However, I started to think about Halloween. I went to Wikapedia and found more than I ever wanted to know. I was aware that Halloween was the celebration on the evening before All Saint's day. It is thought that it originated in Celtic times. The changes in Halloween over time are interesting. They go into great detail about various religions and people. Each group had their own way of celebrating.
What I as really thinking about was how Halloween has changed over my life time.
On the farm we didn't do Halloween at all. In school we did something which I don't remember. It was probably to color a witch or pumpkin.
During the 60's in the Arctic we didn't observe the evening.
When I came to Red Deer in 1969, I moved to a fairly new area of town. Most residents were young and had kids so there were many kids around. You had over 100 kids visit your house. There was also some damage done. Some things were turned over. A few eggs were thrown. Gradually the evening became only the receiving of treats. Now malls have events for kids so fewer kids than ever tour the neighborhood.
When my kids were little in the early 70's we took them out "door knocking" They were crazy about this. I remember taking them one cold and windy night. I wanted to go home but they wanted to keep going. One of them was still a preschooler.
The sad little boy won best costume at the school dance with this costume.
A very large scary ghost.
Somebody who wanted to collect for UNICEF one year.
When my son was about 14 one Halloween he wanted to go to his friends place about 8 Halloween evening. They were just going to fool around in the house? But he asked me if he could take my bike. He came back in about an hour. The next spring when I got my bike out it was covered with egg. He and his friends had been out riding bike and throwing eggs at each other and I only found out about it in the spring.
So Halloween used to be a bit of a wild affair in the early 70's but has become a very tame affair.
That's a big change for 50 years.
I love the Halloween pictures of your children! The holiday has changed a lot in the past 50 years. I don't remember much about it when I was young except for some minor celebrations in school. I do remember going to great effort to make homemade costumes for my two boys as they were growing up and we had a lot of fun with it. Now with my sons and even my grandchildren grown it is almost like any other day. We don't have many children in our neighborhood now so it is pretty quiet.
ReplyDeleteYes, Our kids had home made costumes and the scary ghost made his costume in about 5 min.
DeleteI remember going out trick or treating with only a costume and no jacket back in the far north when the frost was already out. For kids it was always fun and we used to collect a lot of candy; pillow sacks full. It was also around this time that some evil minded people started putting bad things into kid's cases and we would hear about the odd incident. As I grew up and moved far away I was always amused and dismayed that so many adults took over the celebrations. I was pleased to see a lot of kids out on Hallowe'en this year but I don't celebrate the day or evening at all. Nor do I buy candy as no one comes to my door. Most people I know report that they also don't get kids at their door. I guess it's a safety issue for the parents.
ReplyDeleteKids were so excited that warm clothing was the last thing on their minds.
Delete...we had I little boy stop by trick or treating this year, about the normal for us. I remember UNICEF, do they have that anymore?
ReplyDeleteI don't think there is a unicef organization any more. Now I'll have to look that up.
DeleteNo one comes out here in the country and we are a bit of a drive to watch the grands. I am going to go up next year for sure to see the costumes.
ReplyDeleteSee the grands when they're little . They don't stay that way very long.
DeleteHalloween has really changed over the last few years here. The churches have Trunk or Treat in the their parking lots and many of them go all out with bouncy houses, games, etc. and our Main Street merchants also do candy giveaways, have music, games. So, we are down from 70 at our door three years ago to 20 this year. We do enjoy the little ones who come!
ReplyDeleteHere the malls go all out with treats so many of our kids go to the mall. Many churches have programs for the kids.
DeleteOur grandkids are having a blast!
ReplyDeleteAnd I'll bet Grandma is right with them
DeleteWe didn't have any kids show up at our door. Over the years, it's only been a few now and then. I enjoyed your reminiscence of how the holiday has changed over the years. :-)
ReplyDeleteSome districts are mostly seniors so very few kids.
DeleteWe used to do Mischief Night, the night before Halloween when you would throw your eggs or TP the neighbor's trees. We have none of that in our town in recent years. Is it possible our young people today are BETTER than we were?
ReplyDeleteI assume mischief night was unofficial?
DeleteApart from the press and television and pumpkins in the supermarket I would never have known it was Halloween here on Lewis.
ReplyDeleteYou are very sheltered! There must be very few kids in your area.
DeleteI loved reading this. It reminded me of how much I loved Halloween when I was young in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Dressing up like a witch or a beatnik, knocking on doors and getting candy from neighbors, what could be better?
ReplyDeleteYou had the genuine Halloween experience!
DeleteYour pictures remind me of my Halloweens growing up. Often we didn't even have actual costumes, just old clothing too big for us, meant to be a clown or a tramp or a bride (lacy curtain! lol), but we had a lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteIs that YOU in the ghost costume, Red?!
You remind me of the common costumes at that time. Yes, the big scary ghost is me. I was supervising a dance at school. I went into the workroom and rolled out two large pieces of craft paper, cut a crude pattern and with a whole bunch of staples later had a costume!
DeleteWe had no kids stop by our house and that was ok. It's usually raining on Halloween over here at least for the last few years. There are usually a few places that will celebrate it with kids and they are popular.
ReplyDeleteMalls and churches do things with the kids and that's why we have fewer kids now.
DeleteGrowing up in the UK we never celebrated Halloween. I think they do now as I have seen some photos with similar decorations as we have in our own neighborhood. When our son was little I used to help him with his costumes and take him out on the candy runs with his friends, made cookies, had a party, but since he's grown up all we do now is get a stock of candy in to give out to the neighborhood kids. We only got 10 this year. We had a tornado watch and it bucketed down later.
ReplyDeleteI should ask my wife about Halloween in the UK. She was brought up in Yorkshire.
DeleteI'm never home on Hallowe'en night, so I have no idea if anyone turns up.
ReplyDeleteThat's because you're out trick or treating!!!!
DeleteI enjoyed reading this. A lot is quite similar to my neighborhood in Hawaii. However, I think each neighborhood is different. I asked my friends and even though we had NO trick or treaters, my friend had about a 100 which is amazing!
ReplyDeleteI think it depends on how many kids live in your neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteThings have certainly changed since I was a child! But Halloween is still fun.
ReplyDeleteWe were not at home in our apt this year, so we skipped buying candy treats and now we won't be tempted with any leftovers.
ReplyDelete