Stormy weather this morning with lots of wind and rain. It's definitely a good start for the month. I'm sure it made for a disappointing evening for the young trick or treaters', but do they even do that anymore? Aren't they managed, directed, supervised and guided to carefully orchestrated Halloween events?
Oh, oh! It's time for a 'memory'. Back in my day… Halloween started early and finished up late. First; there a great deal of conversation between friends as to how you would costume yourselves that night. Brainstorming. Then it was time to ask your mother for help. She had to find the pillow case you would use for your loot and she had to come up with the finished costume after you had given her the creative outline for it. 'I want to be a pirate!'. And no, you didn't go to the store for a pirate costume. Pity the poor child that was found in a store bought costume!
We started as soon as it was twilight; about 5. We might or we might not return home for dinner at 6. In fact, most times we only returned home to unload our bags of candy and go out again. And I remember that the streets were filled with children of all ages. Toddlers had parental escorts, but those were the only parents we saw. And whenever we came across some friends, we would stop and discuss the best strategy for filling our sacks and warn each other of which houses to avoid. Houses where you received an apple. Who wants an apple? Candy was the name of the game!
It was usually all over by 9 PM. And since bedtime in those days was 8:30, it certainly felt like a holiday! Then we would sit on the floor in our bedrooms and carefully count and arrange the candy. By type and size. Apples and oranges were set aside to be given to our parents to eat. Loose candy, such as Candy Corn, was eaten immediately. Then the whole stash was carefully packed and hidden away. Parents and siblings were known thieves and no one could be trusted.
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ReplyDeleteWe had a great night. Dinner at a friends with friends - seven kids in all. We then hit the neighborhood - the skys were partially clear. It was super!
ReplyDeleteThe 'Friendly Skies'?
ReplyDeleteI can remember the house that set up the cotton candy machine was a big hit. Yes, store bought costumes were very distasteful and was to be avoided at all costs. Creative costumes were the hits. Maybe a mask was purchased if necessary, but it was hard to see if you wore them, so we didn't. No one worried whether each piece of candy was wrapped. Heavens! the wax lips, mustache,teeth and tongue were never wrapped.How did we ever survive?
ReplyDeleteThat's right! I almost forgot that masks were fun for about 5 minutes, then you ran into your first obstacle with one on and they were put away until next year.
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