Previously: Halloween was scary | Way of life

Tomorrow is Halloween! For me, no Halloween memory can escape the pig; no, not a real pig, but a costume my mom made for me when i was in elementary school. Mom was a talented seamstress. I have no idea how she came up with a pig costume for me for Halloween. She made trousers and a long top without buttons from brown fabric. Using an empty toilet paper roll covered with a tan cloth, she created a pig’s snout. A wire hanger was molded into the pig’s tail. The students went to school in Halloween costumes and everyone admired my unique costume. My one problem was that it was difficult to sit because of the wire hanger used to create the tail. I doubt anyone has had a more creative Halloween costume than the pig costume my mother made for me. What are your memories of Halloween back in the day?

Most kids used to go trick or treating. When I was growing up, Halloween wouldn’t be Halloween without tricks and treats. A review of the history of Halloween shows that this was not always the case. In accordance with History.com, going from one house to another in search of candy and other goodies has been a popular Halloween tradition in the United States and other countries for about a hundred years. The actual origins of this event are somewhat murky, but the trick-or-treating tradition is believed to date back to early All Day parades in England.

When the custom emerged in the United States in the 1930s and early 1940s, children were given everything from homemade cookies, cakes, fruit, nuts, coins and toys. In the 1950s, candy manufacturers began to engage in gimmicks to promote their products. In the 1970s, wrapped candy became the only acceptable item to hand out for safety reasons. While the exact origins of trick-or-treating may be debatable, it became firmly entrenched in American culture in 1951 when it appeared in the Peanuts comic strip. I suspect those fond memories are long gone due to the cruel tricks of the treat vendors and the dangers of walking our streets. So, for those of you who want to experience Halloween like you did when you were a kid, your only option is to draw on some of those fond memories you have of that time.

Are you someone who decorates your house for Halloween? Some jewelry today is quite sophisticated. We have not seen such elaborate decorations in the past. At that time, the decorations were very simple; as a rule, self-made families could not afford the cost of exterior or interior decorations. Perhaps you remember how at school on Halloween they cut out pictures that were attached to the windows from the inside and viewed by passers-by. Old white sheets hanging from trees or scarecrows in yards were common in the past. How many of your families used a broom with a dark fabric to resemble a witch and displayed it in their yard? I know several people who put stuffed pants upside down on their lawn to create the appearance of a figure buried head first. You may have settled for something as simple as placing an old bicycle on your lawn with a pumpkin resting on the seat of the bicycle; then you simply decorated the front door of your house with various items related to Halloween. You and your family have decorated your house in a unique way with the intention of making your house or yard as scary as possible at that time.

I’m pretty sure you remember the days of Halloween pranks. The jokes were especially aimed at those who were known for not giving treats during your annual visits to their homes. I did not take part in the pranks that took place on prank night, the night before Halloween. But some individuals mark windows with soap, especially car windows. Others rang the doorbell and ran. I hope none of you reading this column have broken antennas or let air out of car tires. But I’m sure others, not reading this column, have done such things. Have you strewn toilet paper across driveways, bushes, and lawns? Have you filled balloons with water and thrown them from balconies or fire escapes onto others’ heads? If you did these things, you probably took the eggs out of your house to spray them on cars, shop or home windows, and people. I know of cases where an “egg thrower” would cause damage outside only to return home and receive some damage from his mother when she discovered her eggs were missing. Have you or one of your friends placed a liquid in a bottle and propped it against the homeowner’s door, causing it to spill when the door was opened? No, you didn’t because it was reserved for “bad little kids” at the time.

The choice of suits today, however, is far from that of my generation. There were no elaborate costumes when I was young. Early generations usually didn’t wear store-bought suits. We were in homemade costumes. We dressed as tramps or cowboys. Often we throw a cloth with a plaster over our shoulders and put makeup on our face to look scary.

There are many aspects of Halloween that space will not allow me to touch on, such as: drinking apple cider; bobbin for apples; hay rides; bonfires; Halloween superstitions; haunted mansions; fortune telling, costume parties and telling ghost stories. But if you want to have some real fun, sit back and think about what you used to do as a little boy or girl on Halloween.