When I was a little kid, besides December for the obvious reason that Santa Claus was coming to town, I looked forward to the month of October. Not only did it mean the fair would be going on during the month, but it also meant Halloween was upon us. The older I get, the less interested I become in Halloween. I never fully understood it other than it was a chance to score free candy while dressed up as something fun. I loved to dress up, but I never really got into the Halloween party spirit.
 |
| Elvira WAS Halloween when I was a kid |
Growing up, I wasn't allowed to watch horror movies because they COULD give me nightmares. My parents thought my overactive imagination would turn those spooky tales into sleepless nights. So, while my friends were watching "Halloween" and "Nightmare on Elm Street," I was stuck with lighter fare like "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and other kid-friendly shows. Even without the scary movies, October still held an air of mystery and excitement.
When Terry and I lived in apartments, we always bought candy just in case trick-or-treaters stopped by. Sometimes they did, and other times we ended up eating all the candy ourselves. When we bought our house, we went all out with decorations from Target, Walmart, Garden Ridge, and wherever else we found cool stuff. For the first few years, we really got into the spirit of handing out candy. Instead of using a bowl to hand out random handfuls of candy, we made individual bags of candy that I heat-sealed, and Terry finished with a sticker. Kids knew our house was the place to be because we handed out bags with Fun Sized chocolates, gum, jawbreakers, gummies, and a sucker of some sort. Unfortunately, the next day, I'd find our bags, minus the contents, strewn around the neighborhood. I guess parents don't really monitor their kid's candy like they did in the 70s and 80s.
 |
| You too can be a makeup artist, lol |
Speaking of the 1980s, I remember we didn't have as many choices for Halloween costumes as there are now. We didn't have Party City or Spirit Halloween; we had K-Mart, Woolworth, TG&Y, and True Value hardware. Yes, True Value did sell costumes at one time, they also had one hell of a toy set up during Christmas. As a kid of the 70s and 80s, you either had store-bought costumes or something homemade. Looking back, the store-bought costumes were horrible. I had a Superman Ben Cooper costume in preschool and still remember the plastic mask with eye holes that didn't align, a mouth slit that could cut your lips and tongue, and nostril holes that weren't big enough to let your breath escape. We were walking nightmares, smelling our breath and sweating in our vinyl jumpsuits with pictures on the front of who or what we were supposed to be. For the life of me, I can't remember if the costume was supposed to be worn over clothes or if you were only supposed to wear it with just underwear. Homemade costumes were nice if your parent was interested in creating one, but mine wasn't. My mom made her own costumes a few times, but for my sister and me, we used stuff from around the house. One year, my sister was a “hobo,” and I was a ghost covered in a pastel green sheet that had a seam sewn in the middle along with three holes cut out, 2 uneven eye holes and for some reason, my mom also cut a hole for my nose, I guess she thought I might suffocate. I hated that costume; I wanted to be Peter Criss from KISS or Wonder Woman, but neither was in the cards for me. In all fairness, it may have been slightly better than the costume's my mom's coworkers threw together one of the years the Pensacola Interstate Fair offered free admission to anyone wearing a costume. Ten of us showed up at the fair wearing paper grocery bags from Delchamps and Food World cut with "fringe" and each of us with a feather poking out of our hair posing as half baked Indians. By the time we entered the gates, we were all already stripping off the grocery bags and left the Indians in the trash cans next to the Beer Garden before making our way to get our 8 or 10 buck "G" (for Goodings) handstamp so we could ride whatever we wanted all night.
I got even in the 9th grade for all of the costume craziness of the past when my mom wanted me to come to her Ala-non Halloween party at the library in Milton, Florida. I convinced my sister and her best friend to dress me up as a hooker. With my mullet that looked like a shag haircut when feathered back, I wore my sister’s friend's shoes (a size too small and too narrow), black spandex tights, a silver vest and a bra. I discovered during the summer of 1992, I looked better than most of the New York City hookers, and I was better dressed and way more conservative. My mom was horrified when her friends came up to introduce themselves to me and said they had heard so much about Dee’s daughter, prompting my mom to say, "This is my SON."
 |
| My sister had this costume |
Looking back on these memories, October is still a special month full of magic, creativity, and a bit of spooky fun. It's a reminder of the joy in simple traditions, the excitement of dressing up, and spending time with family and friends. Even though my enthusiasm for Halloween has changed, the nostalgia from past Octobers keeps the season bright. Here's to making new memories and keeping the October spirit alive, no matter our age. 🎃✨
Comments
Post a Comment