COMMENTARY: Halloween was fun while it lasted

Halloween was amusive portion it lasted.

For decades it has been the 1 time of the twelvemonth we could each hide our worries and unrecorded successful the moment. When I was a kid successful the 1970s, Halloween was for kids. As the upwind became chilly and the leaves turned superb colors, we knew our yearly candy haul would hap soon.

We didn’t enactment overmuch effort into our costumes — immoderate aged expanse could beryllium converted into a shade outfit — but readying our trick-or-treat way took hours. Because our parents wouldn’t fto america statesman instrumentality oregon treating until it got acheronian retired — and since we had to beryllium location earlier 8 p.m. — Tommy Guillen and I refined our routes each twelvemonth with the strength of logistics executives.

We’d deed the well-to-do homes connected the different broadside of the railroad tracks first.

Those radical gave distant full-size delicacies, including Hershey’s, Nestle Crunch, Milk Duds, Almond Joy, Snickers, Milky Way, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and my favorite, the Mallow Cup. The lone downside with well-to-do radical was that, due to the fact that their homes are farther apart, we had to question a greater region to gain that name-brand candy.

We’d past instrumentality to our ain vicinity of humble homes and past deed the tiny post-WWII ranch homes a fewer blocks away.

The fantastic radical who lived successful those houses had lone 1 insignificant flaw: they favored the budget-conscious, locally made Clark Bar, which was made of peanut-butter taffy and a cocoa coating. As an adult, I emotion Clark Bars and emotion that they are inactive being made 104 years aft they were launched. But arsenic a kid, they weren’t arsenic invaluable to me. I’d person to commercialized 10 of them to get a azygous Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.

I’m incredibly nostalgic astir my aged trick-or-treating days.

To this day, erstwhile I bask an occasional candy bar, the sensation instantly transports maine backmost to 1972 and the fantastic representation of arriving location with a pillowcase afloat of sugary loot, my feet earthy from the effort.

Here’s wherefore I americium particularly nostalgic astir my puerility Halloween memories: It was a clip erstwhile kids were escaped to beryllium kids — escaped to explore, make and blossom — wholly unburdened by the worries of the big world.

In 1972, the Watergate ungraded was successful afloat swing, Bloody Friday bombs were exploding successful Belfast and the past U.S. crushed troops were being withdrawn from Vietnam.

But arsenic those and different atrocious experiences played retired successful the wide cruel world, we kids were escaped to wholly immerse ourselves successful our guiltless and uncomplicated Halloween traditions.

In caller years adults person grown to bask Halloween. Until recently, it was the 1 time erstwhile they, too, could formal up successful ridiculous costumes — costumes that often satirized existent events oregon mocked radical successful the quality successful precise comic ways — and truly fto themselves person fun.

But now, acknowledgment to the fun-crushing powerfulness of societal media, those days are over, too. Politics has infused itself into each waking infinitesimal of our lives, including Halloween.

Some schools are canceling Halloween parties and parades. The media connection guidance connected what costumes are politically and socially unacceptable. Everyone is connected guard, disquieted that helium oregon she whitethorn beryllium recorded doing oregon saying thing politically incorrect that inadvertently offends idiosyncratic else.

It’s go a precise atrocious thought to fto yourself person excessively overmuch fun, oregon 1 excessively galore big beverages, astatine a Halloween gathering.

As I said, our Halloween amusive was bully portion it lasted.

Tom Purcell is an writer and wit columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Contact him astatine Tom @TomPurcell.com.