Man sure brought back good memories of Halloweens from my youth when we would bring home more sugar than found in most small countries! We covered miles and nobody worried about eating it.
Exactly right. I mean, this was back when grocery bags were made of brown paper, and we'd come home with the large ones at least half full of things most of us wouldn't even
consider eating today. As I hinted at earlier, you could imagine dentists across the country rubbing their hands together and chuckling in anticipation of the dollars that'd be coming their way in the first week or so of November.
What I remember most about Halloween now, though, is that it was cooler in the fifties. There was a chill in the air here, and leaves were crackling underfoot as we went house to house, porch lights glowing, carved Jack O'Lanterns with candles inside grinning and leering at us. And often there was the smell of burning leaves in the air...it was legal back then to burn leaves in back yards and out by the street. We could see the fires, burning and flickering up and down the block, and sometimes we'd just stop and stand around the fire for a while. If some of us had gotten marshmellows for treats, we'd toast them over the fire.
Halloween was special then...it was
fun for us kids, and we didn't need mom and dad to walk with us, either. There were no wackos protesting the day as some sort of devil's day. I don't remember anyone worrying about someone putting something bad inside candy or fruit or whatever. No gangs of thugs with guns roamed the streets doing damage to property or people. Halloween pranks...sure. But real damage? No.
Damn it, I've fooled around, grown up, and gotten old.
