baker wrote:

> It's amazing what a difference a half century can make. Back in the mid-
> fifties, before razor blades or needles or poison in apples and candy,
> many houses offered trick or treaters fruit or homemade confections. My
> mother used to make caramel apples rolled in nuts, or popcorn balls, or
> bags of caramel corn. Neighbors used to offer homemade fudge and
> homemade taffy. One elderly lady, who lived far down the street, used to
> decorate her basement like a witch's shack and wear a witch costume. She
> would invite several kids in at a time to bob for apples, and served us
> witch's punch and cookies. In our neighborhood we were encouraged to
> "perform" to win a treat, recite a short verse or sing a halloween song.
> We went up and down the street on our own, just after dark, no fear from
> possible molesters or the like, just goblins. Our costumes were usually
> homemade, too, and often quite elaborate. Masks were often the only
> purchased item we wore. Halloween was a lot of fun!

I still remember some of the people who used to make things like that when I
was a kid out trick or treating. They were the first places that we hit. As
I mentioned in a previous post, living in the country we don't get many kids
and when my son was young the only kids who came were his friends and two
other neighbour kids. I used to make candy apples or caramel corn balls.
Then I found out that the parents wouldn't let them eat them, which surprised
me because we only gave them to kids we knew well. Some time in the next few
weeks I will go out and buy three or four chocolate bars that I like and if
anyone shows up that's what they get, but if we get the usual number.... 0...
I won't have too much on left over to eat myself.