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Halloween 2014 would have terrified those celebrating Halloween in 1964

[Tumblr] Right about now, if contemporary Halloween is anything to go by, the glue on your hand-...
Newstalk
Newstalk

16.49 30 Oct 2014


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Halloween 2014 would have terr...

Halloween 2014 would have terrified those celebrating Halloween in 1964

Newstalk
Newstalk

16.49 30 Oct 2014


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Right about now, if contemporary Halloween is anything to go by, the glue on your hand-crafted costume and the smug look on your face are just about ready to set for another year of annual Halloween hijinks.

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The spookiest date on the Autumn calendar is back to reclaim its title as the biggest party night of the year, with pubs, clubs, schools, and even workplaces finding it morally acceptable to allow grown men wear morph suits all day long. Gone is the macabre, replaced by the MacGyver, as pop culture has swooped in to push the witches and vampires back into the shadows in the battle for bigger, better, ever more elaborate fancy dress.

And if you don’t partake you’re the scariest thing of all… a joyless party-pooper with considerably more money in your pocket.

But as the witching hour of All Hallows’ Eve draws near, spare a thought for the Irish of 50 years ago, ready to celebrate another Samhain, who would arguably be terrified by the excesses of modern Halloween…

Jack-O-Lanterns:

[WikipediaCommons]

50 years ago, a grizzly face was hacked into a small turnip in an artless grin by a blunt knife. A dying candle leaked grease between his teeth, and the whole lay forgotten beside the door until it collapsed in upon itself.  

Today it's a selection of hollowed-out gourds, carved with surgical instruments bought online, and etched with increasingly elaborate faces documented on your Instagram account. 2014’s Jack-O-Lanterns are lit up by brilliantly white LED bulbs and wired to illuminate in time with the Monster Mash for the YouTube clip you’re hoping will go viral.

Costumes:

In Ireland in 1964, the lucky children of Dublin 4 would have walked past the newly opened American embassy in paper masks and conical hats, maybe a bedsheet ghost trailing somewhere behind. If they were lucky enough to have a plastic mask, its rudimentary paint-job would have rendered it terrifying by modern standards, a crude mishmash of facial features in fuchsia and green. Cobbled together minutes before leaving the house, chances were it wouldn’t survive the trip to the next house, let alone a snaking walk though cul-de-sacs.

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Today, forget the kids, it isn't for them anymore. They walk around in store-bought Marvel merchandise or Frozen costumes forced on over coats because it turns out the cold does bother them, anyway.

These days, the costumes are for adult-aged children, in delayed adolescences, planned for weeks, after checking out endless galleries on aggregator news sites to find something that mashes a casual shriek with something from the telly. You can’t walk down the street for crashing into two Stevie Wonder Women, six troupes of beret-wearing French Kiss, and probably at least one Sharknado.

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Parties:

Kids Halloween parties of the past were once social gatherings filled with innocent parlour games involving bobbing for coins at the bottom of a bucket of water or pushing a tangerine across the room, friction burns be damned, with your nose.

Today they are excuse for adults to show off the costume they’re wearing while drinking too much. But boy do we take the decorating seriously...

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Trick or Treating:

Halloween 1964... A six year-old finger pushed the bell, an angels chorus sang in unison, “Trick or treat, trick or treat, give us something nice to eat…”

Unchaperoned bands of children traipsed their way around, leaving a trail of Fun Snaps behind, running home as night drew in, to go to a party or have a few sweets. There may even have been a small bonfire, with cats and dogs running free.

And then it was off to bed with a cup of sugary tea.

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In 2014, kids wear high-vis vests and hold sparklers, the only firework they’re even allowed to buy, with tongs. They move from house to house in packs accompanied by adults, taking endless photographs and living for the joyous nostalgia of it, eyeing any unaccompanied man with suspicion. Answering the door is greeted with the poorest mumbling of “trick or treat” you’ve ever heard, but you only have to do it twice.

Dogs and cats are medicated, isolated with white noise machines to get them through the trauma of what sounds like the Luftwaffe paying London a visit.

The towering bonfire was confiscated by the Gardaí a week before, so instead it’s home to watch age-inappropriate horror movies on six different devices on Netflix till 2am.

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The Sweets:

1964’s haul was bruised tangerines and bitter monkey nuts, and maybe a Macaroon bar if one of your neighbours also happened to be your Godmother.

2014’s has no gluten. Or peanuts. Probably comes from Lidl. And remains beside the door, in abundant quantities, for the expected hoards that never materialise. It’s okay, all the additives mean it’ll still be fresh by Christmas.

November 1st:

In 1964, you were the next day for Mass for All Saints Day.

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In 2014, well as it’s a Saturday, there’s probably another opportunity to wear your costume out to another party. 


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