Ah, the Halloweens of old

Trick or treat. Or possibly murder.

Before I forget, Happy Halloween. I’ll be happy when it’s over. We have about a bushel of candy ready to go, and I guarantee you it will be gone before the kids quit coming. Something about this Springfield neighborhood, the big porches and the wide sidewalks. A holiday like this, maybe it is a little too pedestrian friendly.

Still, the wife gets a kick out of it and the weather here is always mild enough to sit in a rocking chair in one’s shorts. I drink a little wine and ponder the Halloweens of my youth, when all the costumes were homemade. Not that it mattered. Usually nobody saw the costume anyway because you had to wear a parka and mittens to ply the streets of Somers, Mont., at that time of year.

Anyway, if you like that photo above, here are a few more from back in the day. They’re referred to as “creepy” and “disturbing,” but really, they capture the old-time essence of Halloween, before every kid could afford a store-bought costume based on a movie character or a video game. Scary? Kind of. But that’s what it’s all about, right?