Happy Halloween by Bea Tifton

We don't really do much for Halloween. It's just my mother and I and the neighborhood kids don't go door to door anymore. We don't have a lot of kids in our neighborhood, anyway. But we do put a pumpkin sign out and a few fall things. We order pizza, watch Practical Magic and Ghostbusters, and call it a night. But it wasn't always that way. 

When I was growing up, I loved Halloween. Not the scary haunted houses, but the kitschy stuff.  We were allowed to wear our costumes to school that  day and most elementary schools had Halloween carnivals. My mother would let me run around the carnival with my friends in the crisp fall air. 

And we trick or treated. We went house to house in our costumes, first chaperoned by my mother or father and then as a rite of passage, we were allowed to go alone. People gave generously, some even distributing caramel apples or popcorn balls. We were only allowed to eat those if the people were family friends. In fact, usually my father would buy our candy from us and we were allowed to buy candy straight from the store with the money. So not completely worry free even in the 70s and 80s. But, it was the experience and the excitement that made the night. 

I know that  people don't like to open their doors now. And it's not really safe to go door to door, anyway. Now if I had kids I would probably do what my father did even if it was a bit of a buzzkill. And most schools don't let kids wear their costumes or have school Halloween parties. When I was a teacher and a school librarian, we weren't allowed to decorate for Halloween. We could only use fall and "harvest" things. And no Halloween parties. (I would usually just happen to make "dirt pudding" that day for my students.) Some schools would have a "Storybook Character Parade" and maintained various degrees of strictness as to whether Batman is a storybook character. When I was a librarian, kids would come to me frantically asking me to give them a book for their costumes. Graphic novels came in handy for superheroes. And some schools have Harvest Festivals, but most have "Trunk or Treat" where cars line up in the school parking lot and the teachers and volunteer parents distribute candy or have simple games. It's safer, but I'm glad we got to go door to door. 

I feel like we've lost something. That sense of community. That sense of mystery and anticipation. That sense of fun and freedom. Private homes spend more on Halloween decorations than ever before and many spend much more than on Christmas decorations. But the actual celebration has changed so much. Still, at least kids get to do something. It would be a shame if Halloween completely went away. 

Do you still get Trick or Treaters? 

 

Photo Credits from Pixels.com

Monstera Production "Jack O' Lantern with Black Hat"

Charles Parker "Unrecognizable Kids in Halloween Costumes Knocking on House Door"

Thirdman "Jack O' Lantern on a Wooden Bench"