What Happened to Halloween?

A strange Halloween at the Plantation this year. We had all of TWO people come to our door that night; and they both came together! This was a far cry from a few years ago, when we would be inundated with all the kids in the neighborhood and beyond. Billy would even bring the children over so they could trick or treat in our safe neighborhood. We would enjoy seeing the different types of costumes and try to guess who each ghost or goblin were; all the while hoping our supply of candy would hold out.

Those days are long gone. I guess many parents take their children to parties or Halloween activities elsewhere. I think things began to change a few years back when razor blades started showing up in apples and candies were tampered with to make children sick. Too bad...

I remember the trick or treating of my childhood. The emphasis was less on the treat though we certainly wanted to fill our bags with goodies. We actually did trick people sometimes. Nothing really bad, of course. The old trick of placing a purse with a long string attached on someone's porch; ringing the doorbell and hiding next to the porch with the string in our hands waiting for the door to open. The person answering the door would reach down to pick up the purse and we would yank the purse away. Such innocents were we; not thinking that the adult opening the door would know the trick already.

Our costumes were simple. Witches, ghosties, hobos and so on. The store-bought costumes were of cheap material with stiff cloth masks. You could buy them at the five-and-ten. Also wax teeth with fangs and eyeball glasses and such things. Noone in our neighborhood in Highland Park wore anything fancy. I think there also used to be some activity at the Hotchkiss Field Playground where the children and their parents could parade around in costume.

Well, those days are gone for good. It was fun while it lasted.