As an adult, it seems as though the event has taken on a different focus. You might even say it’s a more adult themed focus.
I’m sure when I was too young to notice there were adults who’d dress up and go to house parties or the local bars and have fun but I don’t recall seeing the types of costumes we see today back then. The costumes our parents and grandparents wore were, shall I say, more wholesome or traditional. Perhaps there were risqué costumes in the early and mid-1900’s but by today’s standards they’re exceedingly tame to say the least.
Oh sure the wee little children going door to door are still dressed up as cute characters that look adorable but the older kids and young teens seem to be influenced by our increasing culture of sex sells. I suppose there were probably girls dressing as Madonna back in the 80’s and wearing bras and panties but certainly not in my neighbourhood. Of course in Canada, quite often we had to wear our snowsuits under our costumes to keep us warm while trick or treating. Now we’re getting the Britney Spears and Lady Gaga impersonators wearing as little as possible even in the cold weather. What’s even more shocking is how their parents let them walk out the door looking like that.
I’m no prude but there are age appropriate costumes that should be worn.
I have no trouble whatsoever with college aged girls or adults showing skin and dressing in sexy costumes. When you’re an adult it’s totally different and judging by some of the costumes I’ve seen over the years at bars and parties, the older girls get a lot of satisfaction of dressing up in as little as possible for both the shock factor and to get the boys all worked up. Heck, if I was a hot young woman, I’d probably do the same thing. I’m sure they enjoy teasing the guys.As a man I can appreciate that. I’m certainly not opposed to having a look. After all, it’s not my daughter, sister or wife showing all that skin. But as appealing as that is to look at, I still prefer to think back to the memories of my youth.
Now we’re not talking Norman Rockwell type memories but still we had some good times at Halloween as kids. Much like my adult version, I wasn’t a small child and therefore my costumes compensated for this. The one costume I clearly recall wearing was an Old King Cole outfit from the nursery rhyme. It was a purple robe and crown and I had my pipe and bowl. I didn’t have my fiddlers three however. I think my mother made it for me.
For many years my mom was very popular with the local kids. She’d make candy apples.
One year I even remember her burning herself quite badly while dipping the apples into the hot candy coating. She still has the scar on her hand where she was burnt. I know most of the kids in the neighbourhood loved them so much that they’d go directly to our house first, bypassing all others, to make sure they got one. A few years later some sick and twisted individuals decided to start putting razor blades in apples so mom figured it was best to stop making them as parent’s stopped trusting any food that wasn’t factory sealed. I can’t say I blame them and I’m sure mom was ready to give it up as well.
The one area in which I had very little skill was pumpkin carving. That didn’t stop me from trying though. I’d draw the face design on the pumpkin and then I’d place newspaper on the kitchen floor before the carving began. The face was passable but nothing award worthy.
We used to clean the seeds out of the pumpkin and then mom would bake them in the oven for us to eat. I remember loving them back then but years later I tried them again and they just didn’t have that same flavour. Perhaps I’d outgrown my seed eating phase.Trick or treating was a lot of fun as a kid but like so many other things, I grew up and lost that childlike enthusiasm for it. I didn’t lose the love for eating treats and things that aren’t good for me though. Some things are just too good to give up on.
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