Halloween has changed so much since I was a kid. Back then, we would get into our costumes right after school and trick or treat until 5 p.m. Then we’d go home for dinner and rush right back out for several hours. These days, we buy bags of candy, put it in a basket, wait for the few trick or treaters that we get and then end up eating the leftover candy until Thanksgiving.
We used to enjoy Halloween when our sons Georgie and Donnie were little. Making the costumes, getting them dressed, taking a million pictures and then walking them around the neighborhood was one of the joys of parenting. That, and eating some of their candy when they went to bed.
Donnie was a robot one year. This was when Halloween was still fun. We made the costume out of a box and flashing battery-operated lights. We may or may not have put a large silver funnel on his head. Anyway, he won best costume at school that year. Another year, Georgie was a table. Another box with a hole cut out for his head, which was the centerpiece. (We may or may not have put flowers on his head). We glued plates, silverware, glasses, napkins, salt and pepper shaker and a butter dish to the box. I think he won, too. (We still have the butter dish and we still use it on occasion. After we washed it, of course).
One year, our sons Georgie and Donnie dressed up as a cheerleader and a bride, respectively. I am not sure to this day how we convinced them to dress as girls. This was when our enthusiasm for the holiday was waning big time. Georgie wore an old Incarnation School cheerleading uniform and a blonde wig. Donnie wore someone’s old Communion dress and veil, a blonde wig, white tights and high-top sneakers. Unfortunately, it had rained during the day so the driveways and pavements were wet. And slippery. The wet surfaces and the long, white dress and sash caused Donnie to trip and fall many times, thus ripping the heck out of his white tights. (Sorry, boys. Too good not to share.)
Flash back to 1980 — George and I hadn’t been married long when Halloween rolled around. We lived in an apartment in Hamilton at the time. I was newly pregnant and feeling sick a lot of the time, so I didn’t care about Halloween one single bit that year. I remember lying on the couch watching “Happy Days” and hating the smell of the candy. But George was very excited to give out candy. After a few hours with no trick or treaters, George started yelling out the door of our apartment, listing the menu of candy we were offering. “We have Reese’s, we have KitKats, we have Almond Joy bars, we have Nestle’s Crunch Bars. Come On!”
Question: Would you let your kids go to an apartment where a man dressed in a red tee shirt, red gym shorts, and devil horns (yes, red devil horns on a headband) was shouting out the door? No, I didn’t think so.
My childhood friend Carol and I were a two-headed lady one year. We were probably about 13. I cannot remember the details of this costume, but I do remember it being a bit of a challenge to walk down the street.
I also remember wetting my pants laughing. For subsequent Halloweens, Carol and I were hippies, cigarette packs (before the term ‘politically correct’ was ever uttered), and witches.
Who remembers those molded plastic masks that fit over your face and had an elastic string that went around your head? There were holes in the mask for your eyes, nose and mouth.
We walked around smelling that toxic plastic smell out of the two tiny nose holes. And when the mask shifted, which it did a lot, we walked off curbs and smacked into people and inanimate objects. I hated those masks.
This year, just so you know, I’ll be dressing up as an older yet still wildly attractive woman with a wicked sense of humor and a penchant for caffeine. Be on the lookout for me. Happy Halloween!
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