Comments for sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/ghosts-of-hallowe-en-past

Comment #2562

2011-11-03T12:45:12Z

I saw the map of power outage: very impressive. As for the duration, that's even longer than the one that made me determined never to buy a house without a fireplace.

Comment #2561

2011-11-03T12:32:34Z

No Halloween for us this year. Perhaps, as someone wrote in a letter to the editor, the snowstorm was payback for a legislator suggesting the Halloween be moved to the last Saturday of the month.

I hope that we have been able to maintain the "old" ways of halloween for our kids. We used to carve pumpkins (we even had a party and did it as a group). The kids went around the neighborhood in the dark with a group of friends and I think the boys always had homemade costumes.

And no, power is not restored. I'm in NH. My folks never lost power. We are headed home tomorrow regardless. No real estimate on when power will be restored although it seems they have made some progress in town. S

Comment #2560

2011-11-01T01:34:47Z

Whew! Except for forgetting about the prize, my post passed muster with the two readers who could affirm or deny my eyewitness reporting. :)

Comment #2559

2011-11-01T00:02:39Z

Thank you for these delightful memories! And yes, we did win a prize which we shared...

with love from the Pepper Shaker!

Comment #2558

2011-10-31T15:36:19Z

Some day I need to see those movies of our old costumes, Laurie's Mom!

Comment #2557

2011-10-31T15:35:31Z

Anglo-Saxon? I'd say American through and through. The mother of one of Heather's English schoolmates called it that "crazy American holiday." Before moving here (it would have been about 25 years ago), they had never experienced Hallowe'en.

But perhaps England has changed in recent years. I never could understand why the Harry Potter books have a lot to say about Hallowe'en, and yet I don't recall one mention of Guy Fawkes Day, which I always thought was much more important in the UK.

Of course, All Saints Day (November 1) is an Anglican feast day, and thus All Hallows Eve could be considered to belong to them, but that has nothing to do with trick-or-treating.

Comment #2556

2011-10-30T21:34:22Z

Your description of Halloween in that little village is right on. It was fun. And the cider. I think the state made a law that all cider had to be pasteurized or something. It sure doesn't taste the same now. I still have the coocoo clock on a movie, and also the salt and pepper shakers.

Comment #2555

2011-10-30T19:32:35Z

So, no sooner do I post my comment than I discover a Swiss blog encouraging people to participate in Hallowe'en - albeit in a cheap fashion. Two comments on it, so far, one of which says that Hallowe'en is Anglo-Saxon and has no business being imported here.

Comment #2554

2011-10-30T18:28:39Z

As with many Grandmas, my more distant memories are sharper than the later ones. When I think of Hallowe'en, it's almost exclusively set in one of the two places I lived between ages 5 and 15. I remember very little of Hallowe'en in Pennsylvania, other than the bizarre custom of designating October 30 as Mischief Night. Instead of trying to eliminate the vandalism they tried to move it to another night. Very strange, I thought—and still do.

I'm sure the experience was not the same after we moved, though. For one thing, the neighborhood was quite different from our two New York neighborhoods: not nearly so close-knit, and more, shall we say, "Main Line-ish." Definitely a wealthier area, measured by the size of the candy bars given out, anyway.

Maybe one of our brothers will remember how we obtained our pumpkins in Pennsylvania. Although I'm certain we still carved jack-o'-lanterns, I cannot picture the event. My mental image of that action is set firmly in the Haviland Drive kitchen.

Comment #2553

2011-10-30T18:28:22Z

As a kid, we didn't mark Hallowe'en.

I remember it was after returning from my year abroad that I first saw signs of Hallowe'en in Switzerland. The signs were McDonald's specials and pumpkin seed chocolate and other ill-conceived sweets at Migros. Two boys came to my apartment door that year, barely dressed up, said "farce ou friandise," and I gave them some of my chocolate stash.

I think the commercialized Hallowe'en has been short-lived here. At least, I didn't see any evidence of it this year.

Comment #2552

2011-10-30T17:46:17Z

I don't remember much about Halloween other than the time I had an egg thrown onto my head. I know cider wasn't the draw for me (if that tradition was still happening by the time I came around). You can get apple cider doughnuts at the orchards which I imagine you would love.

Was Halloween similar once we moved to PA? I remember carving pumpkins but not how we got them. I only remember traveling with my brothers - not a lot of girls in our neighborhood when I was little.

Comment #2551

2011-10-30T15:49:26Z

Thanks for sharing! I can testify to the draw of unpasteurized, fresh apple juice. The farmer who sells it to me just gave me a curious look when I said it's not allowed in America (so, I simplified - that's life with a foreign language). I tried to make my own doughnuts the other day, and it's a lot of work, but they were scarfed down. I think part of why I love cider and doughnuts so much is exactly as you say: you can't get it year-round. That's also why I gorge when I visit the states . . .