HALLOWEEN IN THE 50'S IN THE BUCKET

MY MOTHER MADE ALL OF OUR COSTUMES

Yes, we went out for Halloween and it was a big deal.  We would spend the week before talking about our costumes.  We often picked ghosts--that was a sheet with eyes  cut out. Or a witch--that was a black long dress and a pointed hat that we made of  construction paper.
Another favorite was a hobo. That was all grime and rags and tatters. We also liked a fairy princess. That was a long tulle under slip worn over our clothes and a crown.  But the one that I like the best was to go dressed as a cow girl--Dale Evans was my favorite. She was also the object of much jealous envy because she was married to ROY ROGERS.  I could not imagine a happier life.
For that I needed my cowboy hat and a holster with two cap guns and  boots and  a sort of bolero that I wore with a short skirt my mother made those. It had taken me months of whining and pleading to assemble the elements of that costume. The boots were rain boots and the hat was way too big so I just slung it down my back. BUT I WAS IN HEAVEN.

SO all three of us would get into costumes and we would descend with our shopping bags. Of course our first stops were the other two tenements in our three decker. They knew we were coming. 

 Then we  would rush out into the cold bracing air of the darkened streets. There were hordes of kids and we knew most of them and they knew me and my sisters Janie and Sheila. I was supposedly in charge. 

We had favorite places to visit. The people at the corner of Brewster and Englewood were a young couple with no children yet. They made a big  deal--welcoming us and  asking us to come into the kitchen. There  they had a big tub of apples for bobbing sitting on the floor. AND on the table were small doughnuts and paper cups of cider waiting for us.  WE went there first and after they had unmasked us all and admired our costumes, we would kneel around the big tub and engage in our own form of voluntary water boarding. 

 I would put my whole face in and try to grab the apple with my teeth  pushing it down to get a firm grip at the bottom of the  barrel. We all made a big mess.  But they had towels on the floor and when we emerged triumphant we would  put that apple into our bag;  dry our hair and move over to the  table with a big carved pumpkin.

 WE  were allowed two doughnuts and two cups of cider. That was a great way to start the evening. We had begun with the best but  I worried that if we saved it for last there might be nothing left.
I was right about that. Their house went dark early. When we walked back to our house heavy laden and I saw the dark house that had been so bright an hour or earlier I was glad that I had been among the first to bob.

When we got home my mother would  have us empty all of our bags and she would take some from each for a candy bowl that stayed on the  kitchen table for the rest of November. She would allot a fair share to each bag with our name on each. We could keep that and eat  it at our own pace.

 My sisters ate theirs  within a  couple of days and would begin to pester me for mine. I was OK with that  because I could use the candy to bribe them to do what I wanted.

MY mother made hot chocolate and we would eat any cookies that we had  been given. That was  a time when we did not worry about any cruel surprises in the treats of Halloween.
 A MORE INNOCENT TIME