Here’s what I remember about Halloween in the late 1970’s and early 80’s:
Trick or treating was always on Halloween. There was simply no question about this. No one even vaguely suggested that trick or treating should be on the Saturday beforehand, or on a Sunday afternoon. That would be ludacris. It was Halloween. And forget about daylight hours. We did our trick or treating at night like the little bad asses we were. Reflective tape on costumes did not exist back then, but then again there were not many cars on the streets around us anyway. Everyone walked around their own neighborhoods; we weren’t purposely driving to other neighborhoods to get the “better” candy. That would be absurd. And there was no such thing as Trunk or Treat.
Halloween parties at school were epic because we had huge jugs of Hi-C punch that we opened by punching small slits into their metal tops (using the pointy part of a small bottle opener).
Creepy old man and woman masks seemed to be thing … and they scared the bejeezus out of me. When I was five, a man sat in a rocking chair on his porch with one of those masks on, handing out candy. I never made it up the stairs. Other old neighbors didn’t need a mask; one elderly woman came to the door and said, “No, no, not tonight”. And that was how I learned about dementia.
Never underestimate the creativity of children when it comes to home-made Halloween costumes. Case in point, Halloween 1978. My brother Peter took it into his own hands to become a Storm Trooper, and the results were magical. Look at the incredible attention to detail that only a black magic marker could provide, as he painstakingly drew belts and buttons and other miscellaneous Storm Trooper doodads on his white bodysuit, bringing the character to life. (Actually, that white suit may have been constructed out of an old white sheet, which makes it even better. Respect.)
Clearly Peter is the star of the show here with that Storm Trooper look, but Dan and I are solid with our werewolf and angel costumes, respectively. I was in kindergarten that year, and one of the days leading up to Halloween we were supposed to dress up for morning kindergarten, then parade through all the classrooms of the first through third graders. Well, for some reason I didn’t get the memo, which meant that Mom didn’t get the memo. I arrived at school to find all my classmates in their costumes. It was a horrible feeling to do the march through the halls and classrooms, the only one not dressed up. At some point mid-march, Mom came frantically running into Merryman Elementary, angel costume in-hand. Apparently, she had spoken to her sister (and neighbor), my Aunt Marsha, who informed her about costume day. (My cousin Jason was in class with me, and we walked to school together every day. Yes, when we were five. And yes, we survived.) I remember the quick switcheroo in the school bathroom as Mom saved the day.
As for scary movies, thankfully I was very sheltered from watching anything not made for young eyes. My mom didn’t even want me to watch Dirty Dancing when I was a freshman in high school, due to the risk of my running off with a hot older dance instructor from a Catskills resort. However, I do remember seeing the original Poltergeist in 1982 (I would have been 9), and yes that was A LOT. How did that movie ever get a PG rating? The scene where that camera guy peels off his face was traumatic enough, but then there’s the toy clown scene, all the skeletons popping up out of the ground, and the screaming little girl’s voice as the TV people chase her. I was always so confused; should she go to the light? Should she stay away from the light? Poor little Carol Anne; she was probably like, “Bitch, make up your mind!”
Lately, Halloween isn’t quite that exciting for me. I always think I’ll have some epic plans, and then all of a sudden the day appears and I am caught unprepared. And I know I’m getting old because this year I am more excited about turning the clocks back an hour on Saturday night. However, if you’ve been keeping up with your news, it’s been a big week for Wisconsinites - me included. We need to catch up on our sleep.
Rest up, Happy Halloween, and Congratulations to the Milwaukee Brewers!!!!!!
WeWe got full homemade costumes this year for the most part. Will send pic. Epic.