Thread: What Was the best decade to be a kid during Halloween

Tweet

I grew up in the 80's and have an obvious bias as to why that decade was perfect to be a child during Halloween time. How did the other decades compare?

Although born in the 1940's, technically speaking, I was,( 1949), I am a child of the 50's of course.
The Science Fiction movies, some classics of all time were coming out, television was competing bringing us Alfred Hitchcock and Rod Serling and others, giving us watchable programs with mind expanding points of veiw on all things from extreme social situations to life from other worlds.
These programs showed no blatant violent acts usually and allowed our imaginations to become active and fill in those blanks as only the imagination can do, often times making the program's impact more lasting within our memories because the image was actually made in our own minds, so it fit better, lasted longer, meant more to us personally.
We all looked forward with much anticipation to "The Next Biggest Thing" in entertainment, actual scientific discoverys and creative fantasys that often foretold of our actual future as a technical people.

My own decade waves a hand and says "HELLO!"

I was of trick-or-treating age through most of the 70's. And I remember that the 70's were pretty cool. There was not a lot of emphasis on expensive costumes--there were the boxed costumes at Woolworth's, and then there were cheaper alternatives which people used, like making your own costume from scraps and smearing your face with cheap makeup--and I recall many people doing the latter. There were a lot of homemade witches, Draculas and hobos, as I recall.

There were also many decorations, schools had stuff up all over, often you would see the Beistle pumpkins and such, and we would make stuff out of orange and black construction paper, too. You might even have a little Halloween party at school (I remember bobbing for apples one year!) and yes, kids would come to school in costume...at my school, there would be an early Halloween parade around the neighborhood, we would all line up by classroom and go all the way up and down the hill and around a couple of blocks and come back...and the Halloween parties would generally follow that. It was pretty much a fun, blowing-off-steam sort of day, and apparently (in retrospect) a survival of the earlier (40's and 50's) tradition of sanctioned fun to keep the kids happy and occupied so they wouldn't go around wreaking havoc at night.

There were a few hooligans at night who went around kicking pumpkins and and so on! But this was rare.

I remember one year I noticed that one house had taped black threads above their front porch so that you felt like you were walking through spiderwebs--the first time I experienced this, and it was a lot of fun.

I have quite a few other memories but basically, the 70's did Halloween very well.

I was a 70's halloween kid too. Can't really remember to much about it except the dodgy costumes, but I must admit I wish I was tot now as it it much bigger.

The 70's were great, as no one had yet become politically correct! We had Hallowen parties at school and Halloween parties at church and we actually called them (gasp!) HALLOWEEN parties! I remember my mom dressing me up as a devil and taking me to the church party and no one even batted an eye. Try doing that now at one of those watered-down "fall festivals" and see if you don't get a response!
We also got homemade treats like popcorn balls and candy apples from the neighbors, even though the old "razorblade in the apple" story continued to circulate.
Yep, it was a great time to be a kid!

I was a little kid in the 1970s and I too remember the self-made costumes. hah hah. They were great.

Sounds like the 1950s were awesome! I always thought it would have been REALLY cool to be around when all those great old horror/sci-fi movies were prevalent. Alfred Hitchcock AND Rod Serling...man...wicked awesome. My mother raised me watching all those old shows/movies. I quickly gained an appreciation for them.

Originally Posted by tomanderson

My own decade waves a hand and says "HELLO!"

I was of trick-or-treating age through most of the 70's. And I remember that the 70's were pretty cool. There was not a lot of emphasis on expensive costumes--there were the boxed costumes at Woolworth's, and then there were cheaper alternatives which people used, like making your own costume from scraps and smearing your face with cheap makeup--and I recall many people doing the latter. There were a lot of homemade witches, Draculas and hobos, as I recall.

There were also many decorations, schools had stuff up all over, often you would see the Beistle pumpkins and such, and we would make stuff out of orange and black construction paper, too. You might even have a little Halloween party at school (I remember bobbing for apples one year!) and yes, kids would come to school in costume...at my school, there would be an early Halloween parade around the neighborhood, we would all line up by classroom and go all the way up and down the hill and around a couple of blocks and come back...and the Halloween parties would generally follow that. It was pretty much a fun, blowing-off-steam sort of day, and apparently (in retrospect) a survival of the earlier (40's and 50's) tradition of sanctioned fun to keep the kids happy and occupied so they wouldn't go around wreaking havoc at night.

There were a few hooligans at night who went around kicking pumpkins and and so on! But this was rare.

I remember one year I noticed that one house had taped black threads above their front porch so that you felt like you were walking through spiderwebs--the first time I experienced this, and it was a lot of fun.

I have quite a few other memories but basically, the 70's did Halloween very well.

I will totally concur!
The 70's rocked as far as Halloween goes. Our town (in Michigan) had parties in the classes and you could come in costume and there was a Halloween parade thru' town with the HS band leading the way. It started in the parking lot of the IGA went from one end of town to the other, ending at the one elementary school where there was a costume contest in the gym! I even won a prize one year!
Then out to ToT!
Ahhhh, the memories!

I think the 80's was the last good decade to be a kid and truly enjoy the joy of Halloween and Trick or Treating. The spirit of Halloween's from the 50's to the 80's has pretty much faded away.

During the 90's and beyond I couldn't believe the sheer amount of people that won't let their children embrace the fun and mischief of Halloween night. It's sad actually.

I'm disappointed in the fact kids and teenager's don't even bother to say "Trick or Treat" any more or the fact they can't seem to get off their cell phone while coming up to your porch to get some candy!!

Or the parent's that follow their kid's around them in a car?!! (Is it too much to actually walk around with your kids?!)

It all kinda drives me a litte batty!

Originally Posted by snoopy/red baron

I grew up in the 80's and have an obvious bias as to why that decade was perfect to be a child during Halloween time. How did the other decades compare?

I'm with you.

I think it was the last great TOTing decade where parents could let their kids go out with their friends till late at night and not worry too much. You could also get baked cookies or something that wasn't completely sealed and trust the people. You only really looked for the razors in the candy, didn't worry about poison all that much.

I'd have to say 66-73, as a child those were some glorious years.