Wednesday 31 October 2012

Americanisation

When we were children our greatest delight...and as I remember it source of huge fun...was bobbing for apples on Halloween...which is tonight, 31st October. the Eve of All Hallows' or All Saints'
I don't recall it having great (or any) religious significance.
Apples would also have string pushed through them and suspended from the ceiling, hands behind your back you would try to bite them.
It was great fun.
We also made lanterns...remember that in the Northern hemisphere the dark is crashing in. I don't think we ever ruined a pumpkin;  we used, rather, large turnips (probably what I now know as a mangle wurzel...which my dear friend and parishioner R gives me and they are so good....) and patiently dug the middle out of them. Once we had done this an eyes nose and mouth was pierced through the shell and a candle could be placed inside to give that wonderful eerie effect.
But no pumpkins. Indeed I don't think I'd seen a pumpkin until we came to Oz.
Nowadays I note that Coles sells "Halloween pumpkins" especially for today
They don't appear to be food...they do appear to be expensive.
As the years have gone on we have heard of this thing called "Trick or Treat" which seems to have obsessed the US for 50 years.
I just don't understand how this works. It would seem that parents allow children to get dressed up as ghosts, fairies and vampires etc.
And then they visit their neighbours saying "Trick or Treat"....as far as I can tell this never happened in England or SA (until recently)
By and large the wise victim is going to say "treat" and give the callers some sweet treat.
I can't imagine anyone saying "trick"...because then, it seems, they throw eggs or mud or ...worse
at you, yours and your house. On the whole it doesn't seem that fantastic

Of course this is also a different era. Do we really want to send our kids off to houses of people we only vaguely know....a breakdown of the social hub...and allow them to accept "treats" from strange people like me.
I don't think so.
Incidentally I have a bowl full of choccy treats, just in case.

Actually it has never happened.
But I remember the happy evenings of apple bobbing in our childhood with great fondness!!

Ohh and I bought $10 worth of chocs just  in case!



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