We didn't get much candy at home, so Halloween was our chance to make a big haul. Trick or treating was on October 31st and never rescheduled to a weekend night.
I was in grade school during the 1960s, and our family lived in a small suburb of St. Louis. At that time of year it seemed like it either rained, or so cold we had to wear a coat over our costumes. But that didn't stop us from trick or treating!
We used brown paper grocery store bags to hold our Halloween candy. Some kids had plastic pumpkins, but most used paper bags or pillowcases (no plastic bags in those days).
When it rained on Halloween, we had to hold our bags from the bottom to keep them from falling apart and spilling our candy!
Most houses had lighted jack-o-lanterns, but very few were decorated elaborately like today. We sometimes saw cardboard Halloween cut-outs hanging in a window, or a ghost hanging from a tree.
One time, though, we went up to a house where a scarecrow was sitting in a chair, but it turned out to be a man who stood up as we approached. We jumped and screamed (but still asked for candy).
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What Are Your Memories of Halloween? Do You Still Enjoy it Today?
Yes, the wax Halloween candy was fun as well as tasty.
Oh and the fake lips with fangs, those are a big favorite, I can remember the very authentic flavor.
katiem2 - I'm glad you enjoyed my memories. Candy corn and peanuts sounds good.
I love the vintage decorations, my kids love candy corn, they eat it with peanuts, taste like a payday candy bar that way. Love Charlie brown and the other movies you highlighted. I have an old VCR player bought when my kids were young but I haven't broken it out in a while, I am glad most of the older favorites have been digitized. Great Halloween Blog!
Mira, I did get a VCR player in the late 1970s, when my son was a toddler.
DerdriuMarriner, unfortunately, there any photos of us at Halloween. But I found a photo of the wax harmonicas on Pinterest. According to the pin, they aren't being made any more. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/5338173...
blackspanielgallery, It would depend on where you lived, too. My mother said they didn't celebrate Halloween when she was a child because they lived out in the country, miles away from any town.
This was very interesting. I don't think I've ever tasted wax candy, and that wax harmonica sounds like a lot of fun :) I really enjoyed your comments about the sixties and the clip. TV shows were pretty much the same here during the sixties, but we didn't get VCRs until the late 1980s.
AngelaJohnson, Thank you for the memories, practicalities and products. I always found the flying monkey music and scene from The Wizard of Oz quite frightening. Is there any picture of you and your siblings with the wax harmonica?
By the 60s I was getting too old for trick or treating. But, things were much the same in the 50s.