After eating chocolate you feel godlike, as though you can conquer enemies, lead armies, entice lovers. |

After eating chocolate you feel godlike, as though you can conquer enemies, lead armies, entice lovers.

I see spider webs. That may not sound like much, but it means I am just about healthy again. It means the weird cleaning obsession is back so I have to stop and clean away the webs and dust whenever I see them. Already the dishwasher is filling with dusty votive glasses and chimneys. I’m even going to empty the dryer.

Today is much like yesterday, sunny and in the 50’s. We’ll have warmer weather later in the week, back to the 60’s for a couple of days. I love this time of year.

My mother always created our Halloween costumes. We never bought them ready-made. Sometimes, though, we’d buy a mask to go with whatever we were, but I never really liked full-faced masks. They were hot, and most times my eyes didn’t line up with the holes so I could only see half the world. I liked the masks favored by the Lone Ranger and the Green Hornet, the ones where only your eyes were covered.

We used pillow slips to carry our bounty so we didn’t have to worry about paper bag handles breaking. Those were the days of red apples, popcorn balls and little tied bags with a few pieces of candy. I remember one red apple had a nickel stuck in it. That was a treasure. I never thought about the time that went into making popcorn balls. I was a kid. All I thought about was the candy.

Fun size candy bars didn’t exist when I was a kid. Now that’s just about what everyone gives. A few years ago I decided to give out what we called nickel bars. I remember how excited we were to get them, and how from year to year we’d return to the houses which passed them out. One was a red house with a huge porch. It was on Main Street right near my friend’s house. Two old ladies usually answered the door. They loved to see the costumes and always complimented us on how good and scary we looked. They gave us Hershey Bars every year. The red house is still there though now it is a business. I always think of those two old ladies every time I go by it. We were so excited to get those Hershey Bars. That memory so filled with delight had me switch to full size bars. The first year I did, a little girl was so excited she yelled to her father waiting on the street, “It’s a big bar.” I knew exactly how she was feeling.

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This entry was posted on October 27, 2015 at 11:55 am and is filed under Musings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: candy, cleaning, Clothes dryer, costumes, dust, fun bars, Halloween, masks, pillow cases, popcorn balls, red apples, spider webs

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8 Comments on “After eating chocolate you feel godlike, as though you can conquer enemies, lead armies, entice lovers.”

Bob Says:

October 27, 2015 at 2:02 pm
Of course if we didn’t have Halloween we would have to invent something to keep the retailers going until Black Friday. My brother in law owned a head shop in Tampa and rented costumes for Halloween to make up for the slow fall season.

We are on our way to Las Vegas to celebrate my daughter’s 21st birthday. We had planned to go in April but our plans were changed because we had to move. I haven’t been to ‘Lost Wages’ in over 35 years and I’m looking forward to seeing all the new hotels. I’m not a big gambler but it will be fun. I had an instructor in Miami tell me that if the Sands hotel is going to send an airplane to pick up a high roller he will have to put up a 50 million dollar marker.

Glad to hear you are feeling better.
- katry Says:
  
  October 27, 2015 at 5:29 pm
  Bob,
  We didn’t have all the Halloween hoopla when we were kids. My mother bought candy, a pumpkin or two, maybe masks and cardboard decorations. Nobody went all out the way they do now.
  
  I haven’t ever been to La Vegas. I have friends who love to go and they try to make it a stop if they are traveling somewhere else. I don’t gamble either. I hope your daughter has a wonderful birthday. You are making a special age a very special event!
olof1 Says:

October 27, 2015 at 2:19 pm
A rather lovely day here, no wind and sunshine all day 🙂 I worked in the neighbor factory today so I could enjoy it when I walked between factories.

No Halloween here when I grew up but we did much the same at Easter but we were all dressed up to witches. Now days boys rather go as wizards or warlocks though.

We have a candy called Nickel here and it is one of my favorites, It is square caramels packed together in one package and I think it is ten caramels in each package. They can either have fruit taste or old time taste like sassafras and peppermint and a few other flavors.

Have a great day!
Christer.
- katry Says:
  
  October 27, 2015 at 5:37 pm
  Christer,
  We had the coldest morning yet but the day got warmer. We may even hit the 70’s at the end of the week, for only one day though-no trend.
  
  Halloween observations go way back here. I don’t know how it started, but it may have come from the Gaelic festival Samhain. I know carving pumpkins came from Ireland where they carved turnips. I’m surprised you don’t have some version going way back as it has Pagan roots.
  
  Have a great evening!!
Jay Bird Says:

October 28, 2015 at 12:27 am
I can’t really remember my Halloween’s as a kid. I recall some sadness as a Freshman in high school that we became “too cool” to trick-or-treat”, My favorites as an adult (passing candy out) were Snickers, of course! Now that diabetes has arrived in my late-60’s, Snickers are but one more fond memory.

Still watching an extra-innings World Series Game One, Royals-Mets. I have little rooting interest, except maybe for the Mets for sweeping the upstart Cubs, who had the audacity to beat my Cardinals. They’re my National League team (Red Sox are, of course, my AL fave). Hardest feat in sports is winning the World Series (IMO).
- katry Says:
  
  October 28, 2015 at 11:40 am
  Jay,
  I have so many memories of Halloween. My brother and I usually traveled together. We went all over. I remember when my dad gave out Hoodies one year. I swear kids kept trying for a second or a third. Lots of trash that year.
  
  I kept checking the game but didn’t watch it all. I have allegiance to either team though I guess I’d say I prefer the Mets.
  
  I remember the World Series against the Cardinals. People who traveled to the games thought it was a wonderful city and the people courteous and kind.
  
  I’d think the NBA title would be even more difficult. That’s a body killing game.
Richard Says:

October 30, 2015 at 3:47 pm
O. M. G. … if the ‘weird cleaning obsession’ is back, you’re okay again. You mention ‘votive glasses’ … that term always confused me when I were aught but an wee chirren. I took it at first to mean ‘volitional,’ but learnt that was wrong. I next connected it with ‘voting,’ but that was wrong too. I still don’t know what ‘votive’ means in relation to those glasses. I remember seeing row upon row of ’em in church, usually off to the side altars where the statues of the less-than-major saints were kept. The only thing I remember really liking about ’em – other than the glow when they were all lit – was the long waxed taper people used for the lighting.

Mom always made our Hallow’een costumes … some years (most years, in fact) we were cowboys. Because none of us liked the full-face masks ‘cuz that rubbery latex was hot and smelt horrible, we began dressing as skeletons. That way we could burn a cork and blacken our eye sockets and around our mouth … which meant no mask. Yay!

We finally lost interest in Trick or Treat in the year the newspapers and radio started telling stories about malicious types who were putting needles and razor blades in the apples they gave kids. Mom called a halt to it real fast, but she didn’t have to worry, ‘cuz we weren’t interested anymore. I do, however, still have fond memories of that Big Number Twenny-four Wash Tub filled with ice cubes and apples … taught us to be fast and be accurate … no one wanted to keep bobbin’ in what were surely Arctic water temperatures …
- katry Says:
  
  October 30, 2015 at 6:07 pm
  Richard,
  That’s exactly what I said to myself. I was cleaning odd stuff I never clean so I must be healthy or over the edge. I chose healthy!
  
  The ones in the church are exactly what I mean. I have several clear ones on decorative metal holders. One has 8 votives; the other has five. I cleaned hanging lamps and bookcases. My next target is in this room. I dusted a few things today but it barely made a dent.
  
  We were witches or cowgirls or whatever else my mother could conjure. She did the make-up and put together the costumes.
  
  We just got too old to trick or treat any more. My friends and I would find something fun to do.
  
  For a few years the drill team I was in had to march in the Halloween parade. I hated it. Eggs sometimes got thrown and I remember one oozing into my boots.
  
  My mother never worried and later we found out most of the stories about razor blades weren’t true. I found this today:
  
  http://mentalfloss.com/article/12914/brief-history-sick-people-tampering-halloween-candy