Kidding Around at Halloween

I remember celebrating Halloween as a child. I can’t recall my parents decorating or making a costume for me until I started grade school. The elementary school had a party with cupcakes or cookies, a few decorations, and Kool-aid. The Halloween parade was sponsored by the volunteer fire companies and prizes were awarded for the best costumes and the best float. Floats either filled the bed of a pickup truck or covered a hay wagon. The floats were never anything fancy, but painted cardboard, corn shocks, hay bales, and costumed people.

Costumes weren’t gruesome zombies, mangled people, or ghouls that are prevalent today. Ghosts were old bed sheets with eye holes cut in them. Witches wore pointed black hats and carried brooms. The hobo was judged for originality and cuteness. Clowns weren’t scary beings like today. Some kids dressed like animals: lions, dogs, cats, etc. One costume category that would be banned today, it was Gold Dust Cleanser, a scouring powder. The advertisement picture is unacceptable today and probably should have been back then. The shape of twin children logo on the bright orange label stood side by side holding a bucket between them. The twins of the cardboard container were black except for the white their eyes. Those who competed for the prize wore blackened faces, carried a bucket, and perhaps a scrub brush.

Trick or treat night was one night only and kids visited relatives for the most part. Children from two towns away didn’t descend on other communities to gather enough candy to last for months. Another tradition for those passing out treats was to guess who was hiding behind the masks. The kids were all local and identifying the child was part of the fun. It wasn’t a grab and run event.

“Halloweening” was another youthful “sport” soaping windows. Old slivers and scraps of soap were rescued from kitchen and bathroom sinks. Liberated Lifebuoy, Ivory, Dial, all became artist’s tools at Halloween. Full soap bars were too expensive to use. Wax allowed the artist’s touch to last longer, but it was too expensive and difficult to remove. Kids who used wax were often hunted down like the graffiti criminals they were.

Older youths also “corned” cars. Only the most daring attempted this, because the excitement and danger increased. Selecting a hiding spot with an easy escape route was absolutely essential. “Shelling” kernels from dried field corn ears, kids held them in hand, and waited for a vehicle. Kids would hurl the corn to hit the car. The loud noise would cause drivers to slow. If they stopped, it was every kid for Themselves to escape without getting caught. Halloween memories.