Two balls and a wall

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“Two balls and a wall” is a children's game, almost exclusively played by girls. You stand next to a wall throwing the ball at the ground so that it then bounces off the wall, then back towards you. Once the first ball is in the air you launch a second ball, catching and throwing in rotation. You then perform a sequence of stances, while the balls continue in flight. If, during one stance, you drop the ball, you must go back to the first stance and start again.

For example:- 1. Stand with you left shoulder towards the wall and raise your left leg. Bounce the ball under the raised leg. The pair of balls must both go through 3 or six times. 2. Same as first position, but with the right leg raised. 3. Same as first position but with you right shoulder towards the wall. 4. Same as second position but with right shoulder towards the wall. 5. Face the wall with your feet far apart. Reach back then bounce the ball down between your legs, towards the ground, bouncing up towards the wall.

The game is mentioned in a book by James Kirkup (b 1918), “The Only Child” (1957). There were songs sung along with the game. The words most closely associated with it are “One Two Three O’Leary”, which was adapted into a pop song by Des O’Connor.

The game can hardly be earlier than the invention of the cheap tennis ball. In Britain at least, it cannot be earlier than 1921, when a company called Avon started to mass produce them. It is not well documented, but is common in the UK from the early 1950s. It does not appears to have a widely accepted name. The name “sixes” is used to indicate that each stance had to be performed six times. The name “ten” is used to indicate that the first (easy) stance had to be performed ten times, the next one nine times, till the most difficult stance was done. It appears to have died out in the late eighties. The game was also known in Sweden.