It was the day of Halloween and as we walked to school in our short sleeved shirts all giddy and excited about this warm Halloween, the wind started to blow, the clear blue skies suddenly gave bith to ugly steel grey only in Pittsburgh clouds and by the time we finished our 25 minute escapade to Linden School the temperature had dropped at least 20 degrees.
Suddenly there were snow flurries blowing as if they were part of some trick or treat tornado and almost laughing at all the kids as we watched from within our classrooms as they smashed at our window saying 'how do you like me now?'
Aunt Ruthie, the only mother in the neighborhood who knew how to drive was waiting for us as school let out. She hurried all 10 of us in her car. Rules of the car were the little kids, our younger siblings, sat on the laps of the older kids. The other rule that had to be broken was the touch rule. Normally all hell could break out if someone invaded another persons space, but in the car there was to be no whining about he touched me, she is leaning against me. Aunt Ruthie was not the best driver in the world and sometimes one had to wonder how much nicer it would have been to walk home in the flurries without warm clothes then sitting three a breast in the front and the back seat of the car. Oh and Aunt Ruthie liked to smoke when she drove and once it got chilly outside she loved her car's heater.
By the time we got home, the flurries had stopped, phew, but the temperatures were still on the downside of things. We had our two pumpkins carved, my oldest sister Maxine handled that, we were sure that once she got married immediately after high school graduation she might do pumpkin carving as a means for some frivolous cash. In the 50's girls did not earn the primary salary. My Dad had taken the ladder out from the basement and had black cats, owls and bats hanging from our rain spouts, and scary spider webs were hanging on our front porch. Our house looked great. And above all else we lived next to the monster ridden dark, dank and possibly a gateway to hell alley way. So you had to be super brave to come trick or treat.
My sister Bonnie was the makeup maven. We were not sure if she would marry after she graduated so there as some thought that Bonnie's cosmetology and hair cutting ability might find her a job working 'up the street', slang in Pittsburgh for the shopping district of Squirrel Hill at a beauty parlor. So the bad news was jackets over the costumes but lots and lots of makeup on the faces. Many of the kids on Denniston came over to our house for Bonnie's creative magic.
Because every kid new EVERYTHING about every house on the 1600 block of Denniston it was decided that only one parent was needed to accompany all 10 of us. I think my mother never had to take on this duty as she bribed the other neighbors with her home made amazingly baked Halloween cookies. We had three houses that were taboo and never ever tried to collect candy, the Abrahm's, they were at least 100 and went to bed at 5pm, the Applebaum's, they were known to throw water from their second floor window if you walked past their home, and the weird family with a last name that had lots of j's y' and z's who only seemed to come out at night. Everyone else was fair game and everyone else had their porch lights lit.
We were permitted to go trick or treating from 6 to 7 on our street. At 7 we piled into Aunt Ruthie's car and because parents had to join us a second car. This was one of the few occasions that a Dad actually spent much time driving the kids of Denniston anywhere. We were going to Beechwood Boulevard a street only two blocks away, but a street with mansions and families who had the most unbelievable treats, like the Fall family who had hot dogs, and bobbing for apples, the McGuire's who had four kinds of chocolate bars permitting you to take each of the four and who provided you with apple cider, and the Murphy's who had their kids do a Halloween play where everyone got a prize after the performance ended.
This lasted till 8 when we had to return home and by 8:30, the lights on ALL of the porches went off. We were told by our parents that BAD kids, kids who might end up in juvenile court, or who smoked and dropped out of school came to trick or treat and all they really wanted to do was trick. I remember a few knocks at our door after 9 and was dying to peek out the window to see what they monsters looked like.
We would end the night emptying our bags of goodies on the dining room table. Any unwrapped candy was immediately vanquished to the garbage can and my Dad the policeman would hold the apples or pears in his hand do a police inspection for razor blades. My mother was smart enough to empty my bag of goodies on one side of the table and my little sisters bag on the other so neither one of us could accuse the other of having the wrong person' candy, even tough w both went to the same houses and received the same candy.
My Dad would eyeball any Clark Bars and say since he inspected the fruit he should at least have two of those, one from my bag and one from my sister, and then we could eat two of anything and head for bed. If Halloween happened on a weekend we were permitted to stay up till midnight in hopes of seeing real ghosts, although my sister and I really hoped that would never happen.
It has been a long time since last I walked the sidewalks on Denniston Avenue, but when Halloween comes around I still remember so well my youth.
Happy All Hallows!
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