A 2012 comment (on my retired blog) from Pat Tillett about Halloween candy being in the stores "for a couple of weeks now" took me back to my childhood in the Los Angeles suburbs of the San Fernando Valley.
I always loved Halloween. Every year I fashioned decorations out of construction paper, string, tissue paper, white sheets torn into smaller pieces, carved pumpkins. I'd set about adorning our front porch with spider webs made of string and hanging spiders of black construction paper and pipe cleaners. I made witch faces out of construction paper and ghosts out of white tissue paper and a large ghost from a sheet. I cut out black cats and cauldrons and pasted them on the front door. Dad carved the pumpkins with my brother's and my help, carefully inserting a fat candle into each to last the duration of the evening's trick or treating. It was magical.
My 3 year old first born after carving pumpkins with his father. San Diego, 1990
For a few years, with much begging on my part, Mother and I created the "treats". One year we made several hundred popcorn balls with freshly popped corn and melted Kraft caramels. Another year, we actually bought and dipped apples into melted caramel. It was messy but the end result was a luscious, creamy apple sticky with sweet goodness.
A few years later, rumors abounded there were evil people putting razor blades and nefarious things into apples. Not sure if it was true or an urban myth but that ended the fresh treats. Nothing that wasn't factory sealed was acceptable to most paranoid parents, including my own.
This was the early 60s. Average sized packaged candy bars like M&Ms, Hershey bars, Almond Joys, Mounds, Nutter Butters, etc were the norm. That's what my mother opted for. She was a Hershey bar fanatic. I liked Smarties, little tart candies in a skinny clear wrapper. They were my favorite. I would pretend they were pills prescribed by my doctor. Hmmm, perhaps that led to my penchant for uppers & downers as a teenager?
Nowadays, you can go to a Christmas Tree Shoppe or Michael's Craft and buy ready-made decorations. But conceiving and creating them was more fun.
When my boys were little, we made them together. I kept those home made decorations wrapped and put away for years, just like Christmas ornaments. For all I know, I may one day root through the still-packed boxes in the basement from our move a few years ago and find them.
Wouldn't that be nice?
I always loved Halloween. Every year I fashioned decorations out of construction paper, string, tissue paper, white sheets torn into smaller pieces, carved pumpkins. I'd set about adorning our front porch with spider webs made of string and hanging spiders of black construction paper and pipe cleaners. I made witch faces out of construction paper and ghosts out of white tissue paper and a large ghost from a sheet. I cut out black cats and cauldrons and pasted them on the front door. Dad carved the pumpkins with my brother's and my help, carefully inserting a fat candle into each to last the duration of the evening's trick or treating. It was magical.
My 3 year old first born after carving pumpkins with his father. San Diego, 1990
For a few years, with much begging on my part, Mother and I created the "treats". One year we made several hundred popcorn balls with freshly popped corn and melted Kraft caramels. Another year, we actually bought and dipped apples into melted caramel. It was messy but the end result was a luscious, creamy apple sticky with sweet goodness.
A few years later, rumors abounded there were evil people putting razor blades and nefarious things into apples. Not sure if it was true or an urban myth but that ended the fresh treats. Nothing that wasn't factory sealed was acceptable to most paranoid parents, including my own.
This was the early 60s. Average sized packaged candy bars like M&Ms, Hershey bars, Almond Joys, Mounds, Nutter Butters, etc were the norm. That's what my mother opted for. She was a Hershey bar fanatic. I liked Smarties, little tart candies in a skinny clear wrapper. They were my favorite. I would pretend they were pills prescribed by my doctor. Hmmm, perhaps that led to my penchant for uppers & downers as a teenager?
Son #2 on the right trick or treating in NH. They're about 14
Nowadays, you can go to a Christmas Tree Shoppe or Michael's Craft and buy ready-made decorations. But conceiving and creating them was more fun.
When my boys were little, we made them together. I kept those home made decorations wrapped and put away for years, just like Christmas ornaments. For all I know, I may one day root through the still-packed boxes in the basement from our move a few years ago and find them.
Wouldn't that be nice?
First ever Halloween for the boys, San Diego 1989. We carried them around in their pirate pjs. They were two and one years old. They lasted about an hour.
