October 22, 2021 - I have always loved Halloween. Even now in my older years I still enjoy decorating my front porch with all kinds of Halloween items, and dressing in some kind of costume. I get a kick out of entertaining the children who come to my door playing “trick or treat”. They always leave with a treat, thus I have never had a trick played on me.
Back in the 1950s when I was in high school in San Augustine, Texas, Halloween was celebrated quite differently. As an underclassman in high school, I was awed by a number of older guys who took the “trick” part of the equation quite seriously.
I never really knew the history of this fun time called Halloween. Then I met some people who were totally against this “pagan holiday”. This prompted me to do some research on the topic. I learned that Halloween means “hallowed or holy evening because it takes place the day before All Saints’ Day. Many superstitions and symbols are connected with Halloween. The Irish have a tale about the origin of the jack-o’-lanterns. They say that a man named Jack was unable to enter Heaven because of his miserliness. He could not enter Hell because he had played practical jokes on the devil. So, he had to walk the earth with his lantern until Judgment Day.
The Druids believed that on Halloween, ghosts, spirits, fairies, witches, and elves came out to harm people. They thought the cat was sacred, and believed that cats had once been human beings who were changed as a punishment for evil deeds. This belief has led to the present-day use of witches, ghosts, and cats in Halloween festivities.
Notwithstanding all this history, Halloween in East Texas was a time of tricking the unsuspecting. Some of the “tricks” were downright nasty and destructive. I personally recall several things that were done on that mysterious night.
A bar of white soap made a good Halloween trick tool. Tricksters would acquire a bar of homemade “lye” soap, or “99 44/100 percent pure” Ivory soap, and wander around town writing on store windows, house windows, and car windows. Their messages in soap were not always complimentary to the “soapee”. The soap messages were pretty standard fare, however there were some pretty ingenious students in our school.
One Friday night, several boys coaxed a cow into the study hall of the high school. The cow was not discovered until Monday morning. The evidence was all over the floor.
A really ingenious trick, which I never quite figured out, was the appearance of the high school principal’s office desk on top of the school building. How it got there remains a mystery.
One Halloween night, a few students hooked a turning plow on to the back of a jeep and plowed up part of the high school campus. They could have planted cotton or corn at least, but they did not.
An obnoxious trick used once was the mixing of chemicals in the lab, pouring it into several room heaters, which then produced a terrible odor for weeks whenever lit. The perpetrators, or actors as they are now called, were never identified.
The “king” of all tricks frequently used involved a paper sack, some fresh cow manure, and a match. The “actors” would place some of the manure in a paper sack, place it on the front porch of the victim, smear some of the manure on the outside door knob, and set fire to the paper bag, then ring the door bell, and lastly – run fast. The homeowner victim upon opening the door would see the sack on fire, then stomp on it….well, you get the picture.
Yes, Halloween is not as it used to be. It seems the “trickees” have retaliated somewhat by putting dangerous objects in apples and candy. Now, parents must accompany their youngsters to selected homes to play their “trick or treat” game in order to protect them from the dangers. In addition, they must check all the goodies placed in their sacks to make sure they are safe to eat.
I had to buy a new mask this year to wear while handing out goodies to the children. My wife’s mask needs replacing next year, or she might just go natural. I know better than to stomp on a burning sack on my porch, not that I have seen one lately. But, one never knows….
