Back in the Day…
Ahh, my favorite expression utilized to elicit eye rolls from my twin teens, prompting me to delve deeper into stories of my youth…
But it’s true, trick or treating has changed over the years. Probably for the better, yet I still feel all warm & fuzzy when I reminisce and ponder how children survived to become parents today.
Because you see, Halloween wasn’t the same…compared to today, back in the day, what we used to do might be considered…
HARD-CORE HALLOWEEN-IN’ 
- Plastic masks- scratchy, cracking, couldn’t see, barely breathe and you’re sweating like a m—
- Mummy costumes, ghosts and home-made ho-bo’s using your mom’s babushka she used to cover her rollers with when she went to the store. Just tie that kerchief to a stick! None of these store bought costumes prompting most women to look like a wh—
- Who heard of flame retardant costumes back then? Heck most jack-o-lanterns had a real candle barely providing enough light to find the door at the creepy old house down the street that you dared your friends to knock on. Back then parents didn’t limit the houses you were allowed to go to, not worrying about the mo—
- Monster movies of the ‘people kind’ were just coming out. No more Godzilla, Swamp Thing or The Blob. Instead Jason, Freddie, Michael Meyers filled the nightmares of our youth, terrorizing us. All contributing to why parents today are afraid to let their kids trick or treat at night because of Fr—
- Freakishly dark streets with barely a flashlight to lead the way. The only glow sticks were the unfortunate fire flies/lightening bugs the sadistic kids would cr—
- Cram as much candy as you could into your pillowcase. No plastic pumpkins for us, we were in it for the long haul. Even without the healthy eating guidelines candy really was a treat when half the houses gave out homemade popcorn bags, raisins and apples that could potentially conceal a r—
- Running to the house first that supplied the full size candy bars. You knew who they were and you weren’t missing that house no matter how f—
- Freezing with your threadbare plastic costume on a cold October night. Ain’t no way you’re covering up that ghost-sheet-costume while your Dad chases down the kids ‘corning’ your house as they flee for the b—
- Bobbing for apples. Who wouldn’t want to horrify child welfare by binding kid’s hands and having them dunk or drown in a cesspool of water for a water-logged apple. Who needs a flu shot? Parents must’ve been in—
….In love with the spirit of Halloween…or on a sugar-high from eating too much of their kids candy. No taking your candy for an X-Ray, instead your candy withstood the Mom Inspection. Tasting your chocolate…you know, just to make sure it’s safe to eat.
Tell me one of your old school Halloween memories in the comments for a chance to win a $5.00 Amazon gift card.
(Don’t forget to leave your email so I can give it to Chucky, err- contact you if you win)
She’s a witch hunting a spell. He’s hunting witches and falling for her.
Carman has worn out more towns and last names than impractical shoes protecting the secret of her magic blood. But when a friend goes missing, and another is infected with a deadly spell, Carman must choose. Expose her magic blood by curing the spell—or stop the infection from spreading by killing the source…the grandmother.
Magic bounty hunter Dylan has scoured libraries of banned magic paraphernalia seeking a method to distinguish genuine witches from impersonators. He suspects unorthodox librarian Carman might hold this information tighter than the hair he’s dying to unleash from her bun. With a past as hidden as his sleeve of tattoos, Dylan discovers he’s been used to gain Carman’s trust and their passion risks more than mixing mortals and magic.
I’m going to have to go with the Cram it all into a pillowcase. There was nothing like slinging that heavy cotton over your shoulder, the weight of all that glorious candy almost knocking you over as it bumped across your back while you run through the neighborhood, trying to get to as many houses as you could before you had to be home. Ahhh, then dumping it on the floor, salivating at all that goodness, making sure your pile was bigger then your siblings. Waiting impatiently for the Mom check, then…let the trading begin!
lol-yes, I remember the glorious loot of a candy pile!
When I was a kid we had one elderly neighbor who always made popcorn balls at Halloween
Do you like popcorn balls, Debbie? Apparently some people do- my husband! It was a discovery I made after we were married. It worked out well as he gets most of the kids popcorn balls. 🙂 Although now when my girls get them, they are from a store.
I remember one year when my Dad dressed up as Alf and scared my little brothers to death. It was hilarious!
dragonfee64(at)hotmail(dot)com
lol! I remember Alf.
Me and my baby sister staying up past our bedtime to watch Psycho on television. Don’t tell Mom.
lol- I hope you were able to sleep that night after that, lol.
I remember those plastic masks with one elastic string that always broke. Lol! My mom said they were too expensive and she would just dress us up in whatever she could find at home. My daughter’s costume was $40.00 this year, my mom would kill me if she knew. It’s funny how things change. I still think we had the better costumes.( I know we had more fun planning them.) Thanks for the chance.
diannp (at)neo (dot)rr (dot)com
The costumes we throw together ourselves are always the best- I agree!
I still love carving pumpkins and seeing the little ones in their costumes!
pharmnut@yahoo.com
Halloween is such fun! I think it gives us a chance to be a kid again.
Our parents used to take us, drop us off in the neighborhood we wanted to trick or treat in, and turn us loose. They told us what time and where to meet them, and let us have fun, never having a thought that something bad could happen…and it didn’t. Of course I’m 53, so we’re talking back in the 70s.
kgholliday@yahoo.com
Kim, it’s a shame that there is so much to worry about now.
I remember one year an older couple who lived down the road was not going to be home so they left their light on with 2 huge bowls of candy and a note telling us to take 2 piece each. Which we did but you know that would never happen anymore.
valmiller8@gmail.com
Once in awhile our neighbor does this, but the bowl is empty pretty quick. Pretty such they aren’t following the ‘2 piece’ rule.
Your post is sooo clever. I loved it.
I always liked being a gypsy. Full, swinging skirt, lots of fake bling, real makeup that I wouldn’t be allowed to wear for years.
I noticed you used the term “babushka.” That’s what we called my Czech grandmother. I understand it was because older women in Russia and Slavic countries always wore scarves.
I think I’ve been a gypsy once or twice…probably for much of the same reasons–make up and bling! 🙂
We would go trick or treating around the neighborhood and then all the kids ended their night in our one neighbors barn, where all the neighbors got together with their kids to have a party with food and scary movies!
That sounds so fun!
I remember cramming the goodies into a big bag. I grew up in a small town, so we got the good stuff like tasty kakes (a regional snack which have a variety of little baked cakes), soda, the one house always handed out quarters and we always got to take more than one thing because there wasn’t alot of us kids! missykate09@gmail.com
Oh I loved the good stuff like soda- except it would squish the other good stuff like tasty cakes! 🙂
Halloween used to be a lot of fun…it’s so dangerous now days. IMHO the craziest of human society have stolen the fun right out of it, although kids still manage to have a good time. The schools and even my granddaughters dance studio make an entire week of fun, exciting things for them.
Great post.
Good luck and God’s blessings.
PamT
Pam- thanks for stopping by! So glad your granddaughters still get to enjoy the holiday safely!
I remember when me and my sister went to our first haunted house I laughed so hard I cried because my sister was so scared she peed her pants lol! I also remember one year a bigger kid stole my candy bag boo. bw2323bro@yahoo.com
I remember being the one crying at the haunted house. 🙂
I enjoyed your post. I totally remember those days. I remember one year I created a glorious and completely appropriate witch costume for my sister out of my mom’s nightgowns. My mom is 5’10” and my sister and I are both pretty short, even in adulthood, so you can imagine how long her nightgown was on my sister as a child. We had great fun. We actually had one neighbor who gave out money (change) when she ran out of candy, so we tended to save her for last. I horded my candy because I knew my sister would gobble hers up. I was always more of a fruit eater than a candy eater, so this worked out perfectly. When she ran out of candy, we would barter: my candy in exchange for her doing my chores, or she’d purchase the candy outright, or we’d come up with some other complicated exchange formula only two siblings could appreciate and understand. michelle_willms at yahoo dot com
The bartering with siblings was such fun- although I never thought to save candy to barter for chores, that’s a great idea! 🙂
I remember going through a haunted maze when I was little and it was very scary.
Thanks for the chance to win!
Happy Halloween!
I loved trick-or-treating as a kid.
unicorn_angel(@)hotmail(.)com
I remember starting trick or treating at dusk and not stopping until 10 or 11, I’d have bags and bags of candy, so much fun, nowadays kids are lucky if they get an hour and a half.
Morganlafey86(at)aol(dot)com
The pillowcase – no fancy store bought treat holder, just take the pillowcase out of the closet and you were good to go for the whole evening.
My favorite memory is the year I dressed up as Pippi Longstocking. I’m a Native American with dark brown hair, it was so funny seeing people try to figure out who I was!
nidabland@msn.com
I didn’t get to do much trick-or-treating as a kid. The few times that I did, I had to wait for my grandma to go through all the candy to inspect it. Love this contest! 🙂
Thank you so much for all of my visitors during the Hop! This has been such fun for me to hear about everyone’s old school, hard-core halloween memories!
Congratulations to Fee Roberts for winning the $5.00 Amazon gift card!
Happy Halloween! I hope you all got lots of treats and no tricks!