Gramma's house

I don't have any memories of living anywhere before we lived with Little in her house in Harvey. It was a row house that was the last one on the block. A lumber yard was next to it, with a cement wall running along the property. Across the street was a large field. A blacksmith shop was down the street run by an elderly couple. I liked to visit with "the blacksmith lady". The front of the house had cement steps and a wooden door. You walked right into the small front room and could see all the way into Gramma's father's bedroom at the back of the house. There was a window next to the door and a table in the corner. That's where the only telephone was. Gramma's room was next to the front room. She had a full size bed that was on a spring foundation. It squeaked every time anyone got on the bed. There was a dresser and mirror across from the bed. I think there may have been a rocking chair in there, because I can remember her rocking me many times. The kitchen was in the back of the house with a door to the backyard. A small sidewalk led to the garage. I loved riding my tricycle on that sidewalk. I don't remember the other rooms,but Kenny's crib was set up along a wall before the kitchen door. I think it was a dining area as part of the front room. I don't remember where Mom slept, but I got to sleep with Gramma in her room. She would snuggle with me and "rub my piggies" until I fell asleep.

 

It's almost Halloween and that has me thinking about how I celebrated when I was a little girl. It was so different in the 60's. Most of our decorations were homemade, things we could make from construction paper. Bats, ghosts, pumpkins. We did buy cardboard pictures to tape to the living room window. Most of these were Hallmark products. Black cats, witches on brooms, haunted houses and more pumpkins. None of things were really scary, but they did mean Halloween was coming! Uncle Bobby carved the pumpkin just a few days before Halloween. We used a real candle so it didn't last more than three or four days. He would only carve one pumpkin and used a kitchen knife to do it.

We would spend a week trying to decide what our costume was going to be. We almost always made our costume instead of buying it at Woolworth's or Kresge's. Even so we still had to take the bus and go to the store and look at the boxes and boxes of ready made costumes. I always wanted to wear one of the masks and see if I could trick anyone. I would look at the princess costume every time. Because Gramma could sew she usually made the costumes. In second grade I was a flapper, complete with beads and nylons. My outfit was made from a peach slip that she sewed on row upon row of  fringed crepe paper. I'm not sure if I knew what a flapper was but my outfit was very pretty. A lot of the boys would dress up as hobo's or scarecrows because it was easy and you had most of the items needed already. No one had a costume with blood or any gore that I can remember. If you were a ghost you were Casper or Wendy. We used sheets just like Charlie Brown.

In grade school we had a party after lunch. The students usually wore most of their costumes to school but the teachers would help if you needed to put on make up. The room mothers would bring  cupcakes, kool-aid, popcorn balls and lots of candy to pass out. We colored pictures, played games and ate lots and lots of treats. It was important to remember to bring your trick or treat bag to school because we would start on the walk home. I took a bus to school but I stopped at the houses on our block as I walked home. We could stay out after dark if we wanted, just be home in time to eat.  Sometimes we went out again after supper. Kenny usually did the most trick or treating. He liked to use a pillow case instead of one of the free bags businesses handed out. He didn't like to come home to empty his bag, he just kept going and going. Kids were everywhere, it was almost as much fun answering the door and handing out the treats as it was getting them for myself. Letting a grown up "check" your candy meant they were looking for Baby Ruth or Mounds bars. I was always more than happy to give these to Mom. Uncle Bobby liked Butterfingers. I did too so I would try to hide them from him. It didn't work, I would always give him a few after we sorted our loot and made our trades with one another.