Is Halloween For The Merchants?

I have always thought Halloween was for the children. It always was back in the day. But today I see children and adults going into regular Halloween stores, or places set aside only for Halloween stuff. The merchants must make a pile of dough for the holiday! And, it is only for this year. Most of the folks come back again next year!

The kids go out on their “Trick or Treat” time, and that seems to be dying out somehow. There is a way too many bad men around so the kids only go to those they know. The adults do have a time at their Halloween parties. I don’t think any of them know what Halloween means.

In early times, even before I was born, Halloween was a day young people put on plays preparing for All Saints day, honoring the Saints of the church. So it was a religious celebration. Later, it became a day for honoring the devil and his demons. I am glad we don’t honor them now, but none of those days resemble what we do now.

When I was a little girl, all of the children from first through eighth grade were invited to Mrs. Hallogram’s home for a Halloween party. She was a teacher in our school We had all been making decorations and gave them to Mrs. Hologram. She used them to decorate her home for the party. Moms were very busy changing Dad’s old one piece underwear into a thing that looked like a knights costume or Mom’s worn out dress into whatever witches wore! everything came from old stuff folks had.

When we were all assembled at the Hallogram’s home, and that sounds like a big assembly but we all came from a little town, we had a march and showed off our costumes. We never had a prize for the best one. Probably there wasn’t a best one! Then we played the games Mrs. Hallogram prepared. I remember I liked bobbing for apples the best. After lunch, Mrs. Hollogram had us all sit in a circle around her while she told many ghost stories. Moms and Dads had to come for us when the party ended, even though our homes were close enough for us to walk. They knew we were too scared to walk by ourselves. It was a nice party and a good memory for me.

I think kids of all ages would enjoy our Halloweens, and think about the cost! Our costumes came from the bags that Moms used for rags in cleaning. The decorations were either made at school or at home, and I don’t think the food cost very much. Many Moms made them. But we would take the money out of the merchant’s hands and put the fun back into the folk’s hands. Wouldn’t that be great?