MEMOIR: CEDAR AVENUE CUP FIGHTS

 

During the 1950’s and early 1960’s soda was dispensed on the Wildwood boardwalk in waxed paper cups. The regular size cup had an exterior of light marine blue dotted with tiny white snowflakes. It held about eight ounces of fluid and chopped ice. The larger cup, called a Humdinger, was approximately twice as large. The exterior of the Humdinger was colored hot red and included a design of white swirls.

 

Once used, these cups were naturally discarded. They were just another object in the waste stream. That is until a group of Cedar Avenue based pre-teens decided to turn them into missiles. A cup, filled partially with sand and with the top carefully folded, became a pimple ball sized object that could be hurled. It wasn’t long before it was realized that the cups could be hurled at each other. Thus, the game of Cup Fight was born.

 

Being struck by a cup was not pleasant. Thrown by a boy of that age, its impact was roughly equivalent to a moderately aggressive punch. Cup Fights were not for the timid. But the thrill and combative nature of Cup Fights had an irresistible pull on adventurous boys. The fights became a regular beach activity whenever we had a quorum.

 

At that time there was a large complex between Cedar and Oak Avenues on the ocean side of the boardwalk. The complex contained the Starlight Ballroom, several eateries and shops(1), and an extension of the Cedar Avenue boardwalk that ran parallel to Marine Pier. The extension ended in a large picnic table area that was served by a huge Beach Grill(2). Access to the beach from the eating area was through a set of side steps that faced north and a long ocean facing ramp that descended to a few steps above the beach. At the base of the steps was a walkway of assembled planks that lay directly on the ground. The planks protected beachgoer’s feet from the hot sand.

 

Before 1962, the sand under the complex rose close to the underside of the boardwalk. It was a great, and spooky, and probably somewhat dangerous place for kids to explore. But the space under the picnic table area was relatively clear, and it is here that most of the cup fights occurred.

 

The fights involved forts. Driftwood, small sections of reinforced cement sheets, and other discarded construction materials were harvested from the beach and from under Marine Pier to build two one-walled forts: a north fort and a south fort. The walls of the forts were positioned directly opposite one another and were located a throwing distance apart. The walls were wide enough and high enough to shield several knelling combatants on each side. The forts were built integral to the piers of the boardwalk.

 

Early on, it was decided that the Humdinger could not be thrown at an opponent. Instead, the Humdingers were reserved for battering the opponent’s fort. Our weaponry also included smoke screen bombs. These were individual pages of the Philadelphia Inquirer that were used to hold a couple of handfuls of sand. When twisted closed and thrown properly, a smoke screen bomb could be made to stick to a beam of the boardwalk and then rain down its contents.

 

The core group of boys that participated in the fights were from the Aldine Apartments(3). This included John, Tommy, the brothers Dick, Geary and Steven, my brother Gary, and myself. Billy lived in an adjacent boarding house owned by his grandmother. Nicky, Petey, and others also participated. We tried to recruit anyone of our age who was spending some vacation time in the Aldine. Fights generally weren’t conducted unless there were at least six participants. Sometimes my cousin JoAnne and her friend Michele would participate, but only as “nurses”.

 

All the boys were physically fit and vigorous. In addition, John was aggressive, Tommy was a Marine want-to-be, Billy was hot-headed, and Gary was tenacious. Dick was muscular but somewhat clumsy. Geary and Steven were excellent athletes. Of all of us, I was the most fair-minded and level-headed. It was my job to make sure that the cup fights stayed controlled and that all had fun.

 

When taking cover behind the walls of a fort, the cups were thrown from a knelling position. This took some of the power out of the throw. When we were standing, the cups were thrown like baseballs. Some of us, like John, would fold the top of our cups such that they trailed a stream of sand when thrown. A properly thrown humdinger required a full stance.

 

The fights were generally drawn-out affairs with everyone being cautious about exposing themselves. This would continue until some advantage was achieved and one or two hits were made. It only took a couple of hits to bring a fight to an end. Like the conflicts between the Plains Indians, the fight was all about the “coup” and not about the destruction of the other side.

 

The end of a fight could involve some degree of hurt, and at times anger. This is when my duty came into play as I tried to talk the injured through their momentary pain.

 

In addition to the forts under the boardwalk, we once built a foxhole in the open beach. We walled the rim of the foxhole with driftwood and small pieces of cement sheets. The foxhole turned out to be a terrible idea; it was essentially a death trap as the attackers could threaten the occupants from multiple directions. John was in the foxhole when one of the walls caved and hit him in the head. He got mad enough for us to never use the foxhole again.

 

There is only one battle whose details I remember clearly. I believe it was Billy who had several friends visiting the shore.  Three of those friends plus John, Gary and myself formed one team. (When guys were new to Cup Fights, I always tried to include them on my team. Doing so made it easier for me to control any hostile reactions to being hit.) This was a strong team, but it was opposed by eight guys on the other side, plus the two nurses. This was by far the largest number of kids that ever participated in any fight.

 

We defended the southern fort. It was somewhat higher than the northern fort which gave it a slight advantage. But at the rear of the northern fort there were those steps that lead up to the Beach Grill. At any time that team could send runners up to the boardwalk to re-fill their supply of cups.

 

After the fight was underway, Billy’s friends left us to circle behind the northern fort. The Beach Grill had a large sand-to-boardwalk enclosure underneath it that served as a storage area. These boys proposed circling around the storage area to open a line of attack from a different direction. I remember being suspicious, but unable to change their plan. As feared, after circling, Billy’s friends joined our opponents. At that point John sat aside. It wasn’t that he was fearful, it was that these circumstances, and a possible massacre, offended his sense of fairness. Two or three cups were thrown in John’s direction, but that stopped when John threatened to deal with anyone that hit him.

 

As for my brother and myself, it was glory time, as several things happened at once that gave us a tactical advantage. Our opponents did not rush us but rather stayed in place and quickly diminished their supply of cups. Then, without thinking, they sent runners up on the boardwalk to gather more cups, while the deserters decided they were going to return around the enclosure to out flank us. This left a manageable number of defenders in the northern fort with little to no ammo. Without hesitation I gathered all of the cups that I could and charged. I threw cups as fast as I could, dove in front of the northern wall and started heaving handfuls of sand straight into the air. My purpose with the sand was to discourage anyone from throwing cups at me from above. But as luck had it the “nurses” were on the other side of wall. As sand poured on them, they broke and ran. I grabbed more cups from the front of the northern fort and jumped a low part of the wall. Using the girls as a moving shield I ran and threw cups wildly in all directions. Meanwhile, as I knew he would, my brother followed my lead. It was he who shielded me as a lay vulnerable on the sand after the initial charge. And John certainly was not going to sit-out this development. As I used-up my cups I ran past the steps that lead to the boardwalk and turned. The northern fort was completely overrun and abandoned. Gary was busy chasing some of our opponents, there appeared to be confusion as to who was on who’s side, and John was throwing cups at targets on the boardwalk. This did not bode well. I continued running and turned towards the ocean and ran to our beach blankets. In short order, John and Gary joined me. We were flush with excitement. It was that one-of-a-kind total victory that would be savored. Through the whole melee, not one cup hit me, and John and Gary probably weren’t hit either.

 

Afterwards there was some talk about how a cup landed on and fouled a grill. There was also the chaos that was unleashed in the middle of the picnic table area. It would not have been wise for us to return to that part of the boardwalk for some time.

 

As it turned-out, after that day, we never had another Cup Fight. In subsequent summers our interests turned to beach football and other athletic pursuits. Cup fighting had its heyday, and with approaching maturity we had moved-on.

 

In my many visits to the shore I have never witnessed another group of kids that discovered how to make a discarded cup into a missile. The Cup Fight experience may have been unique to that time and place. Thus, I feel it is important to create this record of a game that was created and developed during the golden days of the Cedar Avenue beach.

 

(1)      One of the shops specialized in a distinctive ice cream cone. The ice cream consisted of a stripped rectangular slab with a section each for vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. This rectangle was fitted into a special cone with a rectangular top. The ice cream was then dipped into melted chocolate and sprinkled with crushed nuts. This treat had a special name, but I do not remember it.

 

(2)      Our gang did not eat at this grill. Instead, we favored “Art’s” which was located on the main part of the Cedar Avenue boardwalk. Art Schaffer provided all of the usual fixings for a hot dog, but unique to his stand, he also offered sauerkraut.

 

(3)      The Aldine Apartments was a four-story structure located on the northwest corner of Cedar and Pacific Avenues. The ground floor had several shops on Pacific Avenue including Green’s Liquor Store and the Aldine Shoe Shop. The Aldine was located one block from the train station and one block from the Cedar Avenue portion of the boardwalk. Ed Gavin remembers: “In the early 1950’s a two-bedroom apartment at the Aldine rented for $375. The owners, Sam and Elsie Gorelick, were dedicated to providing a reasonable place for working-class people to bring their kids to the seashore. The rental prices remained basically the same until the summer of 1969, after which “urban renewal” tore down the entire neighborhood.”

 

                                                                                       Principial Author           David John Barrett

                                                                                                                             Malvern, PA

 

                                                                                       Contributing Author      John Gavin

                                                                                                                             Philadelphia, PA

 

 

 

THE GAVIN BROTHERS ON CEDAR AVENUE BEACH

CIRCA 1954

 

This photograph shows from left to right: Bob, Bill and Ed Gavin. John sits below Bill. In the distance, Marine Pier is barely seen on the left, and the massive Starlight Ballroom is on the right. Bill’s head blocks a view of the Cedar Avenue Beach Grill. It will be a couple of years before John develops into a Beach Warrior.