The night seemed to never arrive. Some years there were predictions of snow flurries. If we were really lucky, the evening temperatures would reach a balmy 56 degrees, warm enough to NOT wear snow boots, a scarf, and gloves. We lived in row houses, which nowadays are considered Town Houses and are on the market for a mere $300,000 when in fact our parents spent a mere $8000 back in the day. The big advantage of living in a row was that kids could Trick or Treat without having to climb a whole lot of stairs. Our street was kid-friendly except for two neighbors who either turned out every light in their house or had the audacity to place a sign saying STAY AWAY! Our block had way too many kids for anyone of us to FORGET, how UN-HALLOWEEN APPROPRIATE, those two families had been! We then piled into Aunt Ruthie's car, all 8 of us, two moms, and six kids, and drove to Beechwood Boulevard, a street where Halloween Dreams were made because THOSE homes gave away hot dogs, packets of dimes, and candied apples. BUT all good things had to come to an end, and the unofficial return home time was 9:00 pm. All unwrapped candy was thrown away, and regular apples thrown out, and all other goodies placed in separate bags with each of our names on them and stapled shut. Pittsburgh Halloween during the 1950s.
Pittsburgh Halloween in the 1980’s Trick Or Treating began about 5pm, no need to wait till the spooky dark shadows of the night; nope lots of other worries in the ’80s, so the early monster got the goodies, and the witching hour ended about 7pm. Even more scrutiny of the Treats, a lecture ahead of time of not eating anything until mom or dad inspected it, and a reminder to always say thank you. Somehow the weather behaved a whole lot better in the ’80s in Pittsburgh, in October, so chances of bundling up and hiding your costume were few and far in-between!
West Hollywood Halloween Street Festival, crazy and chaotic, all happening after midnight, and mostly all of adults. The most meticulous of costumes, the talent of creatives, and the truly bizarre concepts are all on display. Of course, West Hollywood has a large population of LGBTQ folks so the Kill The Gay, Gays Will Go To Hell, Jesus Hates Gays contingency of homophobes all showed up dressed as BIGOTS. (These were the usual men and women who somehow always showed up to protest anything Gay, having one wonder, how much in denial of their own sexuality they must have been, poor deniers!)
And of course, what would Halloween be, if not a SCARY MOON, with ominous clouds almost playing peek-a-boo. The HOUSE used as the original set for the first American Horror Story, an unnerving interior of a HAUNTED HOTEL. Those were the days, then and now. The best thing about Halloween was that once it was November 1, all the ghosts and goblins disappeared, safety, security, and back to the simple life. Nowadays, the FRIGHT remains, something called AMERICAN POLITICS AND AMERICAN POLITICIANS!
