Hold the Wire!

Another thing we did along with mud tacks was 'hold the wire'. This was much more daring, since the main characters were in plain view.

Two of us would stand on opposite sides of the street. Just as a car approached, the two would pantomime tugging on an invisible rope between them, while the rest of us would chant "Hold the wire! Hold the wire!". If everything worked just right, the car would screech to a stop to avoid yanking the arms off two dumb kids and dragging them under the car.

Of course, everyone would run off into the dark, scoot around houses and fences and rendezvous in Uncle Bud's back yard to exchange the 50's version of 'high fives' (which hadn't been invented yet.)

Usually, though, the car would only slow down a little, until it was clear there was no "wire".

Now and then, the car would actually speed up as it approached!!