Monday, October 26, 2009

Halloween Back in the Day




Halloween back in the day in Oakland was sooo cool. Trick-or-treating in the 50s and 60s in the neighborhoods in which I grew up, 24th Avenue and later, Brookdale Avenue was safe, fun and a community event. I can remember going trick-or-treating with my mom when my sister and brother were younger but the real fun was when a group of us kids from age nine and up would go off all over the city (not really but it seemed like it) and getting loads of candy. We would be gone for hours and we did not worry about someone putting something in the candy or razor blades or any of that stuff. We just had fun.

The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock was regular fare so we were really geared up on the scary movies. The Adams Family and the Munsters television series got us ready for the haunted houses. I remember this old lady’s house over on East 26th Street that was spooky and we called it a haunted house and being scared to walk past but we marched bravely up to it on Halloween night, still scared, but not to miss out on any goodies. The lady just gave us regular candy.

I remember being a fairy, a ghost, Snow White (ha ha). We got huge amounts of candy. My mother would go through it and throw out loose unwrapped candy and then we would put our horde in big glass jars and we were supposed to be meted out a few pieces but my brother and I always ended up eating as much as we could. I remember getting a tummy ache one year. But that was then and this is now. Parents now have to worry about every little thing and have to think on every angle. Most people go to people’s houses they know, some do not trick-or-treat at all. I see lots of churches have parties; some call them Harvest day. They have games, costume contests and plenty of goodies. But I still remember Halloween back in the day when we were carefree and innocent.

2 comments:

Beverly said...

Yes, Halloween was the best back in the day. :)

That was the day everyone was super good in school - did not want your parents to get a phone call.

Getting ready and just waiting for it to get a little dark and everyone coming outside at the same time.

The older kids looked out for the younger kids and it was safe to roam up and day the streets.

Then getting home and seeing all of the loot you got - especially the pennies, nickels and dimes from some folks (as you can imagine those were those popular homes to visit as we passed the word up and down the block.

And then getting up the next money and wondering where all of the candy went as there was only a couple of pieces in your bag.

Dera Williams said...

LoL @ Beverly. I remember the candy snatchers. It was a different time.