West: Scary costume had fierce price
Tuesday, October 27, 2015 3:04 pm By MIKE WEST Few Halloweens slip by without me thinking about my younger days and my first - and only - costume back in the 1950s. I was horrified by it ... much to the delight of everyone except my brother Van, who was scared silly by his own black cat costume. Well anyway, finally a compromise was worked out over those scary outfits. After all, I was afraid to even be in the same room with mine. That scary mask was just too much. We could wear a little black mask if we would just pose for a photo along with our scary Texas jack 'o' lantern. Halloween has certainly changed since those years. Back when I was a boy, we would walk for miles filling our (relatively) big bags full of candy, popcorn balls and shiny, red apples. In more recent years, things really began to get out of control with cars full of teenagers hitting every neighborhood. Dressed in normal street clothes, they carried pillow cases bulging with candy. Those teens just bang on the door and hold out those big bags then dash to the next house and once the neighborhood is clear just roll on to the next. Because of that, trunk or treating has emerged as many folks favorite Halloween event. I'm sure you are familiar with the term.
As for my own Halloween experience... Dang it, I'm just too , uh, old, uh "not young enough" to go collect candy. Besides my poor teeth just aren't cut out to handle my favorites. But, can you even find Kraft caramels any more? Probably not. But the candy issue won't stop me from wearing my usual costume this year. Expect to see me as a bearded, bald-headed journalist complete with comfortable walking shoes and a camera. Maybe I should wear a fedora hat with a press card stuck behind the hatband? Reckon not! I'll leave that to oldtimers like Dandy Dan Whittle. Talk about a serious spookster!
|