When I was a kid, now nearly half a century ago, I loved the month of October. I loved the turning leaves, pumpkin pie, and apple cider. Going to Lilly’s Orchard up on North College street in Broad Ripple and loading up on apples and apple cider was an autumn ritual with our family. Even after all these years, October is still my favorite month. Back then, however, to me it also meant that Halloween was on its way. Halloween was second only to Christmas as my favorite day of the year. Ghosts, goblins, witches, monsters, headless horsemen, bats and owls spiders and cobwebs and all the other things we associate with Halloween were all very exciting to me. Going around with a grocery sack and having the neighbors put treats into it also greatly appealed to me. I attended a couple of Halloween parties as a child and they were fun, but it was the trick or treating that really rattled my bones…..so to speak.
Halloween was a magical night. A kid dressed up in a costume, went out and got candy. I never had to play any tricks on anybody and I would have been hard pressed to think up a trick anyhow. I heard of the legendary doggie doo in the lighted paper bag trick when I was a bit older but I think that it was like a UFO — talked about but never really seen. Pulling any trick would have been more trouble than it was worth. Treats were usually the same as today with mini candy bars, bubble gum, and Hershey Kisses in the loot count. Popcorn balls and apples were in the mix. On rare occasions I would get a caramel apple but it usually did not last long enough to get home. One of the treats that I received a lot of but never really cared for were the peanut butter taffy that came in the orange and black wrappers. They stuck to my teeth and various other parts of my body, so I saved them for my mom.
Costumes were another fun part of the tradition. Half the fun was getting into a costume and pretending you were someone different than yourself. Back then, if you bought any kids Halloween costume, it was made either by Ben Cooper or Collegeville Costume manufacturer and purchased at G C Murphy’s, Woolworths, or Hooks Drugs. The first costume I wore was a devil’s costume. I wore this when I was five or six years old. When I was seven I got a Ben Cooper skeleton costume from Murphy’s. It had a head piece and white eye mask. It did the job. In 1959 I went with my friends without my mom and sister for the first time. It seemed I was able to cover more ground and get more loot with them. I went with them for the next few years. In 1960 I made my own costume. I got a full face mask of an old man and put together some old clothes and went as a hobo. I had a great deal of fun doing this and got help from my mom with the clothes.
It 1961 it rained on Halloween night. I put my raincoat on along with my rain hat. I wore a pirate’s mask and went as a seaman. It worked although my glasses steamed up under the mask. In 1962 and 63 I found a really cool (and expensive — $3.50) Frankenstein Monster mask. I put an appropriate costume together. In 1962 I wound up appearing on the local news in costume. A camera man from Channel 13 was filming in our neighborhood Halloween night and I was caught on tape.
When I was trick or treating it was an all evening affair. I wanted to go out just as soon as I got home from school. No supper — just go. Mom of course insisted that common sense prevail. I had to wait until after supper and then start out on my candy grab. We didn’t stop when the sun went down. We were at it until 9:30 or 10:00 p.m. I was always wonderfully exhausted at the end of the evening. This was long before razor blades in apples or poison candy was a problem.
In 1963 I went trick or treating for the last time. At 13 I was in junior high and both my parents thought I was stretching it a bit. The thing I remember most about the night was a bit after 9 p.m. I was on a porch on Riley Ave. along with several other kids and their mom. When the homeowner was passing out the treats we heard a loud boom. The home owner said “What the heck was that?”
“I hope they’re not shooting off fireworks” said the lady “They scare my kids!”
I just assumed that somebody had made a big noise someplace. It wasn’t until I got home a little later that my dad told me about the Coliseum Disaster at the Fairgrounds. That took all the fun out of the night. That was the last time I was on the scare patrol for Halloween.
I still love Halloween. The Boss and I held Halloween parties at the “Paula Castle” for 20 years. I had more fun at our parties than I ever had trick or treating as a kid. So October and Halloween will always bring goosebumps of joy to me when I think about them.