pressing his fingertips up into her. "You know it does," he said. "I bet you play with it all the time, don't you?"

Joy giggled and blushed, coquettishly shaking her head no, and the man laughed again. "Sure you do," he said. "Let me see your panties," lifting the skirt of Joy's play dress to expose her sky blue nylon panties, decorated with a lacy rosette on one side. "Wow, so pretty, so sexy," he said, his eyes admiring the panties as his fingers roamed over them. His hands felt around her hips and butt. "They fit you really well, too," he said. "What size are they?"

"Size 6," Joy answered.

He looked at her questioningly. "How old are you?" he asked.

Joy laughed. "I'm 7," she answered. Laughing, she added, "I'm kind of skinny so size 6 still fits me."

"They fit great," he said, still admiring as he felt over them. "My daughter has some like these."

"You have a little girl?" Joy asked. "What's her name?"

"Darlene," he answered. "She's in 4th grade now. What grade are you in?"

"I'll be in 2nd grade next year," Joy answered. She thought about it. "I don't know any Darlene in my school," she said.

The man laughed. "We live on the other side of town. She goes to a different school than you do."

"Oh," Joy said, still thinking about it. "She's a lot older than me."

The man laughed. "Oh, not so much," he said. "You kind of remind me of her."

"I do?" Joy laughed.

"Yeah," the man laughed. "She's a sexy girl like you are."

Joy laughed, lightly blushing again. "Do you play with her?" she asked.

The man laughed again. "You mean like this?" he asked, giving Joy's pussy a squeeze.

Joy squealed and burst out laughing. "Yeah," she said.

"No," he said, "I wish I could."

"How come you don't?" Joy asked, looking confused. "You're her daddy. You can do anything you want with her."

The man laughed. "Her mommy wouldn't like that," he said.

"She wouldn't tell on you," Joy laughed. "Girls don't tell."

"Maybe not," the man laughed, "but I'd be in big trouble if my wife caught me playing this way with Darlene."

"Oh," Joy said thoughtfully. "Do you want to play with her?" she asked.

"Yeah, I do," the man admitted. "I think she's hot."

"Oh," Joy said, and then brightened up. "But you can play with me!"

The man laughed at the cute little 7-year old's brazenness. Cupping his hand around her pussy mound again, he began rubbing his fingers up and down her pussy underneath, his eyes watching Joy's reaction. "You like getting felt up, don't you, honey?"

"Uh-huh," Joy answered, her excited, flirting eyes looking into the man's.

Slowly pulling out the waistband of her panties, he asked, "Do you like this?" slipping his hand inside.

Joy laughed and squirmed, tightening her arms around his neck as she felt the hand slipping down over her tummy, squealing and lifting herself as she felt it clamp around her bare pussy mound inside. The man laughed, slipping his other hand down inside the back of the panties to squeeze into the bare flesh of her butt cheeks as his fingers toyed with her pussy. "Oh, you are a very naughty girl, Joy," he said, pressing his middle finger up to part the lips of her pussy. Joy laughed and squirmed as his finger began to stroke, her arms holding his neck tightly, and he laughed with her. "You love this, don't you, you pretty little whore?"

"Uh-huh, I do," Joy admitted, moving her hips back and forth with the stroking finger.

Joy gets hot fast, and in moments her chest was heaving hard, tightening her grip around his neck to hold her face against his. "Your pussy's wet and hot," he said softly in her ear. "My finger feels good in your pussy, huh?"

Joy was flushing into a tingling orgasm. "Uh-huh," she said, breathing hard. "I like it." Her whole body was beginning to tingle.

"Let me look at you," he said, carrying her to the lavatory and standing her on the long metal countertop. His hot eyes looked her up and down, rubbing his throbbing cock through his slacks. "Let's take your dress off," he said, lifting it up from the bottom. Joy bent to allow him to pull it over her head and then stood back up, wearing only the pretty sky blue panties. His fingers reached to toy with her small puffy nipples. His hands went behind her shoulders, pulling her over to him. "Come here," he said, and sucked a nipple into his mouth. Joys' arms held his head as he sucked one nipple after the other into his mouth for his teeth to chew as he sucked hard, his tongue pushing into the nipple. It felt wonderful.

Standing Joy back up, his fingers hooked the panty waistband and he said, "Show me your pussy," as he slowly lowered the panties down. He stopped midway down her thighs to admire the bald little pussy. "Fuck, that looks so sweet," he said, his hands clenching around her butt cheeks to pull the pussy to him, kissing the bare mound. Joy felt his warm, rough tongue come out under her crotch, licking up into her slit. She trembled at the delicious feel.

Pulling the panties on down, Joy lifted a foot to let him take them off. She stood, her tongue flicking over her dry lips as the man looked up and down her naked body. "You like for me to look at you naked, don't you?" he said. "It excites you, doesn't it?"

"Uh-huh," Joy admitted. Her chest was already heaving as she watched the man's lust-filled eyes poring over her. This was part of the game, having a grown man look at her like this. She could see he wanted her so badly he could taste it, and that did excite her. Men were always in charge, bossing her around, but when they looked at her like this, with their big old cocks swelled up so big they're about to burst, then she was the boss and she could make them do what she wanted. It was exciting stuff for a little girl to know.

"Let' see how your pussy tastes," the man said, and lifted her leg over his shoulder, his hands behind her butt cheeks pulling her hips forward into his face.

Joy absolutely loved it when men did this, licked her pussy. Her arms wrapped around his head in anticipation of the hot, rough tongue coming into her pussy slit, and she gasped, pulling his head tighter into her, when she felt it. The feel was exhilarating as she rocked her hips over the stroking tongue inside her slit, gasping for air, her entire body flushing hot with the delicious tingling sensation. "Don't stop," she murmured, clutching his head and bending her knees down to force the tongue deeper inside.

Joy's pleasure had the man on fire as he licked the hot, slippery wet little pussy. His hand dug to undo his belt so he could push down his slacks and underwear from his throbbing cock and pump on it.

His cum was rising fast and he stopped, pulling his face from Joy's pussy as he stood panting, gasping for air, trying to calm down his pending orgasm. When he had regained control, he lifted Joy, holding her facing him as he turned to lean against the lavatory. "Did you like that?" he asked. "Did it feel good my licking your pussy?"

Joy's chest was still heaving but she managed a little giggle. "Yeah, I really like it. It makes me feel good."

"Do you want to play with my cock?" he asked. "Does that sound fun?"

"Yeah," Joy laughed.

"Okay then," he said, standing her on the floor in front of him. "Have fun."

Taking his cock in one hand and his balls in the other, Joy's tongue began licking up the shaft while her hand fondled his balls. When she sucked the head of the cock into her mouth, the man's hands took her head, holding it as his hips fucked the cock into Joy's mouth, the man moaning with the pleasurable sensations.

Joy loved this part, too, the feel of the big, hot head of the man-cock filling her mouth, fucking incessantly into her. Both her hands wrapped around the shaft, tugging on it as she sucked hard. She loved this part, making the man cum, and she loved the feel of the slick hot cum when it exploded into her mouth, filling it as she gulped it down as fast as she could. It was a game, making the man cum and seeing how much she could swallow. It was exciting to her, being able to control a grown man like this, making him want her so badly he couldn't help himself. She was in charge.

She could feel his body trembling harder as he fucked the cock back and forth in her mouth until suddenly it seized rigid and she heard, "God, I'm cumming," and with a groan, his body shook violently as the cum shot up the shaft. Joy was ready when the first load exploded out, gulping it down fast, gulp after gulp. This was a game for her, too, seeing how much cum she could suck from the big cock.

His knees were buckling as he finished, and he had to use his hands propped on the lavatory to keep from collapsing. Joy watched as he stood chin down, gasping for air, his body trembling hard. Finally, he was able to lift his chin enough to look at her, his eyes blinking as he continued trying to recover his breath. When he could, he reached down to lift Joy up, turning his body so he could lay back on the lavatory, carrying Joy up to sit on top of him as he rested.

Joy was giggling in celebration as she looked down on his sweaty face, his eyes looking up into hers. "Fuck, you are good," he panted, his hand reaching down to clamp into her butt cheeks. "You've got the sweetest mouth I ever fucked," he said.

Joy was laughing as he complimented her, legs kicking up and down excitedly. "Really?" she asked.

"Fuck yes," the man said, and lay there looking up at her, recovering his breath. "I want more of you, a whole lot more." He thought about it. "How about I pick you up here tomorrow?" he asked. "I want to take you someplace so I can work you over good. Would you like that?"

"Okay," Joy laughed, "but it costs more."

He burst out laughing. "What a whore you are, sweetie!" he exclaimed. "How much more?" he asked playfully.

Joy thought about it. She had never been off with a man before, but she had heard the older girls talking about it and she was concerned she might underprice herself. "Two dollars," she blurted out, and the man burst out laughing again.

"Pretty expensive, aren't you?" he asked, laughing with her. Tweaking her nose, he said, "But I bet you're worth it, aren't you, sweetie?"

"Yeah," Joy laughed, excited at the thought of her new fortune.

Joy waved goodbye to the man, holding an entire dollar bill in her hand. "See you tomorrow!" she called after him before running to show her friends how much money she had earned.


Not every kid in the neighborhood participated at the playground. Some were too scared to try; some tried once but had a bad experience or simply didn't enjoy it; and there were those who thought it was "not nice." (One of the pastor's daughters fell into this category, always telling us we would go to hell for what we were doing. This lasted until 3rd grade when one of my nieces brought her home after school, and we all wrestled her down until I could get my cock stuck inside her. After the first fucking, she was fine from then on. That happened fairly often, my nieces holding someone down until I could stick it in her. We might call that rape now, but back then it was just play and we did it all the time.)

But I think most kids did end up playing with the men at the playground at least some of the time. The money was too enticing. Some kids loved the pure excitement, and I think that covers most of them. Money played a big role, though. Most of us were dependent on allowances or, like me, had to find work if we wanted money. The playground was a ready source of easy money, certainly enough to go to the movies, buy a malt or candy, whatever else a kid might desire, doll clothes, for instance.

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