Halloween

When we were poor and living in Ohio, we loved Halloween because it was an opportunity to get a lot of candy without having to pay for it. The goal was to accumulate as much as we could. Somehow we got the idea that Halloween actually covered two nights. On the 30th we went out and called it "Beggars Night." Perhaps it started some year when Halloween was on a Sunday and we weren't allowed to go. And then the next year we decided to go both nights. I don't know how it started. People were surprised to see us on Beggars Night, but since they usually had already bought or made their candy they gave us our treat. My mother would drive us to a neighborhood a long way from home, where we would not be recognized. Then we would go from house to house saying "Trick or treat." I think my father frowned on this, but my mother was too "practical" to pass up the opportunity.

On the 31st we would go out again, trying to pick another wealthy neighborhood with closely spaced houses. Since the next day was often a school day we weren't allowed to stay up very late –later than usual, but still not late. In those days there was never any fear of being molested or given poisoned candy or razors in apples.

We wore simple costumes. One year my mother made Scottish outfits for all of us. We wore them Trick or Treating. Sometimes we would wear an old sheet with holes cut out for the eyes, and we would be "ghosts." Pirates and cowboys were also popular Halloween characters for boys. My sister liked being a princess.