Open Writing

“What are you going to be?” One child would say to another when the weather turned cooler and the leaves began to fall. That was the big question heard around Baring, our small town, back when I was a child.

October 31st was drawing closer and that was when children dressed up in costumes and pretended to be someone else. It was also the only time of year that small children were actually allowed to be out after dark. They were not alone but were led around by older siblings and friends as they learned how to knock on doors and say, “Trick or Treat”.

Quite a lot of thought was put into our costumes so that others would not be able to guess who we really were, or so we thought. There was also competition over who could be the scariest or come up with the most original costume.

The costumes were not bought in a store but usually found in closets and attics as parents and grandparents helped children come up with an outfit. Old clothes, hats, make up, and other odds and ends turned out a town full of children who were cowboys, pirates, ghosts, fairies, cats, clowns, angels, and villains of every sort. The ones who did happen to own a mask or two shared them with brothers, sisters, and friends from year to year. In Baring, we knew about recycling before that name was ever used. We called it making do with what we had.

The first time I remember going trick or treating was with my neighbor, Joyce Mayer. I thought that was wonderful because Joyce was a teenager and I wanted to be just like her when I grew up and have pretty clothes and wear make up.

Joyce took me by the hand and we started down the road with a brown paper bag and flashlight in hand. We were off for my first trick or treat experience. We went to a house or two and I thought this was the best idea ever to just knock on a door and someone handed you candy.

The next stop we made was Father Carew’s house. I was excited because Miss Marie would be there since she was his housekeeper and also my first grade teacher. I knocked on the door and nothing happened. We waited and then the door slowly opened and it was dark inside and then this scary white monster came to the door. I was terrified but Joyce took my hand to lead me away when all of a sudden Miss Marie appeared and said, “It’s okay, Pamy, it’s just a trick.”

That was my first initiation into the “trick” part of the trick or treat idea. At that age, I didn’t understand much about it but I knew Miss Marie was not a threat. I even got another handful of candy in my sack as Miss Marie showed me that the giant scary monster was simply a hall tree covered by a white sheet. She pushed it back into the house and all was well.

At some houses where we stopped the people would pretend to be surprised or scared out of their wits when they saw us in costume. After recovering from their horrible fright, they would ask us to reveal who we really were as most of the people at our stops seemed to enjoy the parade of children and costumes as much as we enjoyed dressing up.

One year I dressed as Sacagawea, complete with a papoose strapped to my back. Mrs. Dorothy Lawson had children’s books in her classroom and I was intrigued with the story of Sacagawea: Bird Girl. Unfortunately, my costume was lost on those who weren’t history buffs or studied Lewis and Clark but Mrs. Lawson understood.

I remember at the McManus house we signed a book because they liked to know how many children came and they always gave us lots of treats.

As we moved through the neighborhood, we received all kinds of treats such as apples, popcorn balls, cookies, gum, and candy. Children quickly passed the word as to where to go for the best treats. In those days, parents didn’t even consider checking their children’s sacks for anything harmful because the most harmful thing we ever received was probably a tummy ache from too much of a good thing as we devoured our sack full of treats.

There was sometimes a little orneriness among the older kids on the night of October 31st but most of it was all done in good humor and was even somewhat expected. It was not unusual to hear someone tell a group of kids, “When you’re done dragging that junk out on the sidewalk, you come back tomorrow and put it all back where you got it.”

It was interesting to drive around Baring the next morning. One year there was a pair of underwear flying from the school flagpole. The worst thing I remember happening was when some outdoor toilets were pushed over. This was not acceptable behavior in our community, especially when one of the outdoor toilets had someone in it. Fortunately, nobody was hurt but somehow our principal, Mr. Kimble, knew the ones to blame and he made those boys go apologize and then set the toilets back the way they were supposed to be. I don’t know how Mr. Kimble knew things like that but he always did. It was difficult to get by with anything in Baring. We had a neighborhood watch long before anyone even thought about putting up signs to that effect. Why warn the culprits ahead of time that they were in trouble?

A small town is a good place to spend a childhood and Baring Missouri was such a place where there were always more treats than tricks.

My Website:
http://www.blaines.us/PamyPlace.htm
e-mail: http://pamyblaine@blaines.us

"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world,
the Master calls a butterfly."