Made from the rejected inner core of a tennis ball in 1949, the original Spalding High-Bounce ball sparked the imaginations of dozens of playful inner city kids. For urban kids, the ball gave them a way to play outdoors without a grassy field. These kids would hit the streets for inventive games like hit-the-penny, box ball, and most famously, stickball. Designed after baseball, stickball was a neighborhood delight, with players substituting Spalding High-Bounce balls for baseballs, broomsticks for bats and manholes and fire hydrants for bases. The ball was originally called "spaldeen" by New Yorkers with thick accents who pronounced Spalding as (spal-deen).

With any luck, the Spalding High-Bounce ball will bring today's video and computer game-loving kids back to a time of such innovative outdoor fun.