HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
On this spooky day, we set the clever controls on our time machine, and journey back to the pumpkin-patches of the past....What was Halloween like for our Clever Girls?
Dressing as Cleopatra, in a very elaborate costume was the best-ever Halloween for Donna and she always shared her candy haul with her Dad. Milky Way was her favorite candy bar, and Almond Joys were left unopened until everything else was gone, and they were the only thing left. As an adult, pumpkin carving with power tools became a big Halloween tradition. Long before Martha Stewart ever did it, Donna was wearing safety goggles and carving up a storm.
Kathy reports that she was fairly casual about All-Hallow's-Eve. She preferred her costumes to be sans any kind of mask, and covered lots of territory around Ann Arbor. Her prized treat was from a Mrs. Boomisiki, who doled out homemade popcorn balls to the local children. Apparently these were quite the treat, and highly sought after. On Kathy's list of unwelcome items were malted milk balls, and the dreaded root-beer barrel hard candy. She claims to never have pulled any tricks, but we have no real way of verifying this...
Childhood trick-or-treating always included a quest for the very rare full-sized candy bar for Sandy. The startled surprise of being offered one was so exciting, that now she has the fun of delighting all trick-or-treaters at her own door with full sized bars. Chocolate was always her favorite, and nougat /nugget items were avoided at all costs. Her best costume moment came as part of a Mother-Daughter duo when one of her three daughters was Madeline and Sandy dressed as Ms. Clavel, the Nun. We are encouraging her to reprise the look...
Linda dressed exactly the same every Halloween for her Long Island treat gathering. Year after year, she costumed herself as a Beatnik. Black stirrup pants, a jaunty beret, and a long cigarette holder rounded out her ensemble as she foraged for goodies. Regional favorite "Jelly Apples" with a crunchy, cinnamon coating from the neighbor, Mrs. Anna Bruno, were the treasured treat. Bit-O-Honey was (and is) considered most unpalatable by Linda.
Down in Texas, Lynn notes that the weather was always warm and pleasant for Halloween, and one of her favorite costumes was a black kitty cat. She used a pillow case for her gathering, noting it's large capacity. The family across the street had a haunted house each year; and while attending a party there, she remembers reaching into a bowl of "eyeballs", which were really peeled grapes, but rather startling never-the-less. In her teen-aged years, Lynn referenced a party serving "Witches Brew" from a cauldron, but she declined to elaborate any further...
Hope everyone has a spooktacular Halloween!
