Halloween - From Scary Boos to Way Too Much Booze

Most, if not all, Western countries recognize Halloween on October 31st. Notwithstanding its religious beginnings, Halloween is mainly for kids. Whether brick-and-mortar or online, retail stores also do very well if they sell candy, costumes, and other miscellaneous Halloween-related stuff. But that wasn’t always the case. So, let’s take a look at Halloween.

The History of Halloween

The origin of Halloween is the coming together of customs and beliefs of a few different Celtic-speaking countries. It is an unusual mixture of various religions and paganism. It is an odd combination of honouring the dead and some devil worship. But that’s from long ago and, frankly, a little creepy. Let’s look at the fun and frivolity of Halloween in more recent times.

Jack-O-Lanterns

When I was a kid, Halloween always started the night before or even a week earlier, with the carving of pumpkins to make jack-o-lanterns. My mother would buy a couple of pumpkins from the grocery store. They had to be just the right size and shape. We used a kitchen knife to carve the faces in the pumpkins because there were no special pumpkin-carving tools in those days.

Some families would bake the seeds in the oven and use the pumpkin innards to make pumpkin pie, but we just wanted the pumpkins for carving. So first, we cut a hole in the top of the pumpkin big enough to stick our hands through, careful not to wreck the lid. Then, using only our hands, we had to scoop out the slime from inside the pumpkin. After the inside was all cleaned out, we would decide which side of the pumpkin looked the best in which to carve a face. The last step was to make a hole in the lid for the smoke to escape when we put a lit candle inside the pumpkin to accent the face.

They were now ready to show the world. So the next day, just before the kids started to come door to door to collect candy, we would put our carved pumpkins on the front step, place a lit candle inside, and put the lid on. This tradition later carried on with my kids.

The Big Night

Now, you may have read other essays on this website. If so, you may remember that I grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan, on the Canadian prairies. I have fond memories of Halloween on the prairies. Those days were a lot of fun and safe, clean fun. Kids would go door to door in small groups collecting candy. Then, upon arriving at each door, they would yell out, “Halloween apples, candy, or cake. If you don’t give us some, your toilet will shake”. This ridiculous chant referred to times long before me when most households had outdoor toilets called outhouses, small wooden shacks with a hole in a bench and a dugout pit below. But things change. Kids eventually changed the chant to “Trick or Treat”, which is more concise and to the point. When I was young, we still spelled Halloween with an apostrophe (Hallowe’en).

My family lived in a complex with 14 courts. Each court consisted of six buildings, with four units in each building. So that’s 336 units to go to to beg for candy. If the outside light was on, as most were, that was our cue that they were open for business. So I would collect candy in a shopping bag, and when it became too heavy to carry, I took it home, dumped it and went out again.

Every family had to have kids to live here, and I knew most of them from school. So, going to any or all of the units was considered safe. In those days, parents didn’t think it was necessary to check the candy to see if anything was unusual. We would dump it onto the carpet and eat whatever we could until we got sick. My absolute favourite was banana-flavoured BB Bats.

The Incident

However, I remember one year, for some reason, when I was about seven years old, my aunt Joyce took me out trick-or-treating near my grandparent’s house. In this neighbourhood, every house had a veranda. So I knocked on one door. The woman who answered dropped a little parcel wrapped in newspaper into my bag. Who wraps candy in newspaper? Because this seemed a little suspicious, my aunt took it out of my bag and opened it up. To our amazement, it contained potato peelings, which are garbage.

What I remember next may or may not have happened, as this was a long time ago, and time has a way of playing tricks on memory. My aunt cursed while throwing the parcel through the veranda window, and we ran down the street. Sorry, Auntie, if some of the details are fuzzy. I’m an old man now, and my memory ain’t what it used to be.

Homemade Costumes

Commercialism had yet to realize the potential profit of kid’s Halloween. So, of course, in those days, all costumes were homemade. Walking down the street, every small group of kids had a ghost, a witch, a clown, a vampire or all four. Ghosts were most common because the costume was the easiest to make. Just take an old white bedsheet, cut some holes for the eyes, and you were all set. Also, you should know that it can be freezing in Regina at the end of October, so the sheet fit quite comfortably over a kid’s winter parka. So, what do ghosts say? BOO! Here’s the first homophone in the title.

If your mother was ambitious and creative, you could go out as a witch or a clown. In our family, we had both. I remember that my mother made a couple of clown costumes for us. But, in the beginning, they were too big because they had to last year after year as we grew older and bigger. Depending on the year, I had to hike up the pant legs to keep them from dragging in the mud or the snow.

Halloween With My Own Kids

When I was 16 years old, I moved to the west coast of Canada. When I had my own two kids, I didn’t notice much difference in Halloween compared to when I was a kid on the prairies. However, there was one main difference. On the prairies, the only time fireworks and firecrackers were available was on July 1st, Canada Day, or in those days known as Dominion Day. Here, they were everywhere on Halloween. Fireworks didn’t seem to be a problem. They were just another way to celebrate, and the kids seemed to enjoy them. However, the first time I saw a teenager toss some lit firecrackers into a little kid’s bag of candy, I was horrified.

In 2001, I started my second family with two more kids. Very different. Consumerism had discovered Halloween. New and improved costumes became popular each year, and the kids had to have a new one. New costumes for kids were about $30 each. By the time you bought all the other “necessary” accessories, you were up to about $50 or more per kid. Now, each kid “needed” a new costume every year and none of this homemade nonsense. The accessories included fake fingers, fake blood, makeup, and other cheap plastic junk they thought they needed. Consumerism at its best!

Adults Halloween

Many families decorate their houses for Halloween, but the scenes are much different than what you would see at Christmas. Some decorations are pretty elaborate, with moving parts, creepy voices to scare the kids, and black and orange everywhere, the primary colours for Halloween. However, the kids seem to enjoy it, and the retail stores selling this stuff are also happy.

Halloween, or at least that time of the year, is an excellent excuse to party hardy. It’s time for adults to dress up, pretend they are someone else, and do things they usually wouldn’t do. But, of course, for most people, this requires the aid of booze, which is known to reduce inhibitions. So here’s the second homophone in the title.

So they go out and buy their costumes, which are even more expensive than those for kids. The choices available for adults are mainly skimpy, sexy costumes for women and superhero costumes for men. It’s all make-believe, and things never seem to change. Then, on Monday, they return to work as if nothing happened.

A Dying Tradition

Halloween just isn’t what it used to be. The world is not as innocent as it was when I was a kid. Too many creepy people do weird things, like putting razor blades or pins in apples or drugs in candy. Trick or treating to accept candy from strangers isn’t safe anymore. Also, with so few kids going out trick or treating nowadays, most households turn off their outside lights and don’t answer the door if kids do come.

In the last few years, when my youngest kids were still young enough to go trick-or-treating, we took them to the shopping mall, where most stores gave out candy. We did this for a few years, but in the end, only a few stores participated in giving out candy. I guess they couldn’t see the promotional value to their business in giving out candy to kids once a year.

Even the adult parties aren’t as popular as they once were. However, this is for the good and safety of the community. Society finally realizes the dangers and potentially life-altering consequences of drinking and driving.

I have fond memories of the Halloweens from my childhood, and I think my kids do too. But, unfortunately, today’s kids won’t have many of these memories to remember.

And Now For Your Listening Enjoyment

Here is the 1962 Halloween perennial favourite novelty song, Monster Mash (with lyrics) by Bobby “Boris” Pickett. Boris is a favourite name used in Hollywood horror movies.

The above essay is for entertainment and English language study only. For suggestions on how to use this post to improve your English reading and listening comprehension, click here.

Vocabulary

stuff – noun; valueless matter; unnecessary miscellaneous accessories; (use this word only if you can’t think of a more description word)
religions – pl. noun; the belief in a superhuman controlling power; a belief in God or by any other name
paganism – noun; religious beliefs other than those of any of the main religions of the world; considered by many to be unreligious
frankly – adverb; candid, outspoken; honest, direct, (used for emphasis)
creepy – adjective; having or producing a creeping of the flesh; gives you an uncomfortable or scary feeling
frivolity – noun; foolish, lighthearted, not sensible or serious activity; silly fun and good times
wreck – transitive verb; cause the wreck of; damage or destroy; damage
BB Bats – noun; rectangular taffy candy on a stick
veranda – noun; a usually roofed porch along one or more sides of a house, esp. the front; a roofed porch at the front of a house
ain’t – informal or slang contraction; am not; are not; is not; is not (for emphasis in this context)
commercialism – noun; (esp. excessive) emphasis on financial profit as a measure of worth; potential for big profits
homophone – noun; a word having the same sound as another but of different meaning or origin; words with the same pronunciation but different meanings, origins, or spelling (e.g., “boos” and “booze”)
fireworks – pl. noun; a colourful and spectacular display; manmade display of lights and noise in the sky
firecrackers – pl. noun; small fireworks that explode with a cracking noise; small fireworks with noise only
elaborate – adjective; highly developed or complicated; ostentatious, showy; detailed and interesting
hardy – adjective; robust; capable of enduring difficult conditions; with great energy (in this context)
booze – informal or slang noun; alcoholic drink; alcohol drink
skimpy – adjective; (of clothing) very short or revealing; made of too little material; doesn’t cover much
promotional – adjective; help forward; encourage; support actively; increase sales or business
life-altering – adjective; life-changing (usually not in a good way)
consequences – pl. noun; the results or effects of an action or condition; results of your actions

Comprehension Questions

On what day of the year is Halloween?
(a) January 1st, (b) July 1st, (c) October 31st, or (d) December 31st
What fruit or vegetable is used to carve a jack-o-lantern?
(a) an apple, (b) a carrot, (c) a watermelon, or (d) a pumpkin
Do pumpkins have seeds?
Yes or No
According to this essay, what is put inside a jack-o-lantern to make it light up?
(a) a lighting bug, (b) a candle, (c) a light bulb, or (d) an electric eel
In the incident, what was wrapped in the newspaper?
(a) candy, (b) a new sweater, (c) cigarettes, or (d) potato peelings
According to this essay, what is the easiest costume to make?
(a) a ghost, (b) a vampire, (c) a clown, or (d) a witch
How much were kids’ costumes?
(a) $20, (b) $30, (c) $40, or (d) $50
How much were adult costumes?
(a) $50, (b) $60, (c) $75, or (d) $100
Have you ever been trick-or-treating for Halloween?
Yes or No
Does the shopping mall near you give out candy to the kids?
Yes or No

Answers

Resources

Wikipedia – Halloween