In my youth (late 60s, early 70s) there was frequent talk of “rumbles” being planned and my friends and I were confident that at some point we would be in one. Never happened.
Did you ever participate (or witness first hand) a rumble? Did they happen with any frequency? Do they happen now? (Do you currently or did you ever own a switch blade?)
I would practice my menacing crouch, flipping the blade from hand to hand, like in West Side Story. Never got to use it. Oh, wasted youth!
No, we just settled disputes by playing chicken up on Dead Man’s Curve.
I’ve seen a couple of street fights; “rumble” makes it sound like a classy gang fight or a Jackie Chan movie but I think most of these fights are basically people windmilling at each other until all parties end up roilling around on the ground, or a bunch of guys jumping on some poor slob. I’ve personally avoided such conflicts outside of a grade school playground, and while I’d like to credit personal perspicuity it was mostly just trying to avoid hanging around with people who start fights over nothing.
I’ve never seen a Road House-style bar fight but I’ve known someone who would get into those kind of scraps regularly, and he’s about as much of a general fuckup as you’d expect.
Stranger
When I was a senior in high school (1969), a rumble broke out between our fans and the other team’s fans after a football game. The cops broke it up pretty quickly, but some of the youts came out of it with a face full of pepper spray. We still remember it fondly at alumni reunions
I should mention that this was two Catholic high schools, with a socio-economic makeup somewhat higher than the Sharks and the Jets.
ETA: Yes, I actually DO own a switchblade knife. I bought it as a souvenir, have never carried it outside the house, and have never used it for anything more violent than stripping insulation off wires.
No to the street fight/rumble but yes to classic bar fights - 3 in my entire life, and caused because a half drunk jackass wouldn’t take no for an answer - I really dislike being hit upon in bars, and I will defend myself.
I’m a few years younger than you, but that exactly describes my experience surrounding “rumbles,” having grown up on the “mean streets” of a middle-class neighborhood in suburban Green Bay. There was, frankly, no such thing as street violence there, in that era.
Once, when I was teen, a group of us were offered the opportunity to have a late night rumble. At least that is what we assumed when a car disgorged a bunch of angry drunks that began to run towards us. We declined the invitation by sprinting away through the dark suburban gardens.
I own a couple of switchblades. What a great feeling to open one! I went to high school in Amherst, Ohio. A rumble would probably have been over Cadillac vs Mercedes owners.
In 1958 Link Wray came out with the sing, “Rumble”, a favorite of mine. It was banned in some areas because town councils felt us teenagers couldn’t resist the blood lust of the music. Here it is, make up your own mind: By the way, Link is credited with coming up with the power chord!
i saw a few fights in the infamous shared parking lot between Zubies (urban cowboys) and the Cuckoo’s Nest (punks) as a teen. The cops always arrived before it approached anything like a rumble. It was usually one group picking out just one guy from the other and stomping him. For most of us, loyalty to our clique didn’t extend to risking life or limb.
I was attacked by three scrawny youths trying to mug me in Honduras, and managed to fight them off. Not sure if that qualifies.
A few years ago on the 4th of July I found myself involved in a brawl at the grocery store I work at when the store manager and our security guys attempted to stop two men from pushing a cart full of groceries out the door and they decided to throw hands. I was nearby attending to unrelated business when I suddenly heard a commotion and saw my store manager on top of one of the guys raining down haymakers on him, so I ran to assist. I took a few punches while holding one of the guys to stop him from running away until one of the security guys could grab him from behind and handcuff him.
Not personally involved, but a few years ago I was playing with a band in a bar in Florida and a fight erupted in the audience. Looked much as it is shown in fiction: probably about 10 people involved, punches being thrown everywhere. Police called of course, and at least a couple of people carried out unconscious.
No idea what it was about, but you could sort of feel the tension beginning for about an hour beforehand.
Naturally we in the band got out of the way as quickly as possible.
When things had quieted down & we started to play again, we thought of beginning with “Saturday night’s alright for fighting” but decided it would be in rather poor taste. No switchblades involved as far as I know, never owned one myself.
Is a drive-by shooting considered a form of “Rumble”? If so, the answer is yes. If you’re thinking of a “Rumble” as being something like the music video, “Beat It”, then no.
Yes, I actually own a switchblade that my brother gifted to me. It’s design allows one to carry a lethally large knife in a small area of one’s purse because the blade safely retracts into the handle.
Narrowly avoided a couple of brawls in Navy bars. Nothing like drunken assholes to start shit up. Tables knocked over, chairs flying. Me? Running for the door.
Two times I’ve been in bars when one person was misbehaving and a group of regulars joined together to grab the person, rough them up a bit, and throw them out the door.
ProTip: the left hand/arm is a good thing to grab.
Something like that. Not sure if it had been planned but apparently a few members of rival groups encountered each other in this area pretty late one night circa '93. I know one guy got a glass bottle upside the head and declined to press charges.
One group took off in an pretty distinctive blue Bandit-style Trans Am.* I still remember the tag number, which I reported to the police.
Haven’t been in one, but saw one when my friends Tom, Xavier and I were putting up flyers downtown for a play based on Hunter S. Thompson. We saw a big brawl happening down the street, but it lasted only a minute before they scattered. Tom tried to recruit them to come to the play.
My idea of a rumble is more in the “Beat It” and "West Side Story’ vein. Rather than a spontaneous melee, a rumble would be a planned fight between two groups of people. (Which, I suspect, has been an infrequent occurrence.)
OP
It was not an uncommon occurrence in the neighborhood where I grew up. I participated in more than a few.
For the switchblade references. I still have the one that I took from a kid that tried to stab me with it when we were in elementary school. I was quicker and smacked him in the head with a half brick.
