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I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, and we went trick or treating TWO nights, “Beggars Night,” October 30, and then actual Halloween on the 31st. We always went on night in my immediate neighborhood, where the houses were smaller and closer together (quantity) and the other in the “rich” area, where the houses were farther apart but chances were far greater to get the coveted Hershey Bar, which was the gold standard for Halloween candy in the 1960s.
A poster above mentioned getting November 1st off from school for All Saints’ Day. That always ticked us Protestants off big time.
My mother was a wonderful seamstress and made a lot of great costumes. But my favorite was one a friend of mine made for her two kids and herself - Oreo cookies. She painted two round pieces of foam brown and then wore them “sandwich board” style with a white turtleneck and white pants. My friend is a little overweight - she was “Double stuffed.”
I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, and we went trick or treating TWO nights, “Beggars Night,” October 30, and then actual Halloween on the 31st. We always went on night in my immediate neighborhood, where the houses were smaller and closer together (quantity) and the other in the “rich” area, where the houses were farther apart but chances were far greater to get the coveted Hershey Bar, which was the gold standard for Halloween candy in the 1960s.
A poster above mentioned getting November 1st off from school for All Saints’ Day. That always ticked us Protestants off big time.
My mother was a wonderful seamstress and made a lot of great costumes. But my favorite was one a friend of mine made for her two kids and herself - Oreo cookies. She painted two round pieces of foam brown and then wore them “sandwich board” style with a white turtleneck and white pants. My friend is a little overweight - she was “Double stuffed.”
Northern Indiana was where I grew up. We weren’t allowed to do both nights, it was one or the other. My first time grappling with instant gratification or waiting.
The Hallowe'en I remember is the one late 60's when my two knocked up 8 1/2 months pregnant cuzzins, one 13 one 15 came trick or treating dressed as ...Dice!. My clever aunt came up with that one to (hopefully) dispell the rumors circulating around the neighborhood. They wore boxes around their midsections decorated as dice. It was a hoot!
The other kids were concerned with their bags possibly breaking from too much candy - those girls were probably more worried about their bag of waters breaking.
(there was a pot party, mid Feb of that year, at the house); I remember my dad spotting the ends of used joints in an ashtray there about that time.
Last edited by TwinbrookNine; 10-11-2022 at 12:10 PM..
I'm not a retiree (username), but Halloween has long been my favorite time of year. I believe my mother dressed me as Dracula my first time. Our neighbors used to go ALL OUT when it came to decorations, with their own "haunted house" and the streets were always packed. Still remember making school projects, the change in scenery, comparing candies with siblings... Seems less popular now than it was in the past.
I was 6 when and my older brother made my costume one year. It was a short board with a sheet over the board with a coffee can on top of the sheet as a head. The can was wrapped with cloth that my brother painted a Frankenstein face on. He was 10.
The sheet covered the board which looked like shoulders. The board was on top of my head and strapped (using one of Dad’s old belts) under my chin. There were two eye holes cut out in the sheet for me to see. Only a 10 year old would think this could possibly work.
I remember running across a bumpy field as a short cut between houses. The costume was top-heavy, unwieldy and slid around on my head as I ran with the sheet trying to trip me. I ran as fast as I could with that get-up on, afraid it would come off and even more afraid I’d be left behind in the dark if I didn’t keep up! Happy Halloween!
I remember wearing the costume with the mask and the rubberband strap. If you haven't heard it, Jerry Seinfeld has a great bit about it.
I was a princess.
My most vivid memory was when my mom sewed me an angel costume but it wasn't quite done on time so I think she didn't have time to hem it so it was too long. I remember the neighbors having a Halloween party when we bobbed for apples. And then as we got older, we roamed the bigger area of our neighborhood. We had an apartment complex directly behind our street so that was good for a nice haul.
My late father was the biggest jokester of all times. Halloween was his favorite holiday and he always went full out. One year, he dressed up in a caveman outfit made out of an old fur coat, with a scary mask, wild hair, and a plastic club and hid in the bushes. When kids would come down the driveway, he'd jump out and chase them. Then he'd give them candy.
I was around 13 then and, of course, anything and everything my parents did embarrassed me. It was all over school the next day. I was humiliated.
That was over 60 years ago. I carried on his legacy. Now, I'm the Halloween jokester.
I was 6 when and my older brother made my costume one year. It was a short board with a sheet over the board with a coffee can on top of the sheet as a head. The can was wrapped with cloth that my brother painted a Frankenstein face on. He was 10.
The sheet covered the board which looked like shoulders. The board was on top of my head and strapped (using one of Dad’s old belts) under my chin. There were two eye holes cut out in the sheet for me to see. Only a 10 year old would think this could possibly work.
I remember running across a bumpy field as a short cut between houses. The costume was top-heavy, unwieldy and slid around on my head as I ran with the sheet trying to trip me. I ran as fast as I could with that get-up on, afraid it would come off and even more afraid I’d be left behind in the dark if I didn’t keep up! Happy Halloween!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grlzrl
It's amazing we survived some of those costumes.
Right? I fully expected to see an accident described when I saw the reference to a coffee can
Halloween was fun when I was a little kid. We wore our costumes to school and had a parade there. Then after we got home went trick or treating. It rained some years on Halloween. Back then we used paper shopping bags for our candy. There were no plastic pumpkins. One year I slipped on some wet leaves and dropped my bag of candy in a puddle where the bag disintegrated. My brother split his candy with me.
My daughter went to a Halloween party where there was bobbing for apples. Some kid complained that it was going to spread germs. The poor mother had to wash the apples and change the water between kids.
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