All Things Nice . . .

 

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Pixie, kobold, elf, and sprite 

All are on their rounds to-night,

. . . In the wan moon’s silver ray 

 Thrives their helter-skelter play. 

 Fond of cellar, barn, or stack 

True unto the almanac, 

 They present to credulous eyes 

 Strange hobgoblin mysteries. 

 Cabbage-stumps . . . straws wet with dew . . .  

Apple-skins, and chestnuts too, 

 And a mirror for some lass 

 Show what wonders come to pass. 

 Doors they move, and gates they hide 

Mischiefs that on moonbeams ride 

 Are their deeds, . . . and, by their spells, 

 Love records its oracles. 

 Don’t we all, of long ago 

By the ruddy fireplace glow, 

 In the kitchen and the hall, 

 Those queer, coof-like pranks recall? 

 Every shadows were they then . . .  

But to-night they come again; 

 Were we once more but sixteen 

 Precious would be Hallowe’en.

~Joel Benton, Hallowe'en 

 

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Candy wasn't something we were given very often when I was a child.  It was only in the house a very few times a year.  Christmas, Easter and Halloween.  It was a rare, rare treat. 

At Christmas of course we would get candy canes and chocolates.  Mom would get in that special candy mix that she would order from the Christmas Wish book which had hard candies and fondant in it.  We also got Barley Sugar Toys that lasted for days and days. You couldn't bit them, they had to be sucked and licked.  We would suck them down to nubbins.

Easter we got our Easter Baskets/bowls.  (mom didn't go in for fancy stuff like baskets or stockings for that matter)  We'd get our chocolate bunny, some candy eggs, and some jelly beans. I loved most of the Easter candies, except for the marshmallow filled ones, for some reason I didn't really like them.

Halloween was the motherload.  Not only were we given license to go out and beg from the neighbors, but we would have a big shopping bag that we could fill up to our heart's content. After we got home and it was checked to make sure nobody was trying to poison or hurt us, those bags hung on our closet doors waiting for us to indulge whenever we wanted to.   I tried to make mine last as long as I could. 

 

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Mom never went in much for store bought costumes.  We had to be inventive and make our own.  The one I remember most was the year my friend Gail Cormack and I dressed up as a pair, Lily and Herman Munster from the television show The Munsters.  I had the long dark hair so I got to be Lily. Mom fashioned me a hair piece of long white yarn with some black bats hanging from it to bobby pin into my hair.  Gail wore a pair of her father's combat boots.  I remember thinking we were very authentically frightfully spooky looking. 

There were costume parades at school.  Each class would parade around in front of the other classes and prizes were given for the best costumes. I don't remember ever winning, but there would be a party after the costume parade and we would have snacks and drinks and yes, more candy. 

 

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Mom had her rules about trick or treating.  We had to eat our suppers before we could actually go out and start.  She had a certain time that we were allowed to leave the house and we wouldn't be allowed to go out even a minute before.  

Other parents were not so strict and I can remember children coming to the door, yelling Trick or Treat while we were still sitting at the table.  I was always worried that by the time we were allowed to begin our begging, all the good candy would be gone.  I was sure we were being robbed.

Sometimes,  mom would buy us each a mask to wear for trick-or-treating. It was always too cold to go running around in our costumes/apparel, so a mask was one way of being authentic and still being able to wear our warm coats and mitts.

 

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They made your face all sweaty because they were made from plastic and I remember it being hard to breathe behind them.  And, because I wore glasses, they made it hard to see properly.  By the end of the evening we would be wearing them around our necks, long since having given up on actually wearing them to hid our faces.

We had our favorite streets to hit.  Halloween was a big candy greed-fest when it came right down to it. Our goal was to get as much candy as we could whilst still remaining as polite as was possible under those conditions.  A proper Trick-or-Treat was sounded along with as sincere a thank you as we could muster as we scrambled away to the next doorway.  We also tried not to jostle in front of other children because we knew that if we did, it would not garner us any favor with the adults behind the candy bowls.

 

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Back in those days not a lot of people spent a lot of money on Halloween decorations.  Most would have a pumpkin or two carved into a Jack-o-Lantern with candles lighting them up. I can't remember ever carving a Jack-o-Lantern when I was a child. I think it was considered to be too messy an activity by my mother.  She didn't like messy things.  She worked really hard at keeping our home pristine and perfect, so it would have only meant a lot of extra work for her. I understand.  I guess its about priorities.  I didn't mind a bit of mess myself.  My kids would carve several Jack-o-Lanterns.  I just wanted them to have fun, within reason of course.

Some people went all out when it came to decorating their homes for Halloween. There would be spooky lights and music, and even creepy statuary.  Scarecrows and lawn chairs filled with leaf stuffed people. You never knew if it was fake or a real person who was going to reach out for you and make you jump out of your skin.

I hated going to houses where they made you do a trick before they gave you your treat, like sing a song or recite a poem, tell a joke, etc. I would rack my brains trying to think of something to say.  Of course it never dawned on me that I could just say the same thing at each house.  I would be trying to think of something different to say at each one. DUH. 

 

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Of course as the evening wore on, more and more people would run out of candy so that by the time you got to the last few streets there were more "all-out" signs tacked onto the doors than there were lit passage ways.  There was an optimum time for trick-or-treating and all the good stuff would be gone by 7 pm. Nice for those who were handing out treats. We would race home so that we could go through our bags, checking and discarding anything suspicious.  

Only then would we be allowed to imbibe, and then it was only a few before we would have to get ready for bed and brush our teeth.

Nobody wanted apples.  Mom wouldn't let us keep them anyways.  Too many tales of them being laced with razor blades and pins.  Back then it was only ever very rare that you might get a packet of crisps or a chocolate bar.  Usually we got those taffy bb-bats and candy kisses, not the chocolate ones, the chewy ones wrapped up in Halloween printed wax paper.  Sometimes you got a package of cinnamon hearts.  There would be lots of suckers as well, with the occasional candy bar and very rare packet of crisps.  The crisps would all be crumbs anyways, after having been jostled about in a bag all evening between heavy apples and running knees.

I remember falling into bed exhausted at the end of it all.  It was a good exhausted. The next morning the air would smell of rotting leaf and burnt pumpkin . . .  and boring began because there was nothing much left to look forward to but Christmas and that seemed to be ages off.

To a child, time seems to last forever, and days seems like eternities.   What are some of your favorite childhood Halloween memories?  Lets share!

I came across Cinnamon yesterday sleeping on my bed.  She had managed to crawl into the throw at the end of the bed.  She looked so cute laying there with her two front paws curled up in front of her.

  

She looked so cute laying there. It was a race to be able to snap a picture before she woke up and moved about. 

Don't you wish you could sleep like a cat does?  So deep and easy, and seemingly able to fall asleep at the drop of a hat  . . .  

And with that I best leave you with a thought for the day . . .  

.° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★

 *.˛.°And the leaves

fell from the trees

without regret . . . 

~Unknown•。★★ 。* 。 

Cooking up in The English Kitchen today  . . .  Maple Walnut Vinegar Pie.  This is incredibly rich and tasty!  So delicious!

I probably won't have a chance to write anything tomorrow, so don't worry if I don't show up!  I'll catch you on Monday!  In the meantime, have a great day, Happy Halloween and don't forget! 

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And I do too!