“Clothes make a statement. Costumes tell a story.”
Today is one of those fall days we all remember from when we were kids walking to school. The morning air has a bit of a nip, but it will get warmer as the day gets older. You can just feel it. The sun is shining through the leaves and branches of the trees in the backyard. It is a muted sun, not the bright sun of summer. The year is moving along.
Halloween was always the topic of conversation around this time. With only a few days to go the planning got intense. It was time to scour the house for the perfect costume. We all knew being a ghost was the fallback. We wanted more. We didn’t have zombies back then or I would have been one. Frankenstein made a few appearances. Walking with your arms straight out was part of the look. That gave the hint as to which monster you were. Hobos were easy but not at all scary. Cowboys needed only a hat and a gun belt. I was never the fairy or ballerina type. I remember one year my sister wore her tutu. Fake blood and scars on your face were a must. The scars always had black stitches. My mother did the make-up. She also hunted for the parts for our costumes. The only thing she usually bought in Woolworth’s was a mask for each of us. The best one was like the Lone Ranger’s because you never got hot and sweaty wearing it. A pirate was a good costume, and every pirate I knew only had one eye. Boys sometimes wore dresses and hats and girls had jackets, ties and fedoras. I remember being a hobo with a stubble on my face and wearing clothes which had seen better days. We usually carried pillow slips instead of bags.
At the neighbors’ houses we stopped the longest because they chatted and pretended not to know who we were. The little kids didn’t go far afield. My brother and I wandered all over town. When the house lights started to go out, we went home with our treasures. It was time to do inventory.
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
October 28, 2014 at 2:15 pm
Thanks for the reminder, I have to buy some sweets for the few kids that might come to our house. Halloween still isn’t big over here and the amount of free-roaming pumpkins is growing but small.
Speaking of zombies, last week I saw The Walking Dead for the first time, 3 or 4 sequels in a row were shown on TV. I was eager to watch it because I read enthusiastic reviews and comments and listened to a 1 hour radio feature about the zombie actor school in Atlanta, but I stopped watching in between. Boring. Everybody seems to love this series, so were several sequels in a row too much or am I strange?
October 28, 2014 at 3:03 pm
Birgit,
Last year I had more kids than in the previous three years combined. I just about ran out of candy. I am prepared this year!
I really like The Walking Dead. I have watched it from the beginning so maybe that makes a difference. I’ve watched characters I like being killed by the walking dead and have seen a few turn. Maybe watching all in a row may not be the best way to catch up. Some people don’t like that genre and some won’t even give it a chance. At least you tried.
October 28, 2014 at 3:21 pm
Halloween is getting bigger here but we only have one young boy in the village and he’s so shy that he doesn’t dare walking around in the village 🙂 🙂
I think I would have liked to be dressed like a astronaut 🙂 or perhaps a werewolf 🙂 zombies have never been anything I’ve cared about, I’ve always wondered why they need to eat brains and not the rest of the body and why do they need to eat, after all they are dead and fall apart easily 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
October 28, 2014 at 3:29 pm
Christer,
Halloween is huge here. Enormous amounts of money are spent on costumes, decorations and candy. My street alone has eight kids 8 and under.
On The Walking Dead they eat all parts of the bodies. Intestines seem to be popular. I don’t know why they’re hungry either. They are gross looking.
Have a great evening!
October 28, 2014 at 5:37 pm
Hi Kat,
I don’t remember any of the costumes I wore as a kid. I remember that they all came from the five and dime store uptown. They were in cellophane packages with the mask included. We kids spent a lot of time pouring over those packages to select just the perfect one. It was a big decision.
We carried pillow cases, too. Dedicated Halloween totes came long after we were done with Trick or Treating.
I’m ready for Halloween. I bought three bags of candy some time ago. I have eaten all of one except for the Milk Duds. They don’t taste the same as the ones I remember. Anyway, I’ll have to replace that bag before Friday.
The only part about Halloween that I am not going to like this year is Piki Dog. Rocky loves everyone that comes to the door and likes to greet all the kids. Piki Dog wants to bite their feet off. I’m not sure how I will handle it but I’ll think of something. I might have to leash him to the piano bench. 🙂
Enjoy the day.
October 28, 2014 at 5:50 pm
Hi Caryn,
With four of us store bought costumes were out of the question. The masks were from Woolworth’s. My sisters carried trick or treat bags as their haul was always much smaller than mine and my brother’s. They stayed close to home and the streets around the house.
My candy arrived today. I bought Necco Wafers and a variety box of Hershey’s. The Necco goes first in case I get some of the chocolate left for me.
Gracie too greets everyone. For the first few she barks then gets with the program. I have to make sure she doesn’t escape. I’ll put her leash on just in case. Good luck with Piki Dog.
Have a great night.
October 28, 2014 at 11:24 pm
My feelings about Halloween have been expressed here in the past. Thankfully my kids have out grown the trick or treat thing. Last year we left a bowl of candy out front and let the kids help themselves. When I was a kid we dressed up in store bought costume with each Halloween. After my twelfth birthday I gave up on trick or treating.
I was awakened this morning at five to the sound of wind and rain ahead of the cold front. The rain only lasted about ten minutes or so and the high temperature still reached the high 70s. The real cold fronts, Alberta clippers, swoop down the plains from the Arctic in January and February and turn North Texas into a winter wonderland for a couple of days.
October 29, 2014 at 12:09 am
Bob,
Each year I get more and more kids. They are adorable. Gracie and I hand out the candy and Gracie is quote enthusiastic. Around 8:30 the kids are far between so I turn off the light.
I watch old scary movies while I’m waiting. I have DVD with all of them on it. I prefer them to the bloody ones now.
70 sounds perfect. If your don’t get much snow, even a couple of days of it is a joy, lots of fun and pretty. We are also getting a cold spell but tomorrow will be in the 70’s. Behind that is such cold weather that the far north could get snow!
October 30, 2014 at 5:36 pm
Hi Kat,
Since my apartment is in the back, no one comes for trick or treat. I remember my mom dressing me up as a ballerina– leggings and a tutu. One four friends went as Little Women ( I was Jo) and once I went as Madeline.
It’s a fall grey day here, and I am resting in bed.
Waving,
Lori and the scary Crew
October 30, 2014 at 6:10 pm
Lori,
I have a small street with few houses so the pickings are lean, but the neighborhood seems to have far more kids than it used to so I’m expecting a crowd.
Gracie loves going to the door with me.
Waving!!