As things biuld up steadily towards Halloween here in Blighty, what with the shop aisles brim full of witches, ghouls and zombies, I've been trying to recall Halloween for me in the Sixties.
Being a monster nut I would have thought I'd have adored the whole thing, but I'm really struggling to recall much at all, so much so, that I'm now thinking Halloween wasn't a big thing in Sixties Preston, where I grew up. I'm even beginning to think trick or treating wasn't even a thing in the 60's, a custom that was yet to come over from the States. Or?
Unlike Christmas, which I remember vividly and to some extent, Bonfire Night, which WAS a big deal back then, Halloween can't have been anything like it is now in the UK, a night I've now come to savour as I've got older. There's no great party or shindig that we have, it's just the whole eerie atmosphere of the candle-lit evening, the true start of the dark season and the cold gateway to Winter.
I assume for American readers Halloween has always been massive, even in the 50's and 60's. Maybe even before that?
What was it like as a kid where you live in the world and how is it now for you?
It was a named day, but that was it. Nothing went on.
ReplyDeleteI know, boring.
DeleteIn the 1960s and 1970s, in New Zealand, Halloween was something that you saw only on American TV shows. Very alien - there was nothing in NZ that I can recall. It is only in the last decade or perhaps two that Halloween has filled the shops with orange and black, witches, skeletons, and black cats.
ReplyDeleteYes, orange and black! Where did that come from?
DeleteOrange and black, I'd guess from the preponderance of Halloween gear. Pumpkins (especially in plastic) are orange and black. Bats and cats and spiders and capes and witches' hats and cauldrons are black. I had black spider rings, orange rings with snapped-on black bats. "Candy corn" is orange, in fact "Indian corn" which was a decoration is all orange-y. Fall leaves are orange. Bonfires are orange. Yep, if you're going to produce Halloween gear for sale, you'd be wise to invest in orange and black paint!
DeleteYou're right.
ReplyDeleteHalloween was no big thing for us in Britain, in the 60s, eclipsed as it was by the massively popular Bonfire Night on 5th November.
Halloween was noted, and in my neck of the woods was also called 'Mischief Night' (which I suppose is similar to 'Trick or Treat' in the USA) but it was not really celebrated, as such.
It really took off in the UK, in the '80s and '90s, partly influenced by the arrival of the Halloween series of movies and the increasing spread of American culture generally, and partly because of it's commercial possibilities for the toy, hospitality and gift industries here.
Over the same period, Bonfire Night declined significantly, due to the safety issues around fireworks (which, quite rightly, can no longer be bought by children or teens) and bonfires generally, which once appeared everywhere, but now are rarely seen.
As a result, Halloween is now pretty well a national event for kids, and completely overshadows Bonfire Night.
Bang on that Mish. Great write-up. And Mischief Night. Is that Miggy Night too? I've heard it was the night before Halloween or Bommy Night. It wasn't a thing in Preston. There's an old hoodie horror flick called Mischief Night set in Halton Moor in Leeds I think.
DeleteI concurr with Mish, Halloween is only a thing in Australia now, because of the influx of Chinese made decorations, created to satisfy the American market.
ReplyDeleteI remember how odd it was in the first Harry Potter film to see Jack O' Lanterns in England!
I do remember in my English 60's childhood, dressing up as scary monsters with the neigbourhood kids, around Bonfire time... My Dad had a high neck denim jacket and I could zip it up over my head and look through the zipper to create a headless horseman effect!
Australia had "Cracker Night" on the Queen's Birthday, but that is all gone now.
Dressing up as scary monsters. That does ring a bell. My brother in law scared me to death wearing a fantastic plastic werewolf mask. It could have been a Don Post or Ben Cooper. We're they available in the UK in the 60's?
DeleteUp to the time I left the UK in 1974 Halloween was All Hallow's Eve with church services.
ReplyDeleteWhen I moved to the US it was a commercial 'Trick or Treat' the religious element was missing.
Yes, All Hallows Eve. A religious day too when I was small. In Germany, Alle Heiligen, the day after, is the same. A day to visit cemeteries with flowers I recall when I lived there.
DeleteI remember Halloween in the US being a huge thing as early as 1966. It's always been my favorite holiday, as I love costumes and parties and spooky stuff. I still had fun giving out candy to kids as an adult. Then for some reason I lived in areas where there were no trick-or-treaters anymore. When my own kid was the right age we walked her friends around on Halloween. Here in well-to-do Los Angeles neighborhoods the movie people go nuts on haunted house displays and special effects. Now my kid is grown and it's just a night for watching old movies...
ReplyDeleteSuper that Baron, thanks. So intetesting.Which movies might you be watching this year?
DeleteI have two to review for an online film festival. I'll drop the info here so you can check it out.
ReplyDeleteCool!
DeleteOK, I'm reviewing Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter, and The Crimson Cult aka Curse of the Crimson Altar for The Hammer-Amicus Blogathon V. The internet posts are scheduled to begin November 7th (don't ask me why it's not *before* Halloween, no one consulted me!). Here's an ongoing list of the reviews that have been spoken for: https://weegiemidget.wordpress.com/blogathons/blogathons-2025/news-whos-doing-what-in-the-hammer-and-amicus-blogathon-v/
DeleteTwo fab films Baron. How great that you do reviews and how great that there's still an audience for Hammer and Amicus films. I love how the reviewers names are listed, that's a neat thing. Such super films, some I've never seen like the Ugly Duckling. Good luck!
DeleteI can verify that Halloween in the US was a HUGE affair, in my memory as big as Christmas. The TV played monster movies all month. Costumes were made or bought. On the big night, we kids would go out Trick or Treating in our neighborhood (unchaperoned, can you imagine!) Some of us were lucky enough to have Father drive us to other neighborhoods, to increase our booty! Often I came home with a shopping bag bursting with candy, all of which I ate over the next few days - and got sick as a dog!
ReplyDeleteAlso, there were Halloween Parties at friend's houses, where we ate junk food, watched monster movies on TV, played our favorite 45 rpm records, projected 8mm monster movie digests, and sometimes even brought along our Aurora Monster models to show off!
Back at home, Mother would man the door for Trick and Treaters, and she used to keep a running count of the visitors - I believe in 1964 the total tally was about 150!
An amazing time, actually. For Halloween today, I wouldn't give a fig! Like so much in this degraded culture of ours, it is fake, corporate, soulless. And the new genre movies and TV shows are god-awful,
Long live Halloween 1964!
Wow, what a vivid picture you paint of your Halloween 2964 SF! Sounds monstrously good and I wish I'd been there! Sweets, monster films, Aurora! Jeepers, it's heaven on earth! Don't suppose you've got photos have you?
DeleteAlas, nothing but fond memories of those days! SFZ
DeleteJust how huge is Halloween? This from a company called Mantis, that provides advertising solutions: "Americans expected to spend a record $13.1 billion on Halloween this year and 73% planning to celebrate." That's pretty intense.
ReplyDelete