My hubby and I first lived in a new subdivision of mostly young people our age. Everyone knew everyone else and their children. It was safe then to turn the kids loose to play outside under watchful eyes from parents up and down the street.
Halloween night, from twilight to about 8 or 8:30, saw a stream of little kids from surrounding homes scurrying to one house, then another, in the age-old quest for candy, candy, candy. In simple getups, clowns, tramps, princesses and ghosts came running to our door. They carried plain old paper bags. No expensive, fancy costumes and elaborate, glowing plastic pumpkins back then.
After handing out treats, we could hear a faint, “Say thank you” from the sidewalk. A few little ones new to this fabulous idea of sugar in abundance would pause to peek inside their bags to see what they got. Experienced five year olds barely paused, knowing the faster they went, the more candy they would have at the end of their run.
By about 9 p.m., a few sugar-deprived teenagers and kids brought over in cars from other areas started coming. We turned out the lights, but kept the candy bowl handy.
One year there was a banging on the door and G. leaped up ready to throw candy (and I suspect a few choice words) out the door. There stood two of the saddest characters we had ever seen. The "daughter," who stood over six-feet tall, had a really bad hairdo, what appeared to be a missing front tooth, a tacky dress, and a very pregnant-looking belly.
The shorter "father," dressed in overalls (no shirt), had an obviously fake grey beard and a shotgun. Yikes! It was the most ridiculous our neighbors (both guys) had ever looked and just as the "father" was ready to haul off G. for soiling his daughter, we started laughing so hard we couldn't even talk.
They started to laugh, the pillow-baby fell out of Don's dress and porch lights went on in the houses around us. Neighbors came out to see what all the noise was about and soon we had a front yard party going. What a Halloween that was.
Now all the kids in my present neighborhood have grown and gone and those with children of their own trick-or-treat at parties, church events, or the malls.
Expensive store-bought costumes have replaced clever home-made getups. Little children – at least in my area – no longer whoop and shout “twick or tweat” at the door for candy, candy, candy.
I still buy miniature chocolate bars, though, just in case.
Sigh.
Now what in the world will I do with all this candy? Oh, silly me … never mind.
Happy Halloween!
P.S. – What’s your best Halloween memory?
© Copyright 2007 Suzzwords
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This year we took all that candy to Duck's nursing home, and hoards of staff kids descended on the rooms in all sorts of costumes. Perhaps the smiles on the faces of the older folks were the best part of the day.
ReplyDeleteMy most memorable was my first Haloween at F Street School, and the costume mother let me wear was a treasured bit of Mexican felt that itched terribly and left me sneezing for the next five hours. :)
I'll have to really think about my favorite Halloween memory Suzz...there are a few. But....I LOVE this post.....wonderful.
ReplyDeleteBest memory -- Hub and I are not dancers. And if we went to a dance, we would usually sit it out. But one year we dressed up as Raggedy Anne and Andy with painted stockings covering our faces. We went to a Halloween Dance and with the confidence anonyminity can give we danced with carefree abandon. We had so much fun and I couldn't believe it when we walked away with the "Best Dancers Award!" Been dancing with wild abandon ever since in bright lights, on lonely dance floors, to fast music...etc
ReplyDeleteThis brought back a lot of memories, both of trick or treating as a kid, my own kids getting ready to head out, and the wonderful time I had last year in Boston with my grandchildren. Even with the fancy costumes, it's the same gig: CANDY!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Halloween memory was in 2003, my first year in Russia. I went all out on PR, fanning the flames for weeks in advance to get everyone in the mood. I was working at a language school at the time, so we gave a little workshop for the students studying English and tried our best to help them understand the true, gory, fun spirit of the day.
ReplyDeleteCheck it out (I would caution that some of what follows in the links below contains vulgar language and a couple of ill-advised photos, and may not be suitable for the faint of heart):
The invite: http://eirrann.blogspot.com/2003/10/youre-invited.html
The pre-party update (contains vulgar language): http://eirrann.blogspot.com/2003/10/happy-friggin-halloween.html
The aftermath:
http://eirrann.blogspot.com/2003/11/halloween-aftermath.html
The pictures (not PG 13 - some bad taste and one fairly see-through top might get in the way of more modest sensibilities):
http://eirrann.blogspot.com/2003/11/halloween-party-pictures-finally.html
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v79/eirrann/Intercontact%20Halloween%20Party/?start=all
In case you read this far, looked at the photos and didn't get it, I was the bearded dead hooker :)
It was an absolute blast, and a part of me is sad to think that I'll not likely have such a great Halloween again.