Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest Revision - May 7, 2022 [title change: adding the word "playing" to clarify that "Double Dutch" in this post refers to the recreational activity and not the sport]
This pancocojams post presents a compilation of comments from various internet sites about people's memories of playing street Double Dutch* in the United States.
These comments include information about the commenter's geographic location (city and/or state) and/or when they remembered playing street Double Dutch.
* Although the comments in this pancocojams post refer to recreational Double Dutch (also called "street Double Dutch", they were retrieved from YouTube videos about the sport of Double Dutch.
The Addendum to this post presents an excerpt from a 1987 Chicago Tribune article about the history of Double Dutch.
The content of this post is presented for historical and socio-cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
This post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on Double Dutch.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/05/some-memories-of-playing-double-dutch.html for the closely related pancocojams post entitled "Some Memories Of Playing Double Dutch And/Or Hearing Malcolm McLaren's "Double Dutch" Record Outside Of The United States (with demographic information)".
Also, click the tag that is found at the bottom of this post for more pancoocjams posts in this series.
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SELECTED COMMENTS ABOUT MEMORIES OF STREET DOUBLE DUTCH IN THE UNITED STATES
The discussion threads that are quoted in this post are given in no particular order. Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.
Disclaimer: This isn't meant to be a comprehensive compilation of all the online discussion thread comments that I've come across about recreational Double Dutch which include some demographic information.
A compilation pancocojams post on comments about race and recreational Double Dutch and a compilation pancocojams post on boys playing Double Dutch will be published ASAP and their links will be added here. Some of the comments in this memories post are also included in those posts.
Discussion Thread #1
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRdwTxMeTL8 Thrilling To Watch Top Double Dutch Teams Compete published by David Hoffman, no publishing date given, but the oldest comments are from 2014
1. Lisa Mims. 2014
"I grew up doing double dutch...i was born in New York City...my family moved to Florida in the early 70's where Double Dutch was a foreign word. I live seeing these videos. ..keep Double. Dutch Alive!!!!"
**
2. Compton CutiE, 2014
"I remember those days when I usta be in double dutch competitions.
And jumping double dutch on Raymond St. IN Compton CA. Wit Two long phone cords as our ropes lol :-)"
**
3. Janae Jones, 2019
"Wow what yr is this? Late 80’s I’m guessing... I remember my mom teaching me and my sis how to double Dutch early 90’s. She said her and her friends grew up double dutching on the block in the Bronx. By the time she taught us we were living in Co. We taught our friends (white friends) and started a trend in Webster Elementary and then brought it to Germany...lol I’m not saying we actually did but no one else was double dutching around us at that time 😁"
-snip-
"Co" = Colorodo (USA)
**
"I remember jumping rope and all the other things that we did. I know kids think they have it better now but they don't. Kids barely go outside and play. Im glad to have been raised in a time where we had so many things to do to stay fit and keep the blood flowing. Growing up in Philadelphia was so great in West Oak Lane neighbors got along it was safe we didn't have to lock out doors at night . I miss those days going forward I moved to Florida in 1999 and was asking people about Double Dutch and it was looking at me like I was crazy.We didn't have all this technology we I was growing up but we had it all."
****
Discussion Thread #2
From https://www.lipstickalley.com/threads/any-ladues-grew-up-knowing-how-to-double-dutch.1306957/ Any Ladues Grew Up Knowing How To Double Dutch
1. Pisces Princess Three, Nov 2, 2017
"Yesss!
**
2. Renky, Nov 2, 2017
"Yes, yes! In Brooklyn in the early 2000s, that was a right of passage lol, you had to know how to jump."
**
3. WNDRLST, Nov 2, 2017
"YANAS said:
[quote] Well I got invited to Double Dutch at about 8 or 9 when I went to go visit my grandma in Jersey City, lol. I was looking lonely on the porch and these girls asked me to join in. I’m sure I forgot by now. A few summers in a row we would link up and we’d Double Dutch, chase Mr. Softee, and walk to the corner store.
My older sisters are good at it.
Ahhhh, nostalgia. [end of quote]
... seems to be more of an East Coast thing, no?"
**
4.
"Yea and I think moreso in the north but I’m not entirely sure. I know when I moved down south I didn’t see people Double Dutch but it could’ve been because I was a little older and technology had taken over by that time."
**
5. laxmirkiri, Nov 2, 2017
"I was on the West Coast and girls were doing it there too."
**
6. Ruby Tuesdays, Nov 2, 2017
"I'm from the Midwest and we made sure we jumped during recess, after school in front of my house, at every family function with my sisters, cousins, mama! You had to know how to jump in my family lol!"
**
7. WNDRLST, Nov 2, 2017
"Same here.. but it wasn't as prevalent where I grew up for some reason."
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Discussion Thread #3
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCZgfIi9QY4 Double Dutch Diva... Street style, published by Nina O, Apr 26, 2007
1. Tani, 2012
"cable wires...yep you're a real double dutch Diva!!! When I was growing up in the Mil...cable wires were a MUST!!! Kids in Dallas don't jump rope but in the mid to late 90's that's all we did...."
-snip-
Mil = Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Dallas= Dallas, Texas
**
Reply
2. fightingblindly
"They used to jump rope when I was a kid in dallas"
**
Discussion thread #4
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5eMHAFmPQ4 Black Magic - Those Magnificent Double Dutch Girls published by David Hoffman , no publishing date given
Here's the statement written by that filmaker, David Hoffman, which appeared under that YouTube video:
"My subscribers have been asking me to post this entire film. The original documentary was primetime PBS and the Blue Ribbon award winner at the American Film Festival. What is posted here is most of it. Double Dutch was and is a wonderful sport and the teenagers who I filmed were so passionate about it and so proud. And their families were involved. It all gave me the opportunity to make this beautiful film. The winners of this competition came from the inner-city, Hartford Connecticut. They had tough times. But their faith and innocent excitement as expressed in this documentary, was a joy to behold. Here is a link should you want to get the entire television special - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006MXD7O "
-snip-
David Hoffman wrote in a comment in that YouTube discussion thread that this film was shot in 1984.
1. Jennifer J, 2019
"Thank you for sharing this film. These girls, Black Magic, were so talented and delightful to watch. Much respect to the women who worked with them as well. They reminded me of the caring and capable teachers I had in elementary school. As a child in the 60s, I Double Dutch jump roped for fun, not competition. I wish kids today could have these kind of experiences instead of phones and computer screens. Was there any follow up with the competition after this film in following year(s)? Again, thank you David.🤗"
**
2. OneBlueFroggy, 2019
"We were doing double-dutch back in the late 50's, before these girls invented it, and we had no black neighborhoods in our city. This was a fun doc to watch though and the girls did a great job and had fun too. Thank you Mr. Hoffman ✌"
*️*
3. OliviaNewtronBomb, 2019
"In 1971 I was living in Compton California . during the time of the Double Dutch craze.
I remember girls fighting over the game.
This brought back memories of Compton and how I survived being the only white girl in an all black school.
It wasn't easy!!!"
**
4. Px828, 2019
"My mom and her sister would do Double Dutch. They grew up in the 30s and 40s."
5. Frankie Butler, 2020
..."I’m 76 now, in 2020, which makes me jumping in 1954 (10yrs old). Never heard rap music then, but did know “Cinderella, Cinderella,”.... we also used 2 ropes (on dirt playground!) and had lots of fun with all different rhymes. Wonderful memories!!!!"
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Discussion Thread #5
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI46rsQR83k Double Dutch Championships published by Theitemdotcom, Jun 17, 2011
The 38th Annual Double Dutch World Championships were held in Sumter, SC June 17-18. [2011?]
1. Bettie Russo, 2012
"Wow.. The more things change, the more they stay the same
!!!!!!!!!!!!! I remember doing this as a
girl. I did it all, double dutch, hot
peppers, etc. and as a girl in school, I
was the local champion. In that day, there were no international championships
like this. We just jumped for joy! Now,
youth is gone, I am 55, and watch and remember the joy of jumping, no pain, all
energy and I can retreat in my mind to my girlhood days. "Apple Core,
Baltimore "- almost feeling the sting of a rope"
-snip-
This comment doesn't include any decade or city/state name. However, a decade can be extrapolated from the commenter's mention of her age, which is better than the "back in the day" or "when I was growing up" type comments that can be found in these types of discussion threads.
**
2. 23Fulani, 2014
"Makes me remember how fun childhood was in the 80's and 90's!"
**
Reply
3. ORDOTRIO, 2015
"+23Fulani I went to school in Atlanta in the 80's. This was every day at recess."
**
4. CzarJuliusIII, 2016
"Even in the early 2000s I saw girls play doubledutch at recess."
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Reply
5. BigSaroo, 2019
"@CzarJuliusIII I was in elementary school in the late 2000s
and I had a lot fun learning to doubledutch"
**
6. amycello, 2016
"Growing up in Brooklyn, NY in the late 1940s I clearly
remember watching with awe and amazement, young black girls doing incredible
double dutch rope skipping in the street. In those days of de-facto
segregation, the white neighborhood and
black neighborhood were divided by one street. These were the days before play
dates and scripted after school activities. We were regularly sent out to the
street to play where we spent many unsupervised hours. We would often stand on
the street that was the dividing line and watch the (mostly) girls our age (7
to about 13 years old) doing their amazing double dutch routines with the
greatest of ease. No one on the white side of the dividing line ever attempted
this sport. We wouldn't even have known how to begin."
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Reply
7. ive oak, 2018
"Texas white girls double dutch.. Lol."
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8. Raphael Web, 2017
"Remember this on the streets of Queens in the70’s..... always wondered how they did it."
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9. beautyswithinu 88, 2017
"Do y'all remember the songs we use to sing while double dutching?
I still do here's some I grew up on at just for girls Bradenton Flo.rida
"Big Mac Filet o fish one of Grande French fries icy cola Milkshake Sundays and apple pie!" I know many more but I want to know which one did you sing?"
**
10. King of Music Moonwalker, 2018
"I loved double dutch, 80's baby in Watts, California....good ole days"
**
11.angela aiello, 2018
"i remember growing up in queens back in the 70's and i have
never double dutched like these gals.
watching this has made my day!"
**
12. Indie Games Only, 2019
|"ok how is this championships? ive seen more insane double dutch at my elementary school in Seattle... this is nothing compared to that lol"
**
13. A Joint Joint, 2019
"So glad I grew up when I did. I use to cartwheel my way Into the rope. I’m wondering if I could get a rope from the telephone man still? #brooklyn"
**
14. Dallas McCall, 2020
"I'm from Philly and a 80s baby grew up in the 90s and
early 2000s you always New a boy that was gay because he was playing double
Dutch with the girls. Backed then boys got teased for being Gay now its
accepted."
15.
"We use to have sooooooooooooo much fun in the 1980's early
90's double dutching......omg....this is
memories."
**
16. Tackles, 2021
"I don't know why but doubledutch just came into my head. I remember back in the 1950s seeing the mostly black girls do this. Sometimes there were White girls joining in but most of the time it was extremely talented black girls and I really enjoyed watching them. I did try a couple times to no avail. LOL"
**
17. MyBadCats, 2021
"I remember doing this (white girl here) back in 1969 early
70s and singing Kamalamea Beast Day and other soul music while we jumped during
school recess. A bunch of Catholic
school girls practicing cultural misappropriation! Became the foundation of my love for soul,
funk, blues and African music."
**
18. Ryan Underwood, 2022
"Brings back memories of being a kid in the 90s, Everyone I I
knew played double dutch.
****
Discussion Thread #6
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVx4ea4GauY&t=1s Double Dutch Team MUST Win to Get to Nationals - Jump! (S1, E1) | Full Episode | Lifetime..published by Lifetime, Jun 4, 2021
-snip-
This television series aired nationally in 2015 for only one season.
1. Michele Thomas, 2021
"I remember when I was a small child growing up in the 1970’s; being mesmerized by watching the neighborhood girls jumping the double Dutch rope in our street. I always wondered how to jump double Dutch."
**
2. Randomly Ranting with Erica!, 2021
"Growing up in jersey this is all we did! I loveee the fact that they have a show showcasing this talent."
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Discussion Thread #7
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Rjm0sAr98w 40+ Double Dutch Jumping Off in Chicago Pumped, published by Localish, Jun
10, 2019
1. Meliss215, 2019
"In Philly back in the day we used to buy the clothes lines
tie them up and that was our double Dutch. We would say wanna play rope🤣😂😂😂
I feel so old. I'm about to be 35 March 4th. Daaang"
**
Pauline B, 2020
“OMG...I am 43 years old and back in the day growing up in Newark, NJ this is what we used to do. We
stayed outside jumping rope. None of us had time to gain weight or get in
trouble. Man the memories. Keep up the
good work ladies 😁.
****
Discussion Thread #8
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I0c4OfX6JU Tamera Shows Off Her Double Dutch Skills, published by The Real Daytime, Sep
29, 2014
1. It's funny how time flys, 2018
"They stole this Double Dutch thing from black girls in the hood...We have BEEN doing this ever since the late 70's...FOH...This is NOTHING NEW...As soon as some white people do something they STOLE from us, it's "trendy"... FOH
-snip-
A lot of comments in this discussion thread were very critical of The Real (television show) 's decision to give national attention to a White team to showcase on that episode. The pancocojams post "Comments About Race And Recreational Double Dutch In The United States, Part I" has additional examples of these comments.
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Reply
2. Anuday 20, 2019
"Try the fifties and beyond black girls having been doing double Dutch as I learned from my mom & auntie who grew up in the 50’s on the low end in Chicago 😃😏!!!!"
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Discussion Thread #9
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ4jMSCBswY Malcolm Mclaren Presents Double Dutch.wmv, published by MalcolmMclarenMusic, Apr 11, 2011
1. Zak-a -Roo, 2020
"Between every period
in our 80s South Fla school,
double dutch and breakdancing , epic days !!"
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Discussion Thread #10
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK9hK82r-AM Frankie
Smith - Double Dutch Bus (Official Music Video) UnidiscMusic, May 17, 2011
1. Melissa Ann Nevin, 2020
"Ho Philly's in the House! This was my jawn when growing up
in Philadelphia. Still got the 45 and yes, ALL of us, white, black, brown &
all colors in between played Double Dutch! I might be 50 years old but I still
know how to turn the ropes & know how to jump!"
-snip-
"Philly" is a nickname for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
"Jawn" is an all purpose Philadelphia, Pennslyvania vernacular noun which is has the same meaning as the vernacular (New York originated?) word "joint". In the comment that is given about "jawn" means "my favorite record".
**
2. moontheloon5, 2020
"Sweet childhood memories..Growing up in Philly in the 70's
there was always girls jumping DD at recess. I even learned how to turn the
ropes(they were always looking for "turners" lol but never did master
jumping in 😂"
**
3. Queenofthebricks, 2021
"I was about 7 when this song came out just learning to jump double dutch, had to turn first to earn your jump if you were new or from another neighborhood asking for a jump. You couldn't be double handed, if so, they would let you know and weren't nice about it. Just drop the rope and get out of here! This song blew my mind as a child cause I couldn't relate double dutch with a bus and his voice was weird but intriguing. Gimme a ho! if you gotcha funky bus fair! Lol and ho! to stop the ice cream truck. Those were the days- Trenton N.J plus he said my name! he- he!
-snip-
"Fair" is a typo for "fare" (money to ride the bus)
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Discussion thread #11
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Rjm0sAr98w Double Dutch Jumping Off in Chicago | Pumped, published by Localish, Jun 10, 2019
-snip-
Here's the publisher's statement about this video:
"The 40+ Double Dutch Club on Chicago's Southside is proving
age is just a number. The all-female group meets weekly to jump, sing, and act
like a kid again all while staying fit."
1. Katrina Perez, 2019
"I lived in Chicago in the 80’s I never was good at double
Dutch, I did better as a turner. I still want to learn and I’m over 40."
**
2,
"I can’t wait to teach my granddaughter. She’s 2 now so
she’ll be a pro by 3 😂😂 I use to jump
with my daughter and her friends in Oklahoma and Texas and it was so fun. Would
definitely love a club like this with my 40 something year old self 😉"
****
Discussion thread #12
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDNOfgJSkhE Excerpt from The Double Dutch Divas!, published by Nicole Franklin, Sep 4, 2013
-snip-
Here's the publisher's statement about this video:
"Filmmaker Nicole Franklin and the classic documentary, "The Double Dutch Divas!"
For purchase of this award-winning 39 min. film on these wonderful women, contact Filmakers Library at www.Filmakers.com, an imprint of Alexander Street Press."
1. angela aiello, 2018
"i remember growing up in queens back in the 70's and i have
never double dutched like these gals.
watching this has made my day!"
-snip-
"Queens" is a borough in New York City.
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Discussion thread #13
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6FqfU13fN8 These Triplets Are Double Dutch Champs!,
published by The Real Daytime, Sep 29, 2014
1. Owatta Lady777, 2014
"I remember when we used to double dutch after school, the
whole block would be watching us. Especially my bff, Deborah May. Talk about
flips and dips and tricks....she slade anyone that came up against her. Even
her entry was SICK! Put on LL Cool J, Rock the bells and it was on!!! Yeah, I'm
an 80's kid/ 70's baby....a time when we still knew how to have fun outside,
well at least until the street lights came on."
-snip-
Notice the reference to jumping Double Dutch to recorded music. I've come across those references about jumping street Double Dutch to certain R&B records in a few other online comments.
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ADDENDUM - ARTICLE EXCERPT ABOUT THE HISTORY OF DUBLE DUTCH
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1987-06-12-8702130338-story.html Double-Dutch Jumpers Know The Ropes by Nancy Maes Chicago Tribune, Jun 12, 1987
"Learning how to move into the ropes without getting tangled up in them is part of the skill involved. But it is just as important to perfect the technique of turning. In double dutch, the hands and wrists do the turning and the arms stay as still as possible. The two rope turners hold a rope in each hand and turn them inward in circles, the left hand turning clockwise, the right hand counterclockwise.
''You have to turn them with a very even rhythm at a steady pace so you get an eggbeater effect,'' Teamer says, ''and the rope must touch the floor so you hear it clacking when you jump.'' When Teamer learned, she says, ''friends helped you turn by standing behind you and holding your hands and turning with you.''
But for a while double dutch disappeared from the city streets. ''It kind of died out in the `50s,'' Frazier says. ''Kids started doing other things and jumping rope was not popular.''
The first time double-dutch rope jumping was seen in the U.S. was some 300 years ago. The name itself reveals its origins. Children of Dutch settlers in New Amsterdam--today known as New York City--jumped with two ropes. When the English children saw them, they named the game ''double dutch.''
Although double dutch almost disappeared after the `50s, here and there, now and then, a few girls still gathered to pound the sidewalk with their rhythmic jumping to the clack of the rope on the cement to see how long or how fast they could jump.
In 1973, two New York City community affairs police officers came across just such a group of girls. It was a folk tradition formed in the streets with idiosyncracies and chants and challenges that varied with the creative inspiration of the neighborhood or the city where you lived. The two officers decided to organize the game. They developed a standard set of rules and created the American Double Dutch League...
In 1981, the Girl Scouts published their own book, ''Double Dutch--Double Fun Rulebook,'' which tells about the weight and length of the rope to be used for competition, exercises for warming up and cooling down and regulations for the speed test. The compulsory tricks test requires jumpers to do criss-cross jumps (crossing one foot in front of the other) and highstep jumps (raising the knee up to the waist), and the freestyle test lets team members perform a routine of tricks they`ve created themselves.
[…]
The turners are strong enough to turn ropes that are long enough for two or three girls to jump at the same time. They know how to turn the ropes outward in what is called double irish and one girl can hold the two ropes in just one hand and turn them.
There is no limit to what can be done in the routines they create. ''In competition in New York, I`ve seen them do hand stands and dance routines with top hats and canes,'' Frazier says."...
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