They gave us three hours. 6-9 p.m., and it was safe during those days to set your double-digit kids free to fill pillowcases with full-sized deliciousness.
Mallow Cups, Bottle Caps, Clark Bars, Butterfingers, Bit-O-Honey, Reese’s Cups, Hersey Bars, Tootsie Pops – even candy cigarettes – and so much more. If the porch light was on, we climbed the steps to retrieve our Halloween bounty as if it were our last day alive. And, yes, we scampered from door to door in our Woodsdale neighborhood while maintaining “Trick or Treat” politeness so our mothers didn’t hear about any unnecessary rudeness.
That’s because, as a child of the 1970s, you learned very quickly that the “Mom-to-Mom Network” could prove deadly to your ran-around freedom.
“Trick or Treat!” – over and over – Milk Duds, Rolos, Snickers, the $100,000 Bars, Jawbreakers, Fun Dip, Bazooka, Necco Wafers – and if the neighbors really liked your costume, they doubled you up on Twix or Mounds bars, the Atomic Fire Balls, Double Bubble, Nestle’s Crunch, Pumpkin Seeds …
It’s different these days, so, here’s an appropriate, “Boo Over Beauty” Halloween costume idea for your child who has, after all, already survived the annual store-bought, plastic-mask suffocations, and it comes complete with “Make It Homemade” instructions and the three keys to a successful candy collection.
“Vampire”
Needs:
- Red lipstick
- White face makeup
- Hair gel
- Black pants and shirt with a black belt – silver belt buckle a bonus!
- Silver medallion on a 14/16-inch necklace
- Novelty vampire teeth
Three Keys to “Sweets” Success:
- Stay in character – while visiting a home with the porch light on, do your best to communicate like a vampire would … even if you sound like Count Chocula!
- Show your novelty vampire teeth as often as possible!
- Find “scary-yet-mischievous and ornery” facial expressions (see cover photo) and use them as often as possible.
Most importantly, have a blast, be safe, and never forget the late and legendary Vincent Price and his wise words from more than four decades ago …
The foulest stench is in the air; the funk of forty thousand years;
And frizzly ghouls from every tomb are closing in to seal your doom.
And though you fight to stay alive, your body starts to shiver;
For no mere mortal can resist the evil of the Thriller …
And remember … BOO!
