I feel like a columnist for a major newspaper...I'm mad as heck! It's not for myself, but the children of today who missing out on some special memories of the past when Halloween comes around. With the passing of the 'age of innocence'; a day when things were much simpler in life...and it was a lot more fun living. Though some traditions of Halloween go on; it will never be like it was back in the 'olden days'. The lack of trust, not knowing those who live around you, odd people who take advantage of the holiday to act even stranger. They're just some of the reasons Halloween has changed.
I can remember some of the enjoyment as far back as 25 years ago in the early 1980's. It was around that time it started taking a turn, but there was so much more to Halloween back then. It was almost unheard of to go door to door for candy while it was still daylight; even the wee ones waited until dark to be taken out by their parents. It was safe to walk the streets, whether in groups or alone. Occasionally, an older bully would steal your bag of candy, but we had three or four nights of going out to collect. Now, it's usually limited to one night; the actual holiday. Everyone knew the families next door and everyone throughout the neighborhood if not all around town. You could try to get away with things, but there were too many eyes watching. If you pulled something out of line, your parents were waiting for you to walk in because they had already hear about it before you got home. Doors up and down the street remained unlocked and there were so many homes you could just walk right in without even knocking. Lots of people were friends with one another.
There was always a Halloween parade...where a large crowd would march in costume with an even larger crowd watching as spectators. It strutted the main street, usually through the downtown district, stopping traffic for the fun that was going. Prizes were awarded for different age groups and special catergories.
The parade would wind its way to the community recreation center for cider and juice and donuts and cookies...Halloween cookies...cookies all decorated up for Halloween. 
Oh, sorry...I got a little sidetracked there. Did I mention there were cookies after the parade?
It was worth dressing up and marching just for them. There was a huge bonfire burning out back and everyone was doing The Monster Mash; singing and dancing to Halloween-related music.
The best thing was going house to house and see what loot you could collect. You compared notes with fellow trick or treaters as to which houses were handing out the best loot. There were a couple neighborhoods that were a bit on the wealth side you always made sure you hit because they always gave out the best candy; sometimes, even full size bars. Certain houses always gave out special treats; the stay-at-home moms who had the time, enjoyed the domesticated creativity and liked to be frugal and make their own hand outs that showed that extra caring to give out something more personal. Though there was the 'razor blade in an apple' urban legend, which unfortunately, is a reality today, people gave out loose treats...and you didn't have to worry about anything being laced.
There were popcorn balls, plain apples, candy apples, caramel apples wrapped in waxed paper (Boy, we hated getting so many apples.
We'd rather have candy but mom would always put them to use baking a pie.), loose candy corns and gumdrops and pop corn...and money! 
Some people either found it cheaper to flip a penny up to a quarter into our bags...or that had run out of candy and they didn't have anything else to hand out beside change. You could make a buck or two...and have money to spend at the penny candy store...like 
that's just what you need when you have two pillow cases full sitting by your bed back home. They even had Halloween parades in school with treats served. Now, it's too satanic and the treats are unhealhty.
Then, there were those 'special' houses you had to stop at because you know you had an extra nice treat waiting for you...your Aunt Max (Uncle Bob was at the Legion getting drunk), grammy, Unk Cy (you could catch him at the bar at the Stein. If he had enough snorts under his belt, he'd give you a dollar...or want to buy you a shot. Unk, I'm only 12. If you're old enough to run the streets alone, you're old enough to stagger them, too.), or Aunt John (his wife was Uncle Bertha...can you say role reversal?). It was a must-see sight to pass by the crotchity, old geezer down the street whose trees always got toilet papered...and no one ever knew who did it. He'd sit with his lights out and if anyone knocked on his door, he'd yell for them to go away because nobody was home.
We can forget about that litte, old lady down on the corner. Poor dear never got any company. I think she was around 100 and outlived everyone. She was so tickled this time of the year...she was surrounded by children having fun and making her feel happy and young once again. She'd light up everytime she turn on her porch light to hand out treats. Though some kids were scared of that 'old witch in that creepy house', the ones who knew Ruth was a sweetheart always treated her with respect and were kind making sure they thanked her and to wish her Happy Halloween. She'd squeal with glee and had a compliment for every costume. If you told her who you were, she'd have even nicer special treats set aside just for them. You got small paper bags of goodies from these people...candy, a cookie, candy corn, gum, maybe a quarter (though Ruth could only afford a penny; it was still sweet. It was worth it to her as she made memories to last her while she's alone again until next Halloween).
The treats have changed, too. Could you image anyone give you a bag of squirrel food full of nuts and dried fruits back then. What are you? Hippies left over from the '60's?
We got jaw breakers and fireballs, Tootsie Rolls; the short, fat kind and the long, thin kind; Tootsie Roll Pops, too.
I don't know why, with all the different kinds of candy being handed out, O'Henry was always my favorite at Halloween and I continue the tradition by trying to find a few to stuff into my mouth to this day still.
Somethings, you can't give back to your children or grandchildren. It's gone forever. There is a way to help put the old time personal touches back into their holiday...and maybe continue passes some traditions along. It helps families spend some special time together with one another and friends. Have a get together and serve some of those refreshments that fit the theme. You can hand out special bags to some of your favorites. There's enough adults that dress up; you can buy them a shot. I'm legal now...and my favorite is Buttery Nipples; not to be confused with the slippery ones. You have to float the Baileys on to of the butterscotch schnapps; not just dump it in and let it mix. Jello shots...of all flavors are fun to do, too. I'm pretty good cleaning out a cup with my tongue. There's all kinds of ways to put some of the fun from back in the day back into Halloween. Be cautious, be safe, but be able to enjoy it, too.
Maybe you'd like to whip up some of the favorites of the past. Make out your list of the ingredients needed...and you could even have the kids help.
POP CORN BALLS
5 cups of popped pop corn (Keep pop corn in oven set at 300 degrees to keep hot.)
2 cups of granulated, white sugar
1 1/2 cups of water
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of light corn syrup
1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla; not artificial
Butter the sides of a pan. Mix sugar, water, salt, corn syrup and vinegar
Cook to a somewhat hard stage...around 250 degrees.
Add vanilla
Pour slowly over hot pop corn; mix well so all is covered.
Butter hands and form into balls.
Set on waxed paper. Makes 8.
CANDY APPLES
15 apples
2 cups of granulated, white sugar
1 cup of light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups of water
10 drops of red food coloring
1 teaspoon of cinnamon (optional)
Lightly grease a cookie sheet or line with waxed paper.
On a medium pan on medium - high heat, mix sugar, corn syrup and water.
Heat to about 250 degrees
Remove from heat and stir in food coloring.
Insert craft sticks in whole, stemmed apples and dip into syrup and remove.
Turn to coat evenly.
Place on prepared sheets to harden.
(If you don't have a candy thermometer, drop a small amount in cold water. It should harden and develop into brittle strands.)(You can always cheat and follow the directions on a jug of pre-made syrup.)
CARAMEL APPLES
14 ounces of unwrapped caramels
2 tablespoons of milk
6 apples
Basically, follow the same type proceedure for making Candy Apples. You can even microwave this! Nuke the caramels and milk for 2 minutes until melted.. Stir at least once. Dip apples on a stick and place on prepared sheets.
Any of these can be wrapped in waxed paper or placed in sandwich bags to keep from getting messy while waiting to eat. Now, when those little ghosts and goblins come around, you know they won't pull any tricks with the specials treats you give them. Trick or treat...smell my feet...give me something good to eat! Don't make me toilet paper your trees...
I can remember some of the enjoyment as far back as 25 years ago in the early 1980's. It was around that time it started taking a turn, but there was so much more to Halloween back then. It was almost unheard of to go door to door for candy while it was still daylight; even the wee ones waited until dark to be taken out by their parents. It was safe to walk the streets, whether in groups or alone. Occasionally, an older bully would steal your bag of candy, but we had three or four nights of going out to collect. Now, it's usually limited to one night; the actual holiday. Everyone knew the families next door and everyone throughout the neighborhood if not all around town. You could try to get away with things, but there were too many eyes watching. If you pulled something out of line, your parents were waiting for you to walk in because they had already hear about it before you got home. Doors up and down the street remained unlocked and there were so many homes you could just walk right in without even knocking. Lots of people were friends with one another.
There was always a Halloween parade...where a large crowd would march in costume with an even larger crowd watching as spectators. It strutted the main street, usually through the downtown district, stopping traffic for the fun that was going. Prizes were awarded for different age groups and special catergories.
The parade would wind its way to the community recreation center for cider and juice and donuts and cookies...Halloween cookies...cookies all decorated up for Halloween. Oh, sorry...I got a little sidetracked there. Did I mention there were cookies after the parade? It was worth dressing up and marching just for them. There was a huge bonfire burning out back and everyone was doing The Monster Mash; singing and dancing to Halloween-related music. The best thing was going house to house and see what loot you could collect. You compared notes with fellow trick or treaters as to which houses were handing out the best loot. There were a couple neighborhoods that were a bit on the wealth side you always made sure you hit because they always gave out the best candy; sometimes, even full size bars. Certain houses always gave out special treats; the stay-at-home moms who had the time, enjoyed the domesticated creativity and liked to be frugal and make their own hand outs that showed that extra caring to give out something more personal. Though there was the 'razor blade in an apple' urban legend, which unfortunately, is a reality today, people gave out loose treats...and you didn't have to worry about anything being laced.
There were popcorn balls, plain apples, candy apples, caramel apples wrapped in waxed paper (Boy, we hated getting so many apples.
We'd rather have candy but mom would always put them to use baking a pie.), loose candy corns and gumdrops and pop corn...and money! Some people either found it cheaper to flip a penny up to a quarter into our bags...or that had run out of candy and they didn't have anything else to hand out beside change. You could make a buck or two...and have money to spend at the penny candy store...like that's just what you need when you have two pillow cases full sitting by your bed back home. They even had Halloween parades in school with treats served. Now, it's too satanic and the treats are unhealhty. Then, there were those 'special' houses you had to stop at because you know you had an extra nice treat waiting for you...your Aunt Max (Uncle Bob was at the Legion getting drunk), grammy, Unk Cy (you could catch him at the bar at the Stein. If he had enough snorts under his belt, he'd give you a dollar...or want to buy you a shot. Unk, I'm only 12. If you're old enough to run the streets alone, you're old enough to stagger them, too.), or Aunt John (his wife was Uncle Bertha...can you say role reversal?). It was a must-see sight to pass by the crotchity, old geezer down the street whose trees always got toilet papered...and no one ever knew who did it. He'd sit with his lights out and if anyone knocked on his door, he'd yell for them to go away because nobody was home.
We can forget about that litte, old lady down on the corner. Poor dear never got any company. I think she was around 100 and outlived everyone. She was so tickled this time of the year...she was surrounded by children having fun and making her feel happy and young once again. She'd light up everytime she turn on her porch light to hand out treats. Though some kids were scared of that 'old witch in that creepy house', the ones who knew Ruth was a sweetheart always treated her with respect and were kind making sure they thanked her and to wish her Happy Halloween. She'd squeal with glee and had a compliment for every costume. If you told her who you were, she'd have even nicer special treats set aside just for them. You got small paper bags of goodies from these people...candy, a cookie, candy corn, gum, maybe a quarter (though Ruth could only afford a penny; it was still sweet. It was worth it to her as she made memories to last her while she's alone again until next Halloween).
The treats have changed, too. Could you image anyone give you a bag of squirrel food full of nuts and dried fruits back then. What are you? Hippies left over from the '60's?
We got jaw breakers and fireballs, Tootsie Rolls; the short, fat kind and the long, thin kind; Tootsie Roll Pops, too. I don't know why, with all the different kinds of candy being handed out, O'Henry was always my favorite at Halloween and I continue the tradition by trying to find a few to stuff into my mouth to this day still.Somethings, you can't give back to your children or grandchildren. It's gone forever. There is a way to help put the old time personal touches back into their holiday...and maybe continue passes some traditions along. It helps families spend some special time together with one another and friends. Have a get together and serve some of those refreshments that fit the theme. You can hand out special bags to some of your favorites. There's enough adults that dress up; you can buy them a shot. I'm legal now...and my favorite is Buttery Nipples; not to be confused with the slippery ones. You have to float the Baileys on to of the butterscotch schnapps; not just dump it in and let it mix. Jello shots...of all flavors are fun to do, too. I'm pretty good cleaning out a cup with my tongue. There's all kinds of ways to put some of the fun from back in the day back into Halloween. Be cautious, be safe, but be able to enjoy it, too.
Maybe you'd like to whip up some of the favorites of the past. Make out your list of the ingredients needed...and you could even have the kids help.
POP CORN BALLS
5 cups of popped pop corn (Keep pop corn in oven set at 300 degrees to keep hot.)
2 cups of granulated, white sugar
1 1/2 cups of water
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of light corn syrup
1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla; not artificial
Butter the sides of a pan. Mix sugar, water, salt, corn syrup and vinegar
Cook to a somewhat hard stage...around 250 degrees.
Add vanilla
Pour slowly over hot pop corn; mix well so all is covered.
Butter hands and form into balls.
Set on waxed paper. Makes 8.
CANDY APPLES
15 apples
2 cups of granulated, white sugar
1 cup of light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups of water
10 drops of red food coloring
1 teaspoon of cinnamon (optional)
Lightly grease a cookie sheet or line with waxed paper.
On a medium pan on medium - high heat, mix sugar, corn syrup and water.
Heat to about 250 degrees
Remove from heat and stir in food coloring.
Insert craft sticks in whole, stemmed apples and dip into syrup and remove.
Turn to coat evenly.
Place on prepared sheets to harden.
(If you don't have a candy thermometer, drop a small amount in cold water. It should harden and develop into brittle strands.)(You can always cheat and follow the directions on a jug of pre-made syrup.)
CARAMEL APPLES
14 ounces of unwrapped caramels
2 tablespoons of milk
6 apples
Basically, follow the same type proceedure for making Candy Apples. You can even microwave this! Nuke the caramels and milk for 2 minutes until melted.. Stir at least once. Dip apples on a stick and place on prepared sheets.
Any of these can be wrapped in waxed paper or placed in sandwich bags to keep from getting messy while waiting to eat. Now, when those little ghosts and goblins come around, you know they won't pull any tricks with the specials treats you give them. Trick or treat...smell my feet...give me something good to eat! Don't make me toilet paper your trees...
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Comments: 49
Nice. Here I thought this was a nice feel good story and then you had to go and threaten people :/
Where we live now, the kids are pretty safe and they all hit the senior condos. The residents love it. It's still not the same though.
Thanks for the recipes, we are having a big halloween party here at the house for my daughter and her friends. I just wanted to get to dress up too!
The kids used to do a Halloween Parade at school back in our old area- they would walk through the neighborhood on the day of the Halloween parties, then go through the nursing home that was behind the school, before going back to school for their class room parties.
The whole neighboorhood would be outside watching and taking pictures. I saw that this town does do a Halloween night parade, so I'm excited for that. I think for a classroom treat, I may just have to do doughnuts and cider this year!
Nowadays, it seems like no thought is given to costumes - and some kids don't even wear them!
Great article
We are still pretty safe here in our little town. There is a trick or treat parade downtown and all the merchants hand out goodies. We have the few "special" houses that we go to so they can see the boys in their costumes.
Happy Halloween!!
I think my favorite treat was the caramel apples though. I still love those to this day. I will definately be making those soon with my kiddos.
Its really sad, but I won't let my kids eat any candy that is opened or not in a sealed wrapper. Things have changed so much since I was a kid. There are just too many crazies out there.
I also remember never having our door locked growing up (even when we left the house), except maybe in the night time. Now it's almost unheard of for people to leave their doors unlocked.
I will remember to throw some of these old traditions into my kids lives. Thanks for the happy memories.