Thursday, October 28, 2021

Halloween in the 1950s

 With Halloween around the corner, I am taken back to the 1950s and trick or treating with my best friend, Patsy. We lived near a very tiny town, Houston, Delaware (that’s Howston not Youston). I attended a Methodist church there, and that is where I met Patsy. Unlike me, Patsy had lots of brothers and sisters and was out-going and friendly to everyone. I was forever looking for someone to play with, but my shy self did not always succeed. Patsy was easy.


Patsy is pretty ornery-looking, huh? She’s got that impish grin.


Do you remember UNICEF? And churches collecting for that organization during Halloween? Our Methodist church always had a big party for the trick or treaters and encouraged all of us to add this “treat” of donation for a worthy cause to our Halloween shenanigans. To me it made Halloween, already such a fun time, seem important and worthwhile.


A large part of Halloween is all about the planning. After all, you get to be someone else for a few hours, an acting part for which a passion is necessary. Like everyone, we wanted to do something different and spent hours writing down ideas. We shared an interest in books and wrote down our favorite characters, but all of them seemed trite and done before. Peter Pan, Cinderella and Snow White held no appeal for us. The three Stooges or the seven dwarfs were a maybe for a while. But we needed a crowd for them, and we were more of a two-man team.


Then, Patsy had a brilliant idea. “What about that guy we saw at the Harrington Fair? You remember, the organ-grinder and the monkey. I’ll be the monkey, and you can play my brother’s toy accordion. We’ll be hilarious and get tons of candy!” How could I argue with that?


We set about pulling together costumes. Old clothes from one of Patsy’s brothers were perfect for me. A bright red shirt that matched the little accordion made me stand out in a crowd and with a blue tie normally saved for church, I looked very professional, especially when I added an old hat and stuck a found bird’s feather in it. Another friend volunteered his dog’s leash and collar for the “monkey.”


Patsy, who never gave up easily, found an actual gorilla costume, not a monkey but close enough. After “borrowing” a tin cup from her mom’s pantry, we were in business. Patsy started practicing her gorilla/monkey sounds immediately, and I got pretty adept on that little accordion. With our tin cup for UNICEF and our decorated paper bags for candy, we were ready for the big night.


The only thing we hadn’t planned on was how quickly it got dark, but with that accordion, you could hear us coming from quite a distance, and 

when we appeared in front of an open door with the porch light on, mouths did form that 0 of surprise. I pushed and pulled on that accordion and Patsy grunted and squeaked and handed out peanuts in the shell like a good little monkey. We had the best time ever and did get loads of treats for us and the church. It was the very best Halloween I ever remember having. Below are Patsy and Nancy, my best friends all through elementary school. Wish I had pictures of the organ-grinder and the monkey, but sadly, photos were not high on our list of priorities.