Halloween in the 1950's

Things were so different when I was a girl growing up in Abilene, Texas on ACC Hill.  It was called that because of the location of Abilene Christian College.  Most of the people who lived in that part of Abilene were associated with the college.

I remember the kids playing together and walking to friends' houses blocks away, riding our bikes, and having to be home by dark.  At Halloween, the kids who lived on "the hill" would walk blocks in the dark to go trick or treating.  The lady who did my mother's hair, Thelma Beall, lived about two blocks over and two blocks down from our house.  I would always try to trick her, but she would pick me out each year.  I tried hiding in the middle of a group of friends or hiding at the back.  I tried not speaking.  One year I even switched masks with a friend just in case my mother had given away what mask I would be wearing, but nothing worked.  She always picked me out of the group.

Those were simpler times.  We didn't have Halloween costumes; we had masks.  And what a time of innocence that was, too.  There was no fear about us roaming for blocks to go trick or treating.  There was no fear that someone would give children something harmful or harm them.  

Another memory that stands out is Mother making pop corn balls.  She had a white dishpan with a thin red line around the edge.  It was big enough to fit over both burners on the stove.  She would pour pans of popped corn in it and then pour the syrup mixture in to start forming the popcorn balls.  She wrapped them in waxed paper and tied them with a ribbon.  As I write this, I can picture her smiling as she made them and as she waited for the kids to start knocking at the door.  It did not take long for word to spread that Mrs. Robbins made popcorn balls.  I was so proud that everyone made sure to stop at our house.  The next year she made even more, but quickly ran out.