Thursday, October 28, 2010

Flashback Friday - Let's Do the Monster Mash




Halloween. Do you celebrate it? Participate? Dread it? Avoid it? I have mixed feelings about it. But that's not what this post is about. Linda at Mocha with Linda wants to know about our childhood memories of Halloween. Here's her prompt:
What  was Halloween like when you were growing up? Did your family participate? If not, was there a substitute activity? Did your school or church have a fall festival or carnival? Were there stipulations regarding costumes? What sorts of activities did they have? What about Halloween parties? Have you ever bobbed for apples or been on a hayride? What are your memories of "haunted houses"? (I'm not referring to the ultra-scary, secular ones, just the fun kid ones, with bowls of grapes and cold spaghetti!) If you went trick-or-treating, what were the rules, both for trick-or-treating and for candy consumption? What types of costumes did you wear? Were they store-bought or homemade? Did you carve a jack-o-lantern? How are your children's experiences similar or different to yours? And the most important question: Do you like candy corn? What is your favorite (and least favorite!) Halloween candy?
When I grew up, we didn't worry about the predators and lunatics who derived pleasure from hurting small children. Not as much as we worry today. Rarely was there a report of a razor blade in a popcorn ball or a drug injected into Halloween candy. That type of activity was reserved for large metropolitan cities not small rural towns.

I remember my brother and I going out trick or treating together. The rules? We had to stay together. That was it. We went everywhere. By ourselves. For more than two hours. Crazy right? Not back then. We would come home with a brown paper grocery bag half full of candy, apples, and popcorn balls. We loved it.
Tomorrow, I'm taking the grand-boy and niece trick or treating to a few of the local businesses downtown and the mall. No door-to-door trick or treating in neighborhoods where you don't know the residents. How the times have changed.

Another big change. We came up with our own costumes with clothes we already had. We didn't wear store bought outfits. We didn't carry plastic pumpkins to put our loot in either. Those grocery sacks worked just fine and held more goodies.

My favorite treat was the popcorn balls. Do people still make them? That sounds so good. Maybe I'll make some for the grand-boy and niece this weekend and teach them to do the mash:


What about you? How did you participate in Halloween? If you'd like to join in on the fun, hop on over to Linda's and join in the fun. Have a scary but safe Halloween weekend. Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting. 

Peace and Joy,
Susan

Deuteronomy 18:10 (NKJV) There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer,

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your memories are very similar to mine Susan. Nowdays, we don't really have Trick or Treaters to come to the house but it is cute to see them at the church festivals at what they call "Trunk or Treat!" Have fun with the young ones for Halloween and eat a popcorn ball for me.

Hopewell Youth said...

Just bopping by; such a cute blog! Now you've got me craving popcorn balls. :) Happy Halloween!

Jim said...

You found a good Scripture verse for Halloween, Susan. Thank you.
I enjoyed reading of these recollections of yours very much.

I used to love those popcorn balls. My kids would get them and since they weren't on their list Mrs. Jim and I got to eat them.

It is nice that the businesses do trick or treat. They provide a safe place for going and for sure their candy is much, much safer.
..

Nel said...

Enjoyed your memories. It is sad that the kids today can not enjoy it as much as we did. Things were just different! My mom made the best popcorn balls, I wish I would of had her show me.
until next time... nel

Ellen aka Ellie said...

I wrote a similar post, sort of, on Monday. I have to dress up because I work with kids. In brief, not my favorite thing to do.

BTW, did you know the tampering with treats thing is an urban myth? The only proven cases were within families or done by people out to sue!

Joyce said...

Our halloweens were just pretend scary. I think today there is so much real scary in the world that Halloween has lost some of it's appeal. Have a great weekend!

Mocha with Linda said...

Fun memories. Life was so different back then!

Pamela said...

Thanks for visiting. It is a shame that the neighborhood fun we used to enjoy as children is no longer available for our children and grandchildren. I heard an interesting quote the other day, "Change becomes not progress, but disintegration". That is certainly the case with Halloween.

sara said...

my favorite was the popcorn balls too! I had a neighbor that made the best! I may have to try that this year!!1

Cindy Swanson said...

We didn't have plastic pumpkins either...I even knew some kids who used old pillow cases!

Great memories...I enjoyed your post.

Hope you'll stop by mine when you have a moment. :)