Halloween back in the day

**Dfd** · October-01-10, 01:04 AM

I know I started this thread last year, but it was fun to read. If you grew up in Detroit's heyday, tell us what trick or treat night was like.

**gnome** · October-01-10, 04:48 AM

Not Detroit, but I can not remember ever having to go out with my parents and it seems strange to me that children today are rarely without a parent. Halloween seemed to be that one magical night when you could assume an identity and do whatever you wanted. Superman, cowboy, hobo, soldier ... all variations on what dreams are made of.

Couple of years back, a young girl, about 8 or 9, came as a pregnant teen.

Maybe she's living her dream by now.

**FredGarvin** · October-01-10, 11:57 AM

To this day, the smell of burnt cork reminds me of being a hobo on holloween, and my parents burning a cork to put a "beard" on me as part of my costume. Plus, I'm not sure of it's a regional thing or not, but as kids we were trained to yell "HELP THE POOR" when begging for candy rather than "trick or treat".

Plus, I found out that it's hard to convince someone you're a deadly Ninja when you're wearing a down winter coat under your Ninja uniform.....lol

**DetroitPlanner** · October-01-10, 12:22 PM

I can remember as a teen my brother would dress up like Fred Garvin!

**EASTSIDE CAT 67-83** · October-01-10, 02:01 PM

My Mom has some great photos from '70 or '71 when us three kids were the Tin Man [[my arms were made of paper towel rolls and tin foil), Cowardly Lion and Scarecrow. We used pillow cases and would fill them up walking up Chalmers and down the other side between Scripp's and Avondale. Some of the old timers in the neighborhood would give you a bag of penny's that we would end up putting back into the economy at the Bridge Store at Ashland and Korte.

**beanietek** · October-01-10, 02:02 PM

Loved Halloween growing up in detroit - tons of kids and tons of candy - we used to wear these cheesie costumes that came with an even cheesier mask. Back then getting a bag of chips was a big deal - older people used to give us pennies, apples, carmels or a couple of marshmellows [[yuk). A neighbor that lived on Central used to take pictures of the neighborhood kids in our costumes with his polaroid instamatic camera and give us each a picture - which we thought was so cool.... gawd i'm old!!!

**MizMotown** · October-01-10, 02:27 PM

my mother made me be a butterfly once when I wanted some gruesome gory mask. I was mortified. i was forced to wear an old bright yellow bridesmaid dress with glittered covered, cardboard cut-out wings and antennas made out of pipe cleaners. Needless to say I was mad and didn't pay attention that I was draggin my pillow case the whole night. When I got home I had a big hole in the case and about 5 small pieces of candy that didn't fall out. Probably left a trail all the way to my door. Karma!

Other than that all the rest of the Halloween's were great! No parents walked us. No jackets! Ton's of kids and great candy.

**n7hn** · October-01-10, 06:15 PM

Miz had it easy. I was a princess at 2 [[Im a boy), she said cuz everyone thought i was so pretty... I was a big boobed old lady , got my baloons all popped after a good beating and a chase, then ..... I got sent out in blackface. sigh...... I dont know why i dont celebrate halloween.

When I was older I got back at her by gluing hair on her chest for a "planet of the ape" costume she wanted..... I left to my own home without leaving her the remover.... tee hee

**Trumpeteer** · October-01-10, 10:00 PM

The problem is now that these younger ones have made Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Valentines Day a SEASON! We had people putting up Halloween decorations TWO weeks ago.

**jcole** · October-02-10, 07:58 AM

Originally Posted by Trumpeteer

The problem is now that these younger ones have made Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Valentines Day a SEASON! We had people putting up Halloween decorations TWO weeks ago.

I think it's more that the merchants have made it a season. They had Halloween stuff in stores before Labor Day. Christmas came out on Labor Day weekend at Michael's.

**gnome** · October-02-10, 08:12 AM

Originally Posted by n7hn

Miz had it easy. I was a princess at 2 [[Im a boy), she said cuz everyone thought i was so pretty... I was a big boobed old lady , got my baloons all popped after a good beating and a chase, then ..... I got sent out in blackface. sigh...... I dont know why i dont celebrate halloween.

When I was older I got back at her by gluing hair on her chest for a "planet of the ape" costume she wanted..... I left to my own home without leaving her the remover.... tee hee

I don't know if this explains a lot or raises more questions, but it sounds like someone doesn't too many cards on Mother's Day.

**Trumpeteer** · October-02-10, 08:36 AM

Originally Posted by jcole

I think it's more that the merchants have made it a season. They had Halloween stuff in stores before Labor Day. Christmas came out on Labor Day weekend at Michael's.

I have to stand corrected and agree with what you say. I'll also ask a favor that you edit your post to delete my inappropriate language. This is supposed to be a fun thread and I let my "venting" take over more rational thinking. Sorry all,

**jcole** · October-02-10, 09:01 AM

Originally Posted by Trumpeteer

I have to stand corrected and agree with what you say. I'll also ask a favor that you edit your post to delete my inappropriate language. This is supposed to be a fun thread and I let my "venting" take over more rational thinking. Sorry all,

Cleaned it up for you.

**d2dyeah** · October-02-10, 11:41 PM

When Kresge's and Woolworth's put the Halloween costumes in their windows, row over row of them in the 50's and 60's, that was magic. Huckleberry Hound, Fred Flintstone, Yogi Bear, and my favorite of all the, space robot costumes. Those window displays got us riled up and in the mood. Then your mom buying your favorite costume one size to big so she could put a jacket on you underneath. We ran around like maniacs and had a ball. The neighbors closest to our house use to give out those paper grab bags with different types of penny candy, and a quarter!! That was really special to us. Mrs. Burns on the corner used to give out that candy corn, and say "Here Chick, chick chick....to every person that came to the door. Sometimes there were so many kids, our Mom would take some of my brothers and my candy to give to the new kids. By that time we had sorted and collected our haul and put aside the apples,loose candy corn and the popcorn balls, which we hated. Here Mom.... take these!!!

**Blueidone** · October-03-10, 07:55 AM

I spent several years of my youth in Huntington Woods. These were some of the best Halloween's I can remember. Our house was right on the corner across from Burton Elementary School. My mother would cook up a huge pot full of hot cocoa, buy many dozens of plain, powdered sugar and cinnamon sugar covered donuts and open up the house to every child who came by. For several hours, groups of kids would stand around our dining table with their paper cup full of cocoa eating a donut. As they finished, they got a small treat for their bag and moved on to the neighbor's house.

My last Halloween in that neighborhood, my entire circle of friends dressed up as either doctors, nurses or patients. We roamed the neighborhood together and every now and then a "patient" would fall to the grass, moaning and groaning in "pain", and we would start play-acting that we were taking care of them, while yelling all the stuff we had heard on Ben Casey, M.D. or Dr. Kildare. It seemed to earn us a little extra candy at each house. :-)

One of my friends had a sort of clubhouse [[an old wooden-doored garage) that his parents let him use. When we were done trick-or-treating that night, we all went there and dumped our pillowcases full of candy into one big pile. For the next few weeks, we would all stop by there to pick up a supply of candy each day.

It was great fun...but I was 14 at the time and just about aging out of the trick or treating thing. And then my family moved out to Washington Township..which at that time was still very rural. No friends around...no trick or treating because it was too far between houses.

**ggores** · October-03-10, 09:39 AM

Everyone was under strict lockdown until dusk. Anyone seen out trick or treating prior to imminent darkness was vehemently "booooooooooed". Everyone clung to their screen doors like house flies, waiting for that moment when all the kids were set loose. Minutes seemed like days.

Halloween Day was probably the best school day of the year. Still riding high waves off the previous Devil's Night activities, we spent all day in our various classes, eating candy and playing little pranks.

Many kids had home-made costumes, as previously mentioned. Others had those Kresge's and Woolworth's get-ups. Mine, in this year, was a plastic skull mask with a rapier sticking out of its head. Those plastic masks were torture, beads of sweat collecting all up under my nose and lips, had to flip it up every ten minutes just to get some fresh, cool air.

Once it was deemed OK to go outside, within five minutes time there'd be 100 kids out, running all around, shouting, laughing, gathering in groups and hittin the streets for some free goodies.

Seeing as Halloween was kinda "curfew free", a handful would actually remain out and about until 10:00, even later, snatching up treats from those few houses that kept their Pumkeens alit. Me? Hell, by the time 9:00 rolled around, I was beat! Then it was time for the "piece count", where you actually counted every piece of candy. Chip bags really didn't count and ended up on top of the fridge for general snacking. My "count" would be between three and four hundred, on a good night.

By Christmas, the only piece of candy left in the bounty would be, say, a Pineapple-flavoured Dum Dum sucker. Bottle Caps were of high value and could be traded for three Reese's and a Mounds bar.

**Kathleen** · October-03-10, 03:39 PM

East side of Detroit...Three Mile Drive between Mack and Warren...we used to be out for 3-4 hours visiting each house, both sides of the street, with stop at selected retail establishments on Mack like Carra's Party Store! Our candy lasted well into the next year!!

One of my favorite Halloween memories are the two spinster sisters who lived on our block...made gingerbread cookies shaped like pumpkins with orange icing!! They were the best! and they were given only to the kids on the immediate block.

**SMRJim** · October-03-10, 03:53 PM

For me Halloween was right up there with Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving. It was the pinnacle of fall. I always wanted my parents to buy me a costume, but we always ended up making our own. The only costumes I remember using were bum [[using the burnt cork, of course) or football player. We went out as soon as we possibly could and stayed out until we'd covered our entire neighborhood 'route', filling up our pillowcases. After getting back home, my sisters and I would all dump our candy out on the living room floor in big piles and sort the candy and trade with eachother. And eat quite a bit of it!

**mikefmich** · October-03-10, 06:00 PM

No needles, pins, razor blades or drugs. I ran the far eastside corner with impunity.....Detroit, Harper Wds. & GPW.

A million kids, I was one of the first ones out and the last to come in. You only saw parents with little kids.....little meaning 5-6 or younger.
To be out on Halloween with a parent was a major faux pas....an embarassment that would last months to the poor kid.

I hardly ever had a store bought outfit....mom would crank up the sewing machine, and dad would get his theatrical makeup kit out.
To this day, I can still smell gum arabic for gluing on whiskers 50+ yrs ago.

The word would move around quickly what houses were giving out pennies and nickels......we would always hit that place at least 2-3 times.

Now it's BS. Certain hours.....certain days....certain neighborhoods. And if a 5 yr old could read, they would be scared to death to go out.
Last year in this little country suburban shithole I live in, even though trick or treat would have been on a weekend night, they moved it from the 31st anyhow.

**d2dyeah** · October-03-10, 06:46 PM

Originally Posted by ggores

Everyone was under strict lockdown until dusk. Anyone seen out trick or treating prior to imminent darkness was vehemently "booooooooooed". Everyone clung to their screen doors like house flies, waiting for that moment when all the kids were set loose. Minutes seemed like days.

Halloween Day was probably the best school day of the year. Still riding high waves off the previous Devil's Night activities, we spent all day in our various classes, eating candy and playing little pranks.

Many kids had home-made costumes, as previously mentioned. Others had those Kresge's and Woolworth's get-ups. Mine, in this year, was a plastic skull mask with a rapier sticking out of its head. Those plastic masks were torture, beads of sweat collecting all up under my nose and lips, had to flip it up every ten minutes just to get some fresh, cool air.

Once it was deemed OK to go outside, within five minutes time there'd be 100 kids out, running all around, shouting, laughing, gathering in groups and hittin the streets for some free goodies.

Seeing as Halloween was kinda "curfew free", a handful would actually remain out and about until 10:00, even later, snatching up treats from those few houses that kept their Pumkeens alit. Me? Hell, by the time 9:00 rolled around, I was beat! Then it was time for the "piece count", where you actually counted every piece of candy. Chip bags really didn't count and ended up on top of the fridge for general snacking. My "count" would be between three and four hundred, on a good night.

By Christmas, the only piece of candy left in the bounty would be, say, a Pineapple-flavoured Dum Dum sucker. Bottle Caps were of high value and could be traded for three Reese's and a Mounds bar.

Wow...I had forgotten about Dum Dum suckers The pineapple were great with the little bits of coconut sticking out, and the root beer ones.

**johnsmith** · October-04-10, 12:11 PM

Originally Posted by mikefmich

Last year in this little country suburban shithole I live in...

Why do you choose to live in a place you call a $#ithole?

Anyway, was everyone a hobo at one time or another? I was, my parents even gave me a real cigar to hold in my mouth.

**Hypestyles** · October-04-10, 03:19 PM

as the public schools have dwindled and catholic schools have abandoned the city, what about school sponsored halloween parties?

**smogboy** · October-05-10, 02:56 AM

Originally Posted by mikefmich

No needles, pins, razor blades or drugs.

Was this truly an urban myth? I vaguely remember that if parents were really concerned they could bring the candy to the police station and have it x-rayed or have the metal detector run over it, but did anyone ever witness a pin, a razor blade or any sort of foreign substance on their Halloween candy? I never saw anything of the sort and always got packaged candy.

**gibran** · October-05-10, 10:22 AM

Take a pillow case...add a great neighborhood... a homemade costume and you have Halloween Detroit Style...picking out the pumpkin last minute at the corner fruit market on Rossiter was an adventure...mom would always wait til the last minute for the bargins.... carve it quick and wait at the gate to get out into the neighborhood... What a magical time of the year... our bags were so full that we had to drop them off halfway at home...of course Dad would have to inspect them [[AKA take out the good candy bars...lol)... we had older neighbors giving cookies and Carmel apples ... they were great... on lansdowne we had a house dressed up like a grave yard...

after the 80's thought it was a lost art...my neighborhood now averages 200 kids ..and the kids come in droves..just like we did 40 years ago..it was great to relive it again with my kids...

**jcole** · October-05-10, 10:41 AM

Sometime in October we would take a ride out into the country to buy pumpkins, donuts, cider and apples. Usually out Armada way, with Dad driving too fast and my sister, her boyfriend and me in the back seat, our teeth gritted, waiting for Mom to start yelling at Dad to slow the hell down.
We always got home in one piece, one step closer to Halloween.
My mother always made my costumes. She was an excellent seamstress and liked to show me off. I usually had two costumes; one religious one for St. Jude's Halloween party and parade [[the whole school walked around the block)and one for trick or treat. I remember being St. Catherine of Sienna, the Blessed Mother and one of the wise men at school and a pilgrim, a flapper and Cleopatra in my secular life. How many kids can say that?