Halloween what a great holiday!

Many say it is their favorite holiday.  What better time to dress up and be someone or something you are not.

Now this no doubt will give away my age; but back in the day, we went trick or treating for three nights.  We had our pillowcases ready and we went as a group.  My sister and I went with our cousins.

In our little town there were two houses you had to go to as quickly as your legs could carry you.  One house gave out caramel apples while the second house a good distance away gave out cinnamon apples.  It was a duty to ourselves to get to those houses first, and then retrace our steps to the other house after we collected our apples.  The first night was all about the houses east of our house.

At the end of the first night, we would return home, and dump out our haul and sort it on the table.  We put the candy we wanted to share with the family in one bowl, and candy that did not impress  put into the distribution bowl for the following night’s callers.

We did not get to go to the “apple” houses the following night.  With that end of town completed, we would move from out house to the west end. 

It was a fun time of year.  People would try to guess who you were as you approached their houses.  The gas station next to us would allow us to get something from their candy display, as did my uncle in his bar.  The only bar in town we would venture into since it was family owned.

Sometimes we would change costumes over the three nights.  The rest of the ritual was pretty much the same.  After the allotted time we would return home and again sort the candy.

By the third night, we were running a bit tired.  However, there were treats to be had and we needed to collect our morsels.  We knew that by the third night we would be receiving someone else’s unwanted candies.  We all knew by the third day we would be collecting someone else’s hand offs.  But there was the possibility that one person’s dislike was another’s favorite.

I remember one Halloween when my sister and I both were down with one of those childhood things, chicken pox or the measles.  Our cousins stopped at the house to collect their treats, and to show us their costumes.  No fair!  We couldn’t go out with them.

Things were different back then.  As far as we knew cars did not take kids to the different neighborhoods.  Maybe it was just that our little town was not that impressive.  So glad too, or the “apple” houses would have been invaded before we could get to our treats.  No free x-rays offered by the local hospital for pins or needles, and  we were not destructive in our outings. 

Rarely did we encounter a house that did not participate.  We even had a few we were afraid to go to the door.  I would assume every child has had creepy feeling about a house. 

Today’s Halloweens are different, and in some cases, nonexistent.  Some communities prefer to do parties instead.  Others take their children to the various malls where the stores hand out treats and parents can be with their children.

All this being said, I think fondly on those memories of our candy collecting. I can’t pass a candied apple without remembering our mad dashes to the two special houses.

I think I will close here and go dip some apples, isn’t Fall great!

Trick or Treat!

 

Jan