*I have never bobbed for an apple. Nor have I toilet papered, Silly-Stringed, made popcorn balls, or played that game with the suspended doughnuts which you eat with your hands tied behind your back. Not that I’m complaining. The Halloweens I had as a kid in the ’70s-’80s were pretty much unimproveable. I talked about them in last year’s late October post, which is quite the romp if you want to revisit.
But as an amateur folklorist, somebody who’s fascinated by old stories, old traditions and especially holiday lore, I love hearing the way things were. I asked my mom, who grew up in a tiny NJ beach town in the 40s and 50s, what the holiday was like for her back then. She still uses the archaic spelling ‘Hallowe’en’, with an apostrophe, which acknowledges the word’s origin (All Hallows’—or spirits—eve, or evening). She has the below to say.
‘Memories are of Tootsie Rolls and apples (Dad). We put our own costumes together as older children. Don’t think there were store-bought ones. Memories of Mischief Night are vivid. Can still imagine running thru our neighborhood with 7th and 8th grade friends and getting tangled in clotheslines (every backyard staple then). We didn’t do any mischief that I remember, but got to go out after dark with our friends for an hour. Very safe small town, patrolled by police, just in case. The police were mostly trying to catch the boy who successfully hung a dummy from the town water tower every year. Don’t think they ever did catch him, even though the whole town knew who he was!!’
(I should note that I asked if she still remembered the name of the kid responsible, and she said, ‘Of course.’ Mind you, this is some 60 years after the fact. He’s not even alive anymore, but I still won’t rat him out here; I’m haunted enough by Algebra II, circa 1984, and Rachael Ray’s voice.
**I know a local woman in her 90s who told me a few years ago that for all of her adult life she has made popcorn balls on Halloween for neighborhood kids. Growing up we all thought this woman had a big mouth and labeled her a witch with a capital B. But now, knowing she made these…wow. Making popcorn balls is a bear; it’s hot syrup, plus the work of forming them in a short amount of time. There’s a narrow window between the time the syrup’s so hot that it will burn your hands and the time it’s gotten too cool to work with. It’s a very physical project. How horrible could she have been if she went through this every year for trick-or-treaters? Unless the syrup was sweetened with hemlock, she’s kinda saintlike to me now. And what’s wrong with a woman with a big mouth? Just keep the words honest and have some brains about you, and you’re fine, I’d say. Does anyone make popcorn balls for Halloween?
Back in the day, this holiday was a special treat; it was the first night when people dug into their winter stores of nuts. Nut-Crack Night! Does anyone have memories of this, or did your parents ever talk about it?
Write and tell me what years you were celebrating Halloween as a kid, and where. Who sewed their own costumes? Who went out on Mischief Night, and what did you do? Who remembers school Halloween pageants? Who sang Halloween songs? (Yes, they exist…I sang them in 1973.) Who told ghost stories on this night? Who knows the secret to bobbing for apples without soaking your melon? (There’s a way! There’s a way!) What was your favorite jack o’lantern, hand-carved, without a stencil, and holding a real, lit candle? Remember the smell?
Talk to me…the older the memory, the better. But I love it all.
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*Wordpress isn’t letting me caption, so psst! Here I am. These ghost candles are part of my small vintage Halloween collection. I was just going to buy one, but the antique store guy gave me a two-fer. Now they terrorize the populace together. Mid century. I like that the older the ghost, the pointier his hood gets.
**This is a metal noisemaker with a wooden handle from the ’20s. I like how they threw the Devil on there. (People used to think that pagans worshipped the Devil. But the Devil is a Christian thing, so why would they worship something Christian? Fun fact: They wouldn’t. And don’t.) It makes a cool clanging noise. Noisemakers were used on Halloween for the same reason people use them on New Year’s Eve—to chase away evil spirits.
*** This cute little dude is made of painted cardboard, also circa ’20s. The antique guy told me it was made to be a candy holder.
I had those candles and noise maker! I have no idea where they came from or where they went to. It cracks me up when I go into an antique and collectible store and I see all kinds of things I used to have when I was a kid; I don’t feel that old.
Halloween was great when I was a kid. Mom would make our costumes, take us door to door, then not let us eat but one or two pieces of our booty. She would dole it out in our lunch boxes, piece by precious piece, for weeks.
It was a great right of passage when my sister and I were allowed to go trick-or-treating by ourselves. My sister, who was 18 months older than myself, was commissioned to, “Keep an eye on your Sissy.” Like that was gonna happen; I was much faster than her, even in a sheet!
Not buying candy, turning off the lights, and pretending you were not home was an eggable/t.p.able offense in our neighborhood. Even if you were home and gave out cheap candy you would probably be added to “the list”. The older kids in the neighborhood ruled Halloween with an iron fist and were feared by all. We hated them, and couldn’t wait to be part of the gang.
Sandy–I LOVE it! When and where were you celebrating Halloween as a kid?
Huntington Beach, So-Cal, about forty miles south of Los Angeles. In those days, 1960’s and early 70’s, Orange County was like a suburb of Los Angeles and there were acres and acres of orange groves, avocado groves, bean fields, strawberry fields, and more. During the summer we used to play outside in the fields and riverbeds until the street lights went on, which signaled it was time to pack it in for the day and go home. Sometimes people ask if I ever go home to visit, to which I reply, “It doesn’t exist anymore.”
My memories of Halloween are vague from childhood. My mom said that she made our costumes. I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s. I do have a clear memory of my old neighbor Mr. Sheppard handing out apples to all the trick or treaters.
Hi Susanna–Were apples a good treat for you?
@Sandy–That’s so lovely…and bittersweet.
Right! Me and Thomas Wolfe.
Cool memories. Never did go out on mischief night but we were always afraid our pumpkins would be stolen and smashed. That happened a lot in my neighborhood. I recall walking through piles of crisp leaves to get from house to house, pillowcase filled with candy, other kids telling us which houses had the best candy! Now i take my son and i still love it! I love those ghosty candles. So cute!
Hi Dawn–Such good stuff 🙂 Thanks!
Kids used to smash pumpkins in our town, too,. Forgot about that. We put them in the window, never outside.
What’s Cliffie going to be for Halloween? I’ll be out to the farm one day this week.
He’s going to be a mummy. So much fun. I made the costume because my mom always made mine and thats a good memorytoo.
Good for you—fun for you both. He must be so excited!
I grew up in a small Ohio town in the 50’s and 60’s. We were too far out in the country to do much trick or treating but some years – when my father did not have to work night shift and therefore the car was around – he’d take us to the nearby projects, in Youngstown, to trick or treat.
Costumes were of course home-made. I only remember one: I was a robot (a big box painted silver.) However I also remember that we kids used any excuse for a costume. For example I was the turkey in the grade school Thanksgiving pageant, and for my 5th birthday when I got a cap gun I got to dress like a cowboy for library story hour.
My dad made popcorn balls, popping the corn in a big cast-iron skillet used only for that purpose. I can still hear the sound of it skidding back and forth across the electric burners of our stove, and those first popping kernels, then the divine smell. The work was quick and tricky indeed, and in God’s honest truth I did not like popcorn balls very much. We’d have them all winter long – enough already!
We did not do much tricking. One memorable year however my friends and I made a dummy and left it in the ditch down the road. It was a rainy, foggy, miserable night, and the “body” would appear suddenly and realistically in passing cars’ headlights. I can still recall the screech of locked-up brakes and then the irritated revving of pissed-off drivers pulling away. The “Body ” was still in place November 1, and my parents made me remove it.
Thanks again Marisa for a provocative idea.
Charles–Such great stuff! Thank you. Love the Body lol And your silver robot costume–very popular back then in ‘the space age.’ Halloween aside, I’ve read that people used to make treats like popcorn balls and fudge and such on winter nights, that it was very common. I love that idea, of everyone getting together to curl up and eat and hang out after dinner. Must have been wonderful. Thanks again.