Trick or Treating Past and Now

Halloween was always my favorite holiday. You'll see why the past tense when you get to the end of the blog. As a kid, I was the last one to come in from trick-or-treating. Once I learned where the homemade cookies, popcorn balls and candy apples were being handed out, I was off like a streak. I didn't have to be with anyone else--my goal was to gather up as much good stuff as possible. For those who don't know, I was a kid during World War II and sugar was rationed. Treats were hard to come by--trick-or-treat was the opportunity to stock up.

The closest I ever ran into trouble was about five blocks from home and it was about 9 p.m. When I knocked on the door a man came out with a shotgun aimed right at me. He said, "Do you know what I do to trick-or-treaters?" My "No sir," was squeaky and I was sure I'd soon be dead. He said, "I give them candy." He dumped a whole bunch into my sack.

When my kids were young every costume they had was homemade. I can't remember them all. When my first one was a baby, she was dressed in white and I said she was the little cloud who cried--she did because all the scary costumes scared her. That didn't stop me from collecting the treats though.

One of my sons suffered being dressed like a girl when he was six. We created a bookworm costume once. The girls were good at putting on lots of bright skirts and raiding my jewelry box to become gypsies or princesses. Through the year I collected bits and pieces that could be turned into costumes. Half my hall closet was crammed with various costumes we concocted.

For those coming to our house trick-or-treating, we often thought up some scary way to hand out candy. One time they had to put their hand in a box to get the candy which was handed out by a very grizzly hand.

When the kids came home with their loot, we wouldn't let them eat it until we checked everything for problems like hidden pins or razor blades--and we ate one or two of the best treats.

We had lots of Halloween parties too over the years for kids and grown ups. For the kids we usually had a darkened haunted house to go through, and grizzly things to touch, like cooked, cold spaghetti that we called guts. Hubby would rattle chains outside the window and wear a scary mask. The grownups tried to outdo one another with their costumes.

Now we live where all the houses are far apart and ours is down at the end of a very dark and long lane. No one comes to our house trick-or-treating. When we first moved here we had twin girls who lived next door and they were the only ones brave enough to come knocking on our door at night to say, "Trick or Treat."

We have a granddaughter and her husband who decorate their front lawn every year with the spookiest stuff imaginable. Tombstones, coffins with lids that open, ghosts fluttering in the breeze. They live in a neighborhood full of kids--everyone looks forward to seeing what he'll come up with every year.

Celebrating Halloween for us will be limited to watching scary movies on our TV. It's okay, I have great memories of past Halloweens.

Celebrate Halloween with the Stiletto Gang this year by going on the scavenger hunt to follow the clues and maybe win some prizes.

Marilyn