Old Fashioned Terms of Sledding!

Belly Whopper, Belly Flopper, Belly Bumper, Belly Gutter...

Sally Ann just loved sledding, which was sometimes called coasting!

The 1903 magazine "Outing, The Illustrated Magazine of Sport Travel Adventure and Country Life" described of some of the different terms for Sally Ann's favorite style of sledding, which she called the "belly whopper". The magazine says: "Style two may be described as throwing the body prone upon the sled, with arms extended to the points. While this method was popular in all sections, hardly any two localities could agree on the names applied to it. Thus, in New England the terms used were "belly-bumper" and "belly-bunt," with an occasional "belly-gut;" Connecticut added "belly-flopper," and little old Nantucket tried to individualize itself by calling it "belly-flouncer." Eastern New York and vicinity allowed "belly-gut," but "belly-gutters" and "belly-whopper" were the favorites, and what little coasting was done in Washington, D.C., in this style was "belly-buster." Western New York advocated "belly-whack" Ohio and Indiana were divided on "belly-bumper" and belly-buster"; and "belly-smack" was heard in Pennsylvania, with "belly-guts" and "belly-whopper."

Here is a link to:
More of Sally Ann's Memories of Sledding as a Little Girl

Tasha Tudor illustrated children coasting down hill in "Around the Year" and in "First Delights, A Book About the Five Senses" Tasha Tudor illustrated the little girl Sally with her sled with the beautiful mountains in the background.

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