Did you ever play the car game "punch buggy" when you were younger? Perhaps you still do. The rules are simple. While on the road, the first to see a VW Bug, hollers "Punch Buggy" and is entitled to punch the loser on the shoulder. This is a lovely game for siblings who are just looking for a legal excuse to nail each other. Parents just have to set stern rules so it does not escalate into a back seat brawl. Good luck.
I see from the Super Bowl commercial that Volkswagen is bringing back the game. My first thought was that it wasn't a good idea but then realized it might keep the teen drivers actually watching the road for VWs instead of texting their passengers. Not a perfect situation but perhaps a slight improvement in driving safety.
Of course we only did it for VW bugs. Now Volkswagen wants you to do it for all 13 models. That may be a bit excessive and could cause permanent shoulder damage. I mean they even show Stevie Wonder doing it (that was a clever touch). I do suppose it might be tough on the parents when their kids continue flailing away at each other on a long trip though it should take their minds off
"Are we there yet?"
Before I moved to Arkansas, I had a saucy little red 74 Bug. Now, you may have gotten the impression from some of my posts that I am a total pacifist who hates violence in any form. Ninety nine point nine percent true, but very deep inside of me lurks a one tenth of a percent "mean girl." Now I would never be the hitter and certainly would not want to be the hittee, but I used to be actually tickled while driving my little Bug down the road to see someone being socked in the approaching car as they spotted my Bug. Guess I enjoyed being the instigator. He he he, giggle. Bad Patti.
Another car game we used to play in high school was "one eyed Jack." I am convinced that the rules were invented by teen age boys. Again, the rules were simple though I am not sure they weren't altered by my "current steady." At night, who ever spotted a car with one head light burned out, yelled out "one eyed Jack". If the guy spotted it first, the girl had to kiss the guy. If she spotted it first, the guy had to kiss her. See where I am going. The guys never lost. Someone let me know if I was duped and if the rules had been altered.
Did you ever play either of the above games in a car or maybe a different game all together? You would have to think back before DVD players and cell phones when people communicated.
1 year ago
We had a 1964 Volks bug, and back then I was not aware of the punch buggy game. My kids taught me about it much later.
ReplyDeleteBut the other one? We called it "Padiddle" for some reason, and yes, the boys always won - since they got kissed no matter what. Brilliant game, I think, and much preferable to the other one!! LOL
Re your comment: I doubt it, and I keep telling my daughter that.
LOL
I like the idea of the one-eyed jack game, but this is the first I've heard of it.
ReplyDeleteMy shoulder is still sore from the punch buggy game.
One-eyed jack??? Too funny. Definitely invented by males.
ReplyDeleteMy parents weren't fond of the punch bag game. It would escalate within a minute with us, so we got the evil eye from the rear view if we started.
I remember it as "padiddle," too. I had a 1973 VW bug that I loved--even though that was the year my daughter was born, and packing a baby and all into the back of a bug is a challenge of balance and pre-planning.
ReplyDeleteI will never forget my ride to the hospital in a VW, in a snow storm, while in labor, with my first child...at 1A.M. on Valentine's Day 45 years ago. I could not get comfortable!
ReplyDeleteMy grandkids taught me punch bug!
As an only child of late in life parents I never played games in the car. Besides, our mode of transportation was a pick-up truck. Since I sat in the middle between my parents, games were out. Today is the first I've heard of these games.
ReplyDeleteI can't recall ever hearing of either of these two games. But I led a very sheltered life. LOL In a very small rural town. They played chicken and did doughnuts, but that was about it.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of either of those games. I'm sort of glad, too. Owie regarding the first one.
ReplyDeleteThat "One eyed Jack" game sounds very funny! Great story, Patti.
ReplyDeleteI was introduced to "Punch Buggy" when I met Roger's two daughters for the first time in 1989. We had driven to pick them up for spring break (they were 11 and 7 years old), and they screamed punch buggy and hit each other all the way south for 350 miles! They also played something called, "I spy with my little eye..." but I can't remember what came next.
ReplyDeleteI haven't played any of these..We played Rock,Paper,Scissors!Very hard to explain. But of course, my brother didn't need games as an excuse to beat each other;-D
ReplyDeleteCute Patti!!!!!!
kenju,
ReplyDeleteYeah, another name for the game was "padiddle". Mick, my guy, preferred one-eyed jack.
Barry
Ouch, you guys played punch buggy really hard. That was when it was good to be a girl.
Suzanne,
Thanks so much for stopping by and comnenting. I can see where that game could get out of hand.
Olga,
VW bugs really made us plan ahead didn't they. I think they taught us organization.
Wanda,
Happy Birthday to your first born.
VW's were not comfortable to sit in normally. Can't imagine what it would have been like in labor.
Linda,
Don't feel badly. All you missed was a sore shoulder.
Now the kissing game was more fun.
Patty,
Oh, yeah, We also played chicken also and "flipped brodies" as we called donuts. Lucky we made it huh.
Amber Star,
You would have been OK on the first one. Girls didn't get hit hard. Just a tap usually.
Reader Wil,
It really was kind of fun. Strange what kids do to entertain themselves.
robin,
Oh no, 350 miles and California had tons of VW's. Think they still do. My parents liked "1,2,3 Quiet". Which ever kid stayed quiet the longest got a prize.
lostworld,
Brothers are like that, aren't they. Brothers liked the game for then it is legal to pound on eachother.
Funny we adults play games too, except for the driver. I prefer he/she keep her eyes on the never ending road.
ReplyDeleteA number of adults too a long car trip, we have played 'white horse' and identify the most number different license plates
Yep.....had one of those greenish-yellow or was it yellowish-green VW's....i think it was a '64....drove it all thru high school until the engine actually fell out......FL sand and saltwater will do that...!!Living 57 years in south FL prepared me for the snow storms of NC.....huh..??
ReplyDeleteStay safe and warm....LindaMay
Nitwit,
ReplyDeleteMy brother and his wife play the license plate game. Even with all their RVing, they have never gotten them all.
As kids we played "farm animal" and the one who spotted the biggest variety won. I prefer the games over DVD's.
one-eyed jack sounds rather familiar in my country too.. but not so sure of how it is played, lol.. memory is fading a bit now and then ..
ReplyDeleteMy kids played the VW game only called it Slug Bug.....and they also played Cadillac Wack.....same principle. Just a way to smack the tar out of each other. I hated it when I got the slug while I was driving. I put a no slug zone around myself!!!! Parental authority!
ReplyDeleteBlue Ridge Boomer
ReplyDeleteAbout the only way to kill a VW bug is by rust. They certainly are tough little beasts.
Snow storms with power outages and hurricanes require stocking up with batteries, non perishables and losing our creature comforts.
I lost power for 5 days last year and was glad for my Florida training. It was a piece of cake.
by being prepared.
reanaclair,
Welcome to TNS and thanks for stopping by. Got the feeling young gentlemen world wide have enjoyed that game.
oklhdan,
I have heard of Slug Bug also but Cadillac Wack is new to me. The rules are obvious. Sometimes, you just have to be the adult. Way to go with your "zone".
We never played those games in a car when I was a kid---we did other stuff....We would play word games and everyone played, including the driver...Yes, it was a car full of people who actually related to one another....lol!
ReplyDeleteSeriously....I think it was a better time. We would also play a game where you saw someone walking on the street and make up a one sentence story about who they were--That was a lot of fun....!
And we would play Musical Games, too....Sing the verse to a song and the other people would have to say or sing the chorus or the name of the song....That has changed drastically, too...There are no "verses" to songs any more....!
Ahhhhh 'The Good Old Days'.....I must say they do seem more relatable to me than all this texting....
Amen Naomi,
ReplyDeleteI just love your "one sentence stories". I still make up stories about people I see. One sentence would have been a great challenge.
My mother banned TV for she feared we would quit talking to eachother. We played a lot of games growing up. She would have hated texting
Patti,
ReplyDeleteI played both of your car games. Punch Bug of course just like you explained it. Also what you call One Eyed Jack we called Padiddle but the rules were the same.
Rose
rose,
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and commenting. Think Padiddle is the name of choice for the game. Our area called it one eyed jacks but either name got the boys what they wanted:)))