Halloween! Back in my day, this was a day that we looked forward to for weeks. Who remembers the costumes that came in the box with the clear front? The mask was a big indicator of the character. There were no Halloween stores or huge displays to put in the front yard. No, we didn’t have that back in the fifties and sixties. We would get dressed up in a store-bought costume or some of us had creative parents that made our costumes for us. The big thing was the candy. We grabbed brown paper grocery store bags with handles or, in some cases pillowcases and headed out for our bounty. The neighborhood was so safe we didn’t need our parents to go with us; they stayed at home and gave out candy to the other kids. We knew to stay in the neighborhood, and we knew who gave out the best candy. There was a man down the street and around the corner who gave out taffy apples, one person gave out small cartons of lemonade, and then some gave us quarters and dimes. There was always someone who gave out full-size candy bars, and how about those healthy families that gave us apples and oranges. Our bags would be so heavy we would have to stop by the house and get another bag. It was the best time of fall. Then things started to change. There were bag snatchers and evil people who put razors in the apples and harmful things in the candy. Trick or treat moved into the malls and into “safe” areas that were not as much fun as outside. In today’s world, they have “truck or treat” where kids go to a parking lot and get candy from the trunks of cars. I’m glad I can talk about the “good old days” of trick or treating. There was nothing like it.
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