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| Harold Peary as The Great Gildersleeve |
Halloween
2025 is history. This morning, Mike stated his disappointment that we had no trick-or-treaters.
Prepared with his collection of Halloween masks, he lamented, “It’s just not
what it used to be.”
He’s
right, of course, but I had to chuckle to myself. I listened to
Halloween-themed podcasts this week, and Ozzie Nelson and The Great
Gildersleeve both lamented in pre-1950 radio programs that Halloween wasn’t
what it used to be. Remembering the “harmless” pranks of their youth, the kids’
interest in “trick-or-treating” seemed tame to them.
And there was Halloween mischief back in the day. My dad always pulled the garbage can into the garage to avoid having to pick up the strewn refuse. Mike remembers rock-and-roll playing from a church tower, and reaching even further back in history, overturning outhouses was a thing to do.
But today, we seem to have moved on from such “tricks” – thankfully so. Looking into our street to assess the Halloween situation, it was exceptionally still – no children moved from house to house, no excited voices filled the air. The houses on either side of us were totally dark, sending a clear message – “Don’t even think about it!”
I stopped in at the Dollar Tree yesterday, where everything is no longer a dollar, but I was pleased to note that they are devoting one aisle to craft supplies. They even had ergo crochet hooks! Stockers were frantically changing Halloween into Christmas. KW
2 comments:
It's NOT the same, but I've accepted the evolution. On Wednesday, we did a true "trunk or treat" where people decorated their car trunks in a safe, fenced-in parking lot. On Friday, we went door to door on Ballard Ave where shop-keepers sat out on stools and gave away candy to a wall-to-wall crowd of kids (in the rain, no less!). At work there was some sort of haunted house event, but it was listed as ages 5 and up. Next year.
Silas is young yet. I think safety has become an overriding concern, and I appreciate that the community steps up to make Halloween fun a safe party.
I saw a smashed pumpkin in a driveway on our evening walk and commented on it. The family there said that they smash their pumpkins every years because the deer love them. Naturally, I made no discouraging remark, but what else do the deer eat while roaming our neighborhood?
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