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To me, 'bite-sized' just means 5 bites
by I love Halloween, always have. It's full of candy and mischief without any of the more somber trappings that other holidays entail. What's not to love? But Halloween of today is but an anemic shadow of Halloween in the ‘80s.
Yes, this is yet another post marveling at the fact that any of us survived the 1980s. But how could I not beat this dead horse when it comes to Halloween? In the ‘80s there were evil-doers putting pins and razor blades into the candy they handed out to children! And people today make a big deal about high fructose corn syrup. Pussies.
My parents had a no-fail, typical ‘80s parent response to the razor blade scare. The news advised that parents inspect each piece of candy, ensuring no holes or tears in the wrapper-way too much supervision. Instead, my parents told us to take small bites. So rather than popping an entire mini peanut butter cup into our mouths, my siblings and I obediently ate them in tiny nibbles. Problem solved, ‘80s style.
But the best part of Halloween was coming up with and creating a costume. I loved this process. No one I knew purchased the ready-made character type of costume that kids today all wear. If anyone did this in the ‘80s, they didn't live in my neighborhood. I had a small budget (none) and had to be creative with what I could find around the house.
Each year the streets filled up with kids in costumes fashioned from aluminum foil, cardboard boxes, empty paper towel and toilet paper spools, old sheets, and odd ends of fabrics and clothes. We were robots and ghosts and monsters and princesses. If we were going to be a character, we were a very homemade bastardization of that character. I believe I was Princess Leia in a white nightgown one year.
More often than not, I was a hobo. (In the ‘80s, it was totally fine to dress up like homeless men.)
A hobo costume is easily put together with discarded grandfather clothes, old dad ties, a bit of baby powder and some of mom's makeup. (Baby powder in my hair and eyeliner wrinkles really completed the look.)
This year I suggested to my 5-year-old that we make him a costume. He balked. His desire to fit in and not be embarrassed outweighs any desire to creatively work with me to make something fun and unique. And how could I compete with the coolness of the costumes hanging in Target? I get it. I won't force him to wear a box wrapped in foil. But I'll be eternally lamenting about how much cooler it all was in my day.
And I'll make my kids eat their candy in tiny bites, for safety's sake.
Comments (5)
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Report Tue Nov 6, 2012 - 4:24 amThe 80's razor blade candy scare didn't keep my parents for allowing me to accept candy from strangers, either. "We'll trick or treat in the 'nice neighborhood'". Because affluent people can't be criminals. My costumes were always of the homemade variety. I was a gypsy, a clown, a baby, a witch, all made of clothing and items that could be found around the house. One year my Mom got especially ambitious and actually sewed our costumes from a store-bought pattern. I remember her spending many late nights up working on those damn things. If she were paid labor by the hour, I'd bet those costumes would have been worth $500 a piece. In this case, the apple fell pretty far from the tree...Target it is!Reply -
Report Thu Nov 1, 2012 - 7:48 amI so miss the creativity poverty brought to my family costumes in the 80s. My mom was a wizard. And, with 4 girls, we wore that costume and then saw it again 3 more times. 80s Halloweens ruled, plain and simple.Reply
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Report Wed Oct 31, 2012 - 10:23 pmAww, this made me all mushy and nostalgic. Of course, that could partly be the PMS - thank God I have an influx of chocolate coming my way (via the children). I miss the homemade costumes, but most of all I miss having the self control required to eat in small bites.Reply
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1 reply, Last reply by Allison Hart on Wed Oct 31, 2012 at 11:42 pm
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Report Wed Oct 31, 2012 - 10:34 pmMemories...Do you hear Babs voice. I remember how evil Halloween had become in the 80s - egging buses and folks throwing Nair onto people. I grew up in pre-Guiliani New York City. My mom used to sew crazy costumes. She made me a satin roller girl outfit, one which at my own Halloween birthday party I did a split jump, and ripped the pants and spent the whole party with a shirt tied around my waist. Good times!Reply
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