Ghosts of Halloween - All Grown Up

We were still living in Liverpool when we became grandparents. We also gained a daughter-in-law who was born Oct. 31 so Halloween became a double celebration. Mike & Alex will always associate Halloween with birthday cake. Mike's first year of trick or treating was around our neighborhood.

Mike & Angie 2001

In 2002, John was transfered again and we returned to Akron. The two years that we were there BJ, Angie and the boys came out to trick-or-treat and spend some time with us. PJ, Jae and the girls went to their other grandmothers. We did get to see Nikki, the week before, in one of the cutest costumes I've ever seen. That's her on the right as a chicken. There was a little fan built in to keep it blown up. We couldn't help but laugh when we saw her. Our laughter upset her so much that she wouldn't wear the costume to trick or treat, but went as Barney instead.

Mike, Alex, Nikki 2002

Now that we're living in Snowville the only trick-or-treaters we get are Mike and Alex. They always stop by on their way to their other grandmother's as she lives in a nice, well lit housing development. (We live so far out that the kids next door don't bother coming over, instead they head to their grandparents.) We do work on Halloween decorating and crafts when they are here for kid's night. It's been years since I've made a Halloween costume. I was with Bean when she bought Sprout and Twig their costumes this year and I hope that they stop out for their first ever night of trick or treating.

I do have 100+ other kids at work each day who are busy talking about the upcoming parties that they'll be attending, the costumes that they'll wear and where they'll be going trick or treating. This year, at work, we're having a combination trick or treat - school bus safety event that I'm hoping will become and annual thing. It has me a little excited about Halloween this year. Who knows, if it goes well I may make myself a costume for next year.


This is the third in a series of Halloween memories.

Ghosts of Halloween - My Childhood

Ghosts of Halloween - My 2nd Childhood

Ghosts of Halloween - My 2nd Childhood

When my kids were much too young to go trick-or-treating I took one of their baby blankets and used a diaper pin to hold it at their neck for an instant ghost costume. We went to my mother's and I took BJ around to the people that still remembered me. It was a fun night and a way to not only show off one of my children but to reconnect to the old neighborhood. Being alone I thought that this would become an annual tradition for us.

Bean & BJ 1981

The next year I met John and our lives quickly changed. By 1983 we had moved into John's house in Pennellville, NY. There weren't very many houses on the street at that time so we went to John's cousin's house to trick-or-treat with her daughters. This year began the tradition of hand-me-down and homemade costumes.

PJ as a superhero, BJ not happy with his hand-me-down and Bean
as a Martian, the first of many costumes I made. 1983

In 1984 John and I married and I became a stay at home mom. With a bit more free time the quality of the costumes improved. We went to to Oswego, NY so the kids could trick or treat with their cousins.

front - Bean, Frank, BJ and Jean
back - Hugh and PJ
Clown and Cowboy costumes made by Apple 1984

Eventually more houses were built near us and John would take the kids trick or treating on our street. Because there still weren't very many houses the kids would get full size candy bars. In the summer I would start making little plastic canvas candy holders for all of the neighborhood kids. There were a couple of years that I dressed as a witch and sat at the picnic table in the front yard to hand out treats. My costume was a bit too real for some of the little ones and I'd have to take off my mask before they'd come into the yard. I always felt badly about that and wonder if it is one of their Halloween memories. The years that BJ and Bean were with my ex, PJ would either go to Oswego or with his cousins on his mother's side.

When BJ and Bean started school there was a Halloween parade at school every year that the kids looked forward to. We were also very involved with Camp Fire. In October each year there would be a fall gathering at Camp Talooli where we bobbed for apples, made nature crafts and took hikes.

Camp Talooli, Pennellville, NY 1987

Lahe Temelo, Camp Talooli, Pennellville, NY 1986

Every year the kids and I would decorate the house. Stuffed bats hung from the ceiling and cardboard decorations were placed in the front windows. Pumpkins were carved at the dining room table every year and placed on the front steps with candles. Costumes were planned and worked on weeks in advance. Many years I was more excited about the holiday than the kids were.

I don't know why we didn't take more pictures at Halloween. The ones here are the only ones that we have. In 1989 we moved to Akron, NY and while there I made some great costumes that I wish I had pictures of. There was the big felt snowman, stuffed with newspaper, that several of us wore over the years. One year BJ decided that he wanted to be Otto the Orange (mascot of the SU Orangemen) and I really outdid myself on that one.

After they had all left home Halloween lost it's magic. By then we had moved again and were living in a huge housing tract in Liverpool, NY. We spent the evening answering the door and not recognizing anyone other than the kids from the houses on each side of ours. We'd buy several bags of candy and turn out the light when it was gone. The dog would go crazy every time the doorbell rang and Halloween just wasn't fun anymore.

A Very Local Tradition

In 1989 we moved to Akron, NY. Being new to the neighborhood I was quite shocked and upset that our our house was toilet-papered on Halloween, the only house on the street to be decorated. It took days to get it all cleaned up. I had no idea why we'd be singled out this way. None of the other neighbors remarked on it and as I was still just getting to know people so I didn't bring it up. We were there for five more Halloweens and it never happened to us again but there were always several houses around town with paper hanging from every tree branch.

In 2002 we returned to Akron and I mentioned to a friend, who still lived on our old street, how hurt I had been that first year and how I thought it was awful that the kids got away with this prank year after year. I was quite unprepared for him to burst out laughing! There is a long standing tradition of papering the homes of the local school teachers on Halloween. Our first home had been owned by a teacher and the kids weren't aware that she had moved. The community saw it as harmless and no malice had been directed at us.

This is the second in a series of Halloween memories.
Ghosts of Halloween - My Childhood

Ghosts of Halloween - My Childhood

Ormsborough Tract, Taunton, NY 2007
Halloween has always been my second favorite holiday. I grew up in Ormsborough Tract, a small housing tract of mostly very small post WWII ranch homes. We'd get to go pick out a pumpkin and draw the face we wanted carved on it. My parents did the carving. They'd be placed on the front steps Halloween night and lit with a candle. Most years the the older boys in the neighborhood would go around smashing all of the pumpkins in the street after trick-or-treating. Every year we'd get to go to Morey's Mill to watch them press cider.

Our early costumes were store bought and had to be large enough to go over our winter coats. There must have been rainy years but in my memory every year was crisp and clear and it couldn't get dark early enough. Some local business would always hand out special trick-or-treat bags the week before and with bag in hand we'd head out the door as soon after dinner as we could. Mom would stay home to man the door and Dad would take us around the neighborhood.

Two of our annual stops stand out in my memory. The first was a neighbor across the street. We'd yell "trick-or-treat" and he'd respond, "show me your trick!" One year I tapped danced and another I did a little jig. Not very tricky but I did get my treat. The other house was on the next street and they always had their garage open and invited everyone in for cider and donuts. When we got home Dad would inspect our treats to see that they were safe and we'd sort out everything that we didn't like into a pile for him.

When we got older we'd trick-or-treat for UNICEF. There was a competition at school to see which class could raise the most money. We'd go out early, with the little kids and then rush home and change to go out again for candy. When we were older still, I remember the boys from the neighborhood still going door to door when they were considered much too old and when they had their haul they'd play nasty pranks. One year it was tomatoes and eggs, another shaving cream and the worst was when they'd fill a bag with scat, light it on fire on a door step, ring and run. They thought it was hysterical to watch the homeowner come out and stomp out the fire. Although I never approved of their pranks I never told on them for fear of getting beat up. They usually were caught and dealt with without my help.

I don't know if any pictures were ever taken of us in our costumes. The photo album of Mom's, that I have here at the house to be scanned, doesn't have any. I'll have to look in the other albums as I scan them.

(I looked online for a picture of the cider press of my memory and although I found hundreds of pictures none came close to the picture in my head. Has time warped my memory or was the process they used truly unique?)

This was written for the 34th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy, Halloween and the Supernatural. It is the first in a planned series of articles recording family memories of Halloween.

Ghosts of Halloween - My 2nd Childhood