Musings on Halloween: Then and Now

My earliest memory of Halloween was when I was four and in kindergarten. The country had officially entered World War Two less than a year before, and almost every industry was transitioning to the war effort. Discretionary money became scarcer and so costumes were pretty simple. (Now it is true, that some Mothers were very creative and made elaborate

outfits but I was not in that category.) I was usually a gypsy, which meant wearing a kerchief tied behind my head, an old skirt from an adult which was temporarily hemmed to become ankle length on me, a bold colored top, lots of necklaces and big clip on earrings. I had a black eye mask purchased at the local five and dime store, and loved the idea of being a

gypsy. I attended a neighborhood school and kindergarteners and first grade children were allowed to bring their costumes to school and put them on after lunch. A few mothers came in to help with that transformation and there was a collection of costumes always available for those that did not have their own. Once we were ready, we went outside and lined up two by two and off we went, led by the principal, and walked around a few of the neighboring blocks. The people who were at home would step out onto their porches, waving and clapping as we proudly marched on. What fun! My hometown used to have an annual downtown parade for Halloween but those were suspended during the war years.

This was a great substitute especially for those of us at such a young age. In the evening, with a small paper bag in our hands, Dad would take us to a few neighbors homes, as well as to my paternal grandmother’s home, where we would ring the door bells, shout trick or treat and were given some inexpensive “penny candies”.

Fast forward to high school years. On, or near, Halloween, many of us students would go to our high school in the early evening where there would be a giant bon fire. The school admin. would hand out UNICEF marked collection canisters/cylinders, we were encouraged to travel in pairs and go into neighborhoods we lived in, to canvass donations. The band would play as we fanned out to fill those canisters. No one ever accosted us or tried to steal the money. We would return to the school by the appointed time, hand in our usually filled containers, and enjoy cider and donuts if there were still some available. We felt good about helping other children in the world.

Years later as parents we certainly carried on the tradition of costumes and trick or treating with our own children. But living in different cultures and usually not on a military base, our older children did not get the full benefits of Halloween. Once we became more permanent with our own home in a Northern Virginia community, we all had great memories of our

neighborhood with the scariest witch I had ever seen, yards turned into cemeteries with tombstones, spooky music playing outside, many adults dressing up to hand out candy, and the Dad’s who took the kids around were usually offered a can of beer at each household. (That’s another story, but let’s just say you could hear them return before you actually saw them!)

It wasn’t until the early 80’s when things began to change. There was a huge media campaign that warned parents of the sicko people who were placing razor blades into candy bars, putting powdered poison, cocaine or LSD onto unwrapped candies, poisoning the home-made caramel coated apples on a stick, accosting children who didn’t have an adult with them—each story was more horrifying than the previous one. Suddenly it wasn’t safe across the country to go trick or treating. Hospitals even offered to X-ray the candy. Parents were warned to hold the candy bags and not let children have any until after they got home. Once home, parents felt compelled to throw out all unwrapped goodies, to carefully inspect all the others before the children were able to indulge in any. As a result, house to house trick or treating trickled down to a small handful. Indoor malls, a few churches, and public recreation centers took the place of streets, with multiple activities, pumpkin carving, indoor costumed parades, and wrapped, miniature candies passed out at the stores. A few neighborhoods developed “car trunk” parties. As I write this, I am amazed

how millions of families were gripped with fear. It was a national paranoia! Today, I think that hysteria has died down a bit, and street trick and treating has returned with communities setting time limits and age of participants, as well as having the front porch light rule—if on, come ring the door bell, if off, don’t bother us. The only disturbing thing I am reading about today, the day after Halloween, is that older kids have been caught on the door cameras, in two local neighborhoods, carrying backpacks or what appears to be a pillowcase and dumping the entire supply of candy into them if people had left candy out “on the honor system.” This became a topic of many comments on the local email thread known as Next-door. Even more disturbing to me was that several blamed the people who left the candy out—not the perpetrators. This makes my octogenarian blood boil as apparently some feel that it wasn’t stealing, it was just making a poor choice due to their age. Some readers objected to the posting from the door cameras showing the kids in real time action and were insinuating that they were publicly shaming minors. It is so disheartening to read

comments like that. My heart goes out to the young parents today who are trying to teach their older children accountability, responsibility, and honor —I hope those chastising them are the minority.

On an upbeat final note, a great Halloween party was enjoyed by a record turnout of residents in the independent retirement where I live. So many came in costume—some created by hand, others purchased, but all just amazing. Our DJ was incredible as he was the Tin Man, straight out of The Wizard of Oz, literally from head to toe! Many showed great imagination with their costumes and there was a gamut of outfits that ranged from a beautiful hand-beaded Sioux Indian head-dress to several flappers and nearly everything in between! Add some great pizzas by our chef, along with an assortment of libations, music we knew, and lively conversations with lots of table hopping, and you have the ingredients for a fun party!

Hope you have happy memories of Halloweens past, had a happy one in the present year, and will have more in the future. It’s always good to return to the kid in each of us no matter what our age!