Trick Or Treat!

October 31 was always one of the best nights of the year for my friends and me. It was filled with excitement, a touch of spookiness, and of course, candy!

Back in the 1970s, we knew Halloween was just around the corner when our grade school teachers passed out orange and black construction paper to make a variety of pumpkin crafts. Mom followed suit by taping those memorable vintage cardboard cutouts of witches, black cats, and a moveable, jointed skeleton, to our door and windows. A few days before Halloween, dad would put newspaper on the kitchen table and we would dictate what face to carve while mom got the slippery pumpkin seeds ready to toast. If the timing was right, we would watch the cherished “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” on TV while waiting to light our jack-o-lantern. To this day, the smell of carved pumpkin still reminds me of my dad.

Figuring out the perfect costume wasn’t taken lightly. My friends and I would talk about our disguises as we rode the bus home from school. Looking back, our costume choices were the same basic ones each year; a devil, a witch, or maybe a scarecrow but the choice was always important. If we were lucky, mom would purchase a new boxed costume from Hills Department store or Kmart with those infamous plastic masks complete with the elastic bands that stretched around your head.

We reviewed the timing and precision for Halloween night as if planning a great battle. Where in the neighborhood would we meet? What time should we get there? When the clock struck that bewitching trick-or-treat hour, we would sprint through our neighborhood, with leaves crunching beneath our feet, streetlights starting to glow, and a chill in the air.

When our pillowcases became heavy with goodies from stopping at every house in our neighborhood, we walked home at a slower pace, but there was still work to be done. We sorted our candy. My siblings and I would separate our favorite treats from the ones we would trade, and also count our nickels and dimes we received from some of the cool neighbors. Of course, I can’t forget eating the homemade caramel apples from our dear neighbors, the Diggles. (Please see the previous story in the achives, “The Neighbors” to hear my story about them.)

The end of the night felt exhilarating yet exhausting as mom and dad scooted us into bed in anticipation of school the next morning. Thoughts of scary tales and sweet candy swirled in my head, as well as, all the good thoughts of the fall season. Recalling your childhood, give yourself permission to jump in that pile of leaves, eat some Halloween treats, and enjoy the simple pleasures of this fall. Happy Halloween, my pretties!

This post is dedicated to all my Dartmouth Ave and Chapel Lane neighborhood friends. You made life fun.