Call me a party-pooper if you wish but I have always detested participating in Guising or Trick or Treat (depending on where one was brought up) and other Halloween shenanigans.
The only thing I can ever recall getting involved in at Halloween, and enjoying, was as a child in Liverpool where we called it Duck Apple Night and had a tradition of ducking or bobbing for apples as well as trying to eat apples suspended from a line across the room suspended between the picture rails. Somewhere I have a photo which I had hoped to use of my family dookin' apples (they were brought up in Scotland) but it hasn't been digitised and I can't find it. However we used to host a party of our friends and their children in our barn with a firework display added:
Years ago the following appeared in, I think, the Liverpool Echo:
Having said all that, when I was in Canada in 2005 visiting a friend from my teenage years I happened to arrive at the time when they were getting the pumpkins ready. Pumpkins like I had never seen before. (It was just before my New Zealand life). I carved my first, and only, pumpkin.
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| My friend (who died last year) and her daughter. |
Halloween activities are very different in various countries. Halloween activities have changed since I was a kid and have become very commercialized in the last 20 years.
ReplyDeleteRed, I think everything has been commercialised if it possibly can be.
DeleteWe shall be 'celebrating' Halloween tonight with a bonfire. We don't do Halloween, and the weather is perfect for Bonfire night. I have a very few rockets, which will be lit; otherwise it's beans, baked potatoes, and sausages around the fire.
ReplyDeleteCro, there will be no bonfires in Scotland or just about anywhere tonight and very little guising either I'll be bound. The weather is really dreadful.
Delete"But I was so much older then: I'm younger than that now."
ReplyDeleteA grand reminisce, I immediately thought of the Dylan song which I didn't even know I knew.
Adrian, I said in a comment recently that I didn't become young until my '60s. I think there are a few of us like that. I shall remember the Dylan song. Thank you.
DeleteI firmly resist the whole American Halloween Trick or Treat thing. Next I'll be yelling at kids to get off my (excessively long) lawn
ReplyDeleteGood for you, Kylie. I've never had anyone come to my door here because there are no kids in the township.
DeleteIf I think about it, which I seldom do, I would declare myself neutral on Halloween and the hijinks that go on. I have to say, however, that when my daughter was little, she looked forward to dressing up and going door to door with great enthusiasm, second only to Christmas, I think. After due consideration I shall remain firmly on the fence. As for your visit to Sarnia, and the Jack'o Lantern you carved, your Halloween decorating genes had obviously not wilted. Great job. I hope that your friend made a nice pumpkin pie with the flesh that you scraped out!
ReplyDeleteDavid, I can’t for the life of me recall what happened to the innards. I can’t recall eating pumpkin pie so I suspect some other food was produced. I shall try and renationalise ask her daughter.
DeleteA piece of spiced pumpkin pie, Graham, with a dollop of whipped cream is one of life's delights. I am sure you would remember it had you eaten it.
DeleteOh gosh. I remember bobbing for apples as a child. Back then we didn't do the pumpkin carving and trick or treating stuff that seems to be everywhere these days.
ReplyDeleteIt was quite close to Bonfire Night which was more popular in our area, with lots of kids making dummies for Penny For The Guy and all the dads buying boxes of Standard Fireworks. We always had a small bonfire behind the house with toffee apples and sparklers and the neighbours children would join us to watch my dad set off our fireworks. Great fun.
JayCee, the only time I can ever recall pumpkin carving was the one I’ve mentioned. Bonfire night was always exciting for us.
DeleteYou look a picture of health in the penultimate picture. By the way, your carved pumpkin's resemblance to your good self is uncanny!
ReplyDeleteYP, I’ve always aimed to have a big smiley mouth but the little round eyes isn’t quite me. Perhaps I should have drawn specs on it.
DeleteWe bobbed for apples, and the string thing here in America.
ReplyDeleteAs I recall, all that water didn't thrill me.
Maywyn, it’s good to hear that bobbing for apples was done in so many places. I didn’t mind the water to be honest. But see the comment from my brother -Scriptor Senex.
DeleteYour pumpkin looks very friendly and it's so much easier than carving a turnip lantern. X
ReplyDeleteJules, I always go for happy and easy.
DeleteI well remember duck apple and bob apple. The trick with the latter was to try to trap the apple between shoulder and jaw. Duck apple was a lot more straightforwatd - dive in with your mouth wide open and be prepared to drown.
ReplyDeleteBruv, i can remember them but I can't recall who was there.
DeleteHalloween was totally unknown to me as a child. When I read Cro's comment I was reminded that all our attention would have been focused on Guy Fawkes, bonfires and crackers.
ReplyDeleteAlphie
Alphie, I'm not sure whether you grew up in Australia and I can't recall being there around that time of year. However, in New Zealand, I don't recall it being celebrated at all. It always puzzled me why Bonfire night was celebrated given the total irrelevance of Guy Fawkes in New Zealand.
Deletehah! that's really cool, great effort, sadly we had a really quiet one, people just don't get into it here.
ReplyDeleteAmy, I've just made the same point to Alphie. Thanks for the confirmation.
DeleteNo naturally evolved Halloween tradition over here, just the commercialised version that has been increasingly hard to ignore over the past 20 years or so. For me, the 31st of October is my late husband's birthday. Steve would have 52 yesterday.
ReplyDeleteActually, it is strange that we were not more "Halloween-ish" in my childhood and youth. After all, my home town was half-American, with a large portion of the population being US military and their families. You could pay with Dollars in nearly every one of the bigger shops in town, and you saw almost as many American cars with US license plates on our streets as German ones.
Meike, Some dates never leave us do they?
DeleteI don't think that I realised the extent of the American presence although I do recall it being mentioned before. Now that I'm not really involved with small children and there are no children in the immediate area so I've been unaware of it here in recent years.
I don't think I've ever heard or read about Duck Apple Night before but I think I have seen the game as such although I'm not really sure if in real life or just on film/TV. (I doubt I ever participated myself or I'd probably remember better...) I recognize your pumpkin photo, I think you may have posted it in the past (long time ago) on your NZ blog. Here, Halloween is more about visiting family graves. Trick-and-treating etc has also been imported in later decades, but around here I've not seen much of it. (This year it's also been officially discouraged via the media, because of the corona situation.)
ReplyDeleteMonica, your memory never ceases to amaze mw. That photo was taken in 2005 so why would I have blogged it when I hadn't blogged about Halloween before? It was on a post on my New Zealand blog on the 27 December 2012 (Thankful Thursday). It took me a long time to find it even using Postvorta.
DeleteWe didn't get into pumpkin carving until late in life and would have at least 2 displayed on the front porch of our VA home on Halloween. In our home state of NJ, we did go trick or treating for candy treats in our much-younger days. This year, such activities were mostly restricted in this area, even our out-of-state grandchildren didn't go in search of candy treats.
ReplyDeleteBeatrice, given the community social importance of halloween I can't imagine it would be very popular in this year of Covid-19.
DeleteMay your big red pumpkin bring you happiness.
ReplyDeleteIt did, Roughterrain Crane.
DeleteTha's a nice photograph of you. A lovely warm smile.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rachel. That's a very lovely comment.
DeleteOh we played duck apple and bob apple (the latter being what we called the ones on a string) every year as children and as soon as ours are old enough I shall be reinstating the tradition. I've never been trick or treating and now that our children are vegan I don't suppose they will ever go, but I'm sure we'll all begin dressing up at some point.
ReplyDeleteThis year we accidentally played 'roll the pumpkin'. We took our pumpkins (uncarved) to our local National Trust place to take some photos of them with the children. We chose a spot where the ground was covered in lots of beautiful autumn leaves, but which turned out to be on a gentle slope. Well those pumpkins rolled around all over the place and we all enjoyed chasing after them. Give me the simple pleasures any day.
Helen, I'm pleased that you recall duck apple and bobbing for apples and I'm very pleased that you will be continuing the tradition. It was really good, simple fun. These days 'simple' is not fashionable which is a shame. I hope that I might get the opportunity to introduce it to Brodie.
DeleteDuck apple! Bobbing apples was always a tradition for our farming community. Great photos.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Susan, it's good to know that it was quite widespread. One wonders how and why it became so popular. (I originally replied from my phone when I was away from home but I couldn't sign in for some reason so I appeared as 'Unknown'.
DeleteHalloween never entered our consciousness when we were kids. It was all about GUy Fawkes. We were busy making guys, etc.
ReplyDeleteJenny, I'd almost forgotten about the Guy on top. I was never involved in either building bonfires or making guys.
DeleteIt is something our family have never participated in. It was almost unheard of here in Oz until the American influence bombarded our TV screens. We still try to avoid it but my grand kids after living in LA for five years are well into it, but not this year due to COVID
ReplyDeleteDiane, American influence gets everywhere!
DeleteMore is the pity!
DeleteI suppose, Jill, it depends what the influence is.
DeleteGuy Fawkes was a fun night when I was a kid, too. My brother and I would rush home from school to build our bonfire and make our "Guy". Mum would be busy making tasty treats for us to enjoy as we let of our bundle of 'crackers"! It was so much fun!
ReplyDeleteTake good care, Graham. :)
Lee, I'm sorry that your comment got caught by my 7-day comment moderation. I don't like it but some of the spam I've been getting in substantial quantities has been very obscene and this seems to cope with it. I gather that you've been having internet problems so I hope that it's sorted now.
DeleteI responded earlier this morning (my time) but it hasn't appeared!
ReplyDeleteWe loved Guy Fawkes Night when we were kids. My brother and I would race home from school to build our bonfire and Guy...a fun night awaited!
Take good care, Graham. :)