Halloween back in the day

[Mercilee]

I remember trick or treating up and down every street in Indian Village with my Dad and friends in our costumes. My Dad would carry an extra bag for candy when mine got too heavy. We got wonderful treats like movie theater tickets, little loaves of Wonder bread and home made popcorn balls. People decked out their homes with scary sounds and sights. I felt very safe. We even got candy from the Catholic monastery in the neighborhood.

[Detroit_uke]

Sumas - you reminded me of what we used to say: Trick or treat - my pants are tore - give me some money to buy some more! Or - Trick or treat - smell my feet - give me something good to eat. I grew up in the Warren Ave./Livernois are [[TYler exchange, Detroit 10)
We had soooooo many kids trick-or-treating. One line of kids going up the porch - one line going down!!! I started in the late 1950's. Stopped trick-or-treating in 1968!!!!

[gazhekwe]

We are the ONLY ONES in our neighborhood to have their lights on!!??

I just got back from scoping it out. I wanted to see some kids having fun. There is nobody out there. I think the two neighbor kids stopped by on their way out to a better neighborhood, that's been it. They had some really scary masks on. Darn. I was looking forward to giving out treats, got some really good ones this year. We had several families move in with kids or have kids staying with them this year.

Total for the evening, three cars with eight cute kids total.

[Bodybagging]

Unfortunately my Detroit memory of Halloween isnt the best, but still remains a memory non the less. I spent my childhood in Cass Corridor and come Halloween My grandparents would take me to my Aunts house at Gratiot and 7 mile to trcik or treat with my older cousins.In the early 70's we were walking home after a fright filled night of trick or treating with our pillow cases full to the brim, I was five years old dressed as the cape crusader himself, falling abit behind of my cousins, when out of the darkness came three teenage boys who then preceded to knock me down , kick me and still all of my hard earned loot.
That was my last Halloween in Detroit, I spent the next 10 or so years begging for candy in Dearborn heights , funny how I never forgot that.
The experience did not take away my love for the Halloween season, I grew up loving Halloween, started a small FX company specializing in Haunted House and horror film props and am now living my dream of owning a Haunted Attraction.
I say BOOOOOOO to those teenagers that felt the need to rob a small boy, but give major KUDOS to the Detroiters of the 70s for loading up my goody bag!!!!

[Dfd]

I thought I would bring this thread back up for discussion.

[jcole]

I'm looking at BodyBagging's post and feeling so bad for him. I lived east of Gratiot off 7 Mile and never had that kind of experience in the late 60's. It was still pretty much an enchanted holiday for kids back then. My mom was a wiz with a sewing machine so I was everything from Cleopatra to the Blessed Mother, a Pilgrim to a Flapper and more. Never wore a mask, always makeup. We would cover from 7 mile to State Fair, Kelly to Hayes, go home, empty our pillow cases and then go from 7 mile down to Seymour, from Kelly to Morang. The streets would literally be full of kids crossing back and forth. 15 yrs later, I had kids old enough to be Trick or Treating and the "tainted" candy scares had begun. Lived up in the Thumb by then, and people there were leery about the drugs and needles in candy rumors, so it was church parties, school parties and limited T or T from 6-8. It was a sad comedown from my childhood, but they still loved it.

[Dfd]

jcole , Enchanted sounds like a good description!

[Dfd]

Hi everybody. I thought I would bring this thread back for Halloween season.

[Lowell]

Makes me wonder if kids in the future will tick or treat in medical masks to commemorate Halloween ‘back in the day’.

[Former_Detroiter]

Growing up in 1950's Halloween was the only night the kids in the neighborhood didn't have to be on the front porch when the streetlights came on.

[jcole]

There's a new movement in the 'burbs to change Halloween to a weekend night. That happened back in the 70's and was a miserable failure. Like when they tried to change the 4th of July to another weekend date. I mean, why not try it with Christmas and New Year while they're at it. Allegedly it's so kids don't have to get up for school the next day, but most kids are don't begging by 8 pm, so no biggie. Parents just need to relax; the tiny spawn will survive small inconveniences.

[Satiricalivory]

The day after Halloween should just always be a national holiday we get off.

[Jimaz]

The day after Halloween should just always be a national holiday we get off.

FWIW, that would be All Saints' Day.

[WKL]

I went to a Catholic school and All Saints Day was a Holy Day of Obligation so no school!

[jcole]

We also had to wear religious Halloween costumes for Hallowe'en, aka All Hallow's Evening.

I went to a Catholic school and All Saints Day was a Holy Day of Obligation so no school!

[Dumpling]

There was applesauce back then, and apples eaten from the hand. And then there were Halloween apples. In addition to sewing costumes and providing candy to pass out, my parents would chop apples collected on Halloween into fine mincemeat before serving them at dinner, to be sure of not getting cut with razor blades or needles stuck in them. No sharp objects were ever found in our Halloween apples. Thanks to all who contributed to Halloween fun and safety back then.

In Warrendale last year there were zero trick or treaters at my door. Zero. Zip. Not one. There is some combination of curfew restrictions, religious preferences, and community trunk or treats that made this happen. For reference in about 2010 there were at least 50 trick-or-treaters.

[Jimaz]

The Illuminating History of the Jack-o-Lantern

It is October, and millions of American children will be participating in an annual tradition, traveling to a local pumpkin patch to choose the orange orb that they and their parents will carve into a Jack-o-Lantern. But where did the entire idea arise? And how long has it been going on?

[Zacha341]

Here's a jolly pumpkin to make your day! Just when you thought all those bills were almost caught up.

[Ray1936]

Fortunately, being Protestant [[Lutheran), I had no caveats regarding celebrating Halloween. You Catholics had a bitch of a time with everything, didn't you?

[Jimaz]

Whatever theological objections people may have about Halloween, I like to remind them that it has the very practical purpose of teaching children to be courageous.

As they go through life they will encounter charlatans who will attempt to motivate them with fear. They need to learn that not every boogieman is dangerous. Sometimes it's all a sham and the appropriate response is defiant laughter, not fright.

[jcole]

Only while in the school. We could dress as anything we wanted at night; I went from St Catherine of Siena one year to Cleopatra at night. And NO ONE messed with our trick or treat night.

Fortunately, being Protestant [[Lutheran), I had no caveats regarding celebrating Halloween. You Catholics had a bitch of a time with everything, didn't you?

[Kathleen]

Halloween movies this weekend!

Redford Theatre is showing Suspiria, The Bad Seed, and Poltergeist.
https://redfordtheatre.com/events/

Senate Theatre is having a John Carpenter Halloween party!
https://www.senatetheater.com/events...rtyatthesenate