Trick or Treating through the years - Ancestors in 52 Weeks

This year's challenge is 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks and is run by Amy Johnson Crow.

Topic Info:
Halloween is upon us, so it seems fitting to have the theme of "Trick or Treat." Any Halloween stories (or photos)? How about a good ghost story? Maybe an ancestor who has been tricky to research or an unexpected treat in a record? This could be a fun theme!

Late 1950s in Newburgh, NY. My sister, Theresa,
with our grandmother Jean and her partner Charlie.
Credit: R.Belsito 

Trick or Treat is something we've turned into fun. However, I remember growing up, I wouldn't be taken out to walk around. Although, when my older siblings were growing up, they were dressed up. Around the time of about 6 or 7, my mother finally made my first costumes because we couldn't afford to buy them. Mainly it was a ghost (who doesn't have a sheet they can cut holes into?). I was around 10 when I can remember my first costume, which was made of plastic.

It had the masks and then a light costume which you tied to you. At this point, I didn't really dress up myself, but we took my nieces out.

I had one of these but some of the other characters as well. You always stuck your tongue out the hole on the mask near the tongue shown.  My mother would always fold this back up and try and use it the next year (like I would't grow right?). Credit

Then in my mid to late teens, I didn't dress up at all. I basically ignored the holiday or handed out candy at home.

Then in my late teens, I started to get back into the holiday with my nephews now growing up and us living in an apartment building.

I just wish we remembered to get pictures of them in them! 

I remember one year I bought a huge box of different candies and poured everything into the box it came into. Then each of the kids got a huge handful of the stuff. It was something like 20 pounds and it was all gone by the end of the night.  I did dress up this year as a grim reaper. I had the black robe, plastic blue skeleton gloves, and a skeleton mask which I pulled overtop of my glasses. When people looked into the eyes of the skeleton mask all they seen was a shiny glint back at them. They couldn't see my eyes at all.  Talk about scaring the kids!

Charlie
My brother, Charlie, always loved to dress up and take his son, CJ, around. At first he just wanted to dress up, but then kids started to throw or stab other kids thinking it was funny, so he went to keep the kids around him safe.

When Charlie and Kathy bought their house, they always did it up for Halloween which was something because their house sat back from the road and it was dark being in a back road.

Me
The last few Halloween's I had in the US, I helped my sister, Debbie, take her son, Eric, out. It was interesting to see how the different towns and people treated the holiday.

The last Halloween, we took Eric out. It started to sleeting out as we walked about 10 minutes. We thought it might stop so kept going. We did the first 2 tiny roads near where my sister lived. However, by the time we finished the second one, it was to the point where I had to pick up Eric and walk because he did more sliding than walking because of how slippery it was. We gave up and walked or slid back to my sister's house. We had been gone less than an hour it was that bad, but it was also funny because of what you had to do to stay on your feet.

Since arriving in Australia, they hadn't celebrated. The first 2 years we lived with my father in law in Ferntree Gully which was a neighborhood which had families. However, they didn't believe in the holiday so we were lucky if we had 5 kids.

We moved into our now home in 2000. The first year we had someone on horseback ride up saying they were a cowboy. I've never had a person, on horseback, come up to any other door for Halloween before! It was only the one year, but what an impression!

Our first year of decorating in the house. 

Another year of decorations on the house. It's hard when there's not place to buy them! 

2019 Decorations

2019 Decorations

The doorbell I never got to put up in 2019.

Over the past 18 years since, we've had some years where we've had over 50 kids and other years we were lucky if we had 20. It's really up and down with the numbers which is nuts considering we live next to a Primary or Elementary School. It's a built up area and we still only got 41 kids this year.

Sometimes I get dressed up and greet the kids at the door.

Me dressed up for Halloween as Frankenstein. 

Me as a Super Mardi Gras Party Girl

When Buddy was alive he loved the holiday. He'd sit in front of the door and let me know when the kids were around, then when I opened the door he'd go out and say hi to them all. Last year someone even tried to cart him off to take him home because he was so cute. It was only as they started to walk away from the house Buddy got concerned and started woofing and wiggling to get down.

When we had Brett's nephew with us, I got him dressed up as a cow he loved and I dressed up as an astronaut and took him out for a few hours.

William dressed up as the Hulk

William as a cow for Halloween.

What was completely shocking was we had one kid come up to the door. My husband's getting better at handing out the candy, but he likes to ask what the kids are dressed up as. We get the normal princesses, pirates, etc - normally.

This year, 2019, was shocking. My husband asked about what they were dressed up as and one kid proudly says

"I'm dressed up as a high school shooter." and pulls out a plastic hand gun. 

Needless to say, I was shocked and appalled. What person would make this kid think this was something to be proud of and it would be ok to dress up as?

I think humanity needs a good swift kick if they think this is ok.