Halloween and Me

I used to love Halloween. I think I shared with you that when I was younger I’d decorate my house in Sun Valley with all things Halloween: carved pumpkins, spider webs (I only knew of cheesecloth back then) and creepy crawly things. I’d drive to Conwin Carbonic in Glendale off San Fernando Road (I don’t know if they’re gone entirely or just moved) to buy dry ice that I would put in a caldron for a spooky effect.

In my teenage years I had a tall boyfriend who would sit in a rocking chair on my parents’ front porch. He’d “pop up” and scare trick-or-treaters. I had friends mixed with dummies who would lie on the front lawn and as trick-or-treaters would step over them they’d pop up, surprising and scaring them. What fun!

When we moved to a back house (a flag lot) on Altura Avenue, I discovered there were no trick-or-treaters; I was so sad. But when we moved to Mountain Pine there were a ton of trick-or-treaters. We spent many hours decorating the house. Happily one of my sons was just as crazy as I in creating scary stuff for the house. One year we even had a smoke-breathing dragon! The neighbors would come by for the big reveal and would tell us how great the house looked.

But those days are pretty much gone. We have two granddaughters who live nearby and now we’re “those people” who turn off our porch light on Halloween night so we can go trick-or-treating with the grandkids. Our three dogs keep the house safe, though I don’t envy any intrepid trick-or-treaters – they might get eaten!

And speaking of getting eaten, let’s take a quick look at this history of Halloween candy – courtesy of history.com.

Though I was always looking for candy on Halloween, candy wasn’t always given out. In the early years when Halloween first became popular (in the 1930s and 1940s) children were given all kinds of sweet things – from pieces of cake to fruit, nuts, toys and coins. (I remember getting pennies at some doors.)

In the 1950s, when candy manufacturers began to promote their products for Halloween and as trick-or-treating became more popular, candy was increasingly regarded as an affordable, convenient offering.

It wasn’t until the 1970s, though, that wrapped factory-made candy was viewed as the only acceptable thing to hand out. A key reason for this was safety as parents feared that real-life boogeymen might tamper with goodies that weren’t store-bought and sealed.

Today when it comes to Halloween candy a number of the most popular brands are enduring classics. (Think Reese and Hershey.)

For the good of my pumpkins, rather than pieces of cake, fruit, nuts, toys and coins I’ll rely on factory favorites to hand out on Halloween … if I’m home.