Readers of the Upper Falls News, our neighborhood email newsletter, often send in contributions. Here’s some seasonal memories from Dave Downs of Halloween in Upper Falls many years ago:
I have a few Upper Falls Halloween memories from the early 50s.
I don’t remember that anyone had a “store bought” costume. At our house, we had a large cardboard box in the attic full of old clothes, shoes and hats. We’d find what we needed and transform ourselves into hobos, witches, ghosts, cow boys or girls, etc. It was common for us boys to put on our mother’s old dress and go Trick or Treating as a girl!
We used large paper bags, from the A&P in the Highlands, to collect our goodies. Typically, the woman of the house would hand us an orange or black paper napkin twisted into a bundle filled with homemade cookies, fudge, cupcakes, etc. along with loose store bought candy corn and other delights.
We had Halloween Parties at the Emerson School. I have vague memories of a group of us (children) marching toward the school on High Street after dark in our costumes. I think it was a costume parade.
One year we had a Halloween Party in the recreation room in the basement across from the boy’s room. This must have been before the gymnasium addition in 1955. I remember the highlight of the party was the “Horror Tunnel”. Danny Kerr, our school janitor, with the help of older high school boys, would open the forbidden steam pipe tunnel which was in the school basement. We would have to travel through its dark corridors on our way to the party in the recreation room. I remember one year a large gorilla joined the other ghoulish creatures which popped out at us as we rounded each corner. The gorilla was one of the Bibo brothers.
I remember one year when my older brother Allen and I ventured outside our neighborhood. We had started out early and it wasn’t long before we had visited each home in our neighborhood so we ventured into other neighborhoods a little less familiar. Soon, we’d canvassed those neighborhoods also. With the strong motivation that only candy can provide, we pressed on to add to our treasures before we had to turn back in time to attend the school party.
My brother led the way as we traveled down a familiar but deserted dirt road (Pettee Street?) with no street lights. We passed the school playground on our left and took a sharp right. Moon light blanketed the field on our left and cast ghastly shadows in the pear tree orchard on our right. It seemed that each leafless, twisted old pear tree was about to reach over the wooden rail fence and seize us – revenge for the pears we’d stolen from their branches earlier that year.
At the end of the orchard was a driveway belonging to an old man. This old farmer had often caught us helping ourselves to his pears. He would run out of his dilapidated house, arms waving, yelling threats at us. I gathered up my courage and followed Allen up the dirt driveway.
My brother bravely rang the doorbell. I stood slightly behind him dreading this close encounter with what I considered to be a cranky, mean and scary looking old man.
I was surprised and relieved when the old man opened his door; leaned down towards us, smiled and gave both of us a big shiny red apple. He hadn’t recognized us in our costumes!
Thank you for sharing these memories. Very different from my experiences growing up trick-or-treating in a Manhattan apartment building (though those were also wonderful).
Here’s the one of my own Newton Halloween memories. Roughly 25 years ago, we lived over on Wyoming Rd in Newtonville/Nonantum. Over three years we kept escalating our Halloween production at our house. The last year, before we moved out, we built a six room Hellementary School in our driveway/yard/garage. You entered via a sliding door into the kindergarden and then the door closed behind you. In each room, something would happen and then the next sliding door would open and you’d move deeper into the school – the gym, a classroom, the cafeteria, and my favorite – “the personal development workshop”. If you freaked out halfway through, we had escape hatches. If you made it to the end you received a “Diploma of Hellementary Education”.
After we moved out, we heard from out old roommates that the next year they had to contend with crowds of disappointed thrill seekers.
Oh please share MGWA.
In Ireland, it was, and still is, fireworks night. We blacked our cheeks with soot from inside the fireplace, and dressed in our parents old clothes, or wore masks made from the same grade of cardboard that egg trays are made of. It had a very distinctive smell. My favorite was my Goofy mask. We knocked on the neighbors door and said “Any nuts and apples?” and that is what they gave us, into a pillowcase we carried. Very different today, since peace broke out in my town, there is a huge Halloween parade. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1aVhYkYkjM
Since you asked 🙂
I grew up in NYC in the 60s. Like Dave’s, Halloween costumes were made from what was in the closet – at most, masks might be bought.
Because we didn’t have to cross any streets, we were allowed to go by ourselves without parents from a fairly young age. My brother and I used to trick-or-treat with another set of siblings fairly near us in age. We knew almost everyone in the building, at least by sight, and most people were friendly – it was a very family building. One apartment had apple dunking every year.
We’d start at the top (13th) floor, going from apartment to apartment, then work our way down the stairwell. There were 6 apartments per floor. I don’t think we ever made it all the way down to the 2nd floor, except to deliver our friends back to their apartment and collect candy from their parents.
It was always a lot of fun. Recently, my brother and I got to reminiscing about it in front of our kids and agreed we felt sorry they didn’t get to have that same experience. When I outgrew trick-or-treating I remember discovering it was even more fun seeing all the little kids come to our door. Sadly, the little street I’m on gets very few trick-or-treaters – some years I haven’t gotten any at all.
Love these stories. I have fond memories of Halloween, tho no exceptional ones worth telling here. I am hoping my son recalls some of his earlier Halloween experiences, as the Hunnewell Hill block party atmosphere is always lots of fun, and one year he got to trick-or-treat at David Ortiz’s house (back when they lived on Fairmont St – we had friends on that road who urged us to come on by, so we did- the Oritzes couldn’t have been nicer)
Last night my wife and I took out daughter and a few of her friends to the haunted house at the Hyde Center in the Highlands. While waiting in line my daughter’s friend got too scared to go in. I took her home and my wife and daughter stayed.
Just after I dropped the friend off my wife called to say it was FANTASTIC!! I’m so sorry to have missed it. I’ll definitely get to see it next year though. John Rice told me last night that the haunted house at the Hyde has been running for 50+ years.