Flashback Friday - Halloween version

I'm joining in with Linda at Mocha with Linda on her discussion of Halloween - now and then.


What  was Halloween like when you were growing up? Did your family participate? If not, was there a substitute activity? 

Back in the dark ages when I was a kid, Halloween wasn't the least bit controversial.  Everyone dressed up and went door to door seeking treats, especially in Small Town America where I grew up.  There were no problems with eating any/all the candy we collected.  Life was different back in the day.   

Did your school or church have a fall festival or carnival? Were there stipulations regarding costumes? What sorts of activities did they have? 

I don't remember my school having a fall festival or carnival ... but we did wear our costumes to school on Halloween.  Remember, this was back in the dark ages (50+ years ago), so there wouldn't have been any need to have any requirements or prohibitions regarding costumes.  I don't remember much other than the trick or treating ... hey, things haven't changed much in 50+ years ... it was (and is) all about the candy!    

What about Halloween parties? Have you ever bobbed for apples or been on a hayride? What are your memories of "haunted houses"? (I'm not referring to the ultra-scary, secular ones, just the fun kid ones, with bowls of grapes and cold spaghetti!)

I don't remember ever attending a Halloween party or done a haunted house.  When I was a kid, dressing up for school and going trick or treating was pretty much the extent of the Halloween celebration.  Hey, holidays in general back in the dark ages weren't the BIG. DEALS that they are these days, and Halloween was no exception.  Halloween, in terms of holidays, was a minor holiday.  

And as an adult, Halloween is still a minor holiday ... its appeal has been watching DD getting dressed up in her costumes ... and now my Halloween fun is seeing the Ts dressed up in their costumes and treating them (to some toys, books, etc. ... they get enough candy elsewhere).  So for me, Halloween isn't really an adult's holiday.  

If you went trick-or-treating, what were the rules, both for trick-or-treating and for candy consumption? What types of costumes did you wear? Were they store-bought or homemade? Did you carve a jack-o-lantern? 

The only rule my sister and I would have had would have was to stay together and watch out for cars (our house was in a part of town where there were no sidewalks).  Yes, we went out trick or treating with no parental supervision.  Shocking, I know.  But remember ... I grew up in Small Town America back in a safer, gentler time.  We knew our neighbors for blocks around, but it wouldn't have mattered ... at Halloween, every house was fair game so we hit them all up.  The one house that I always wanted to make sure that we hit was Mrs. Skinner's house ... she gave out popcorn balls, which I always loved!  The only other rule that that we had was for candy consumption -- no eating it up that evening and only a few pieces at a time.

Thanks to my CRA, I can't remember any of my costumes, although I do remember that no costume was complete without a mask.  The mask made the costume ... you could get away with a substandard costume if you had the right mask.  And these masks ... they were plastic, with teeny-tiny slits for eyes (even if we didn't need a parental unit to accompany us for safety reasons, we certainly did to guide us ... those slits for the eyes were just about worthless ha!).  I'm certain that my costumes were homemade (everything else was!); I'm not even sure if the stores carried costumes back in the day.  More than likely, we cobbled something together from what we already had ... our clothes, any dress-up clothes, sheets, etc.  But our masks were always storebought.  And Halloween wasn't complete with a jack-o-lantern.  I'm sure that my mom did all the handling of the knife; I remember scraping out the "guts" with my hands, being oddly fascinated by the texture. 
      

And the most important question: Do you like candy corn? What is your favorite (and least favorite!) Halloween candy?

I really don't care all that much for candy corn ... I'm not that big of a fan of candy in general, but the ones I have trouble resisting would be Baby Ruth, Snickers, Bit o Honey, and M&Ms.  I prefer the minis ... they satisfy my urge to snack or nibble.