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Local News

Talk of the Town: Who put the HO in horror?

10/28/2009 6:10:02 AM

Comments (7)

Join Tracy's live blog at 11:30 a.m. Thursday.

Here is the downside of being 40-something. When talking to my kids, more often I am finding the opportunity to use the phrase, "When I was a kid."

The problem is that I don't know that I'm old enough to say this phrase with a straight face. I fear someone who is 70 or 80 years old may overhear my statement, roll their eyes, and say, "Sister, you don't know the HALF of it."

I guess that's a cross I'll have to bear, because things have really changed since I was a kid when it comes to Halloween. It used to be that a carved pumpkin was the extent of the decorations, but now we've got it all -- from wall hangings and table linens to candy dishes and balloon creatures on the front lawn. An apology to my neighbors, I don't have my Halloween lights up yet.

There is also some etiquette regarding begging for candy that needs to be addressed. My husband thinks I'm a hard nose because I won't give a child at the door her pick from the treat bowl until she says, "Trick or treat." And teenagers who come to my door without a costume can just keep on walking.

The biggest change of all is the costumes. When I was a kid, we had three categories of costumes: a ghost costume that was a sheet with eye holes, a hobo with a beard drawn using Mom's eyeliner pencil, or any assortment of plastic suits with a hard plastic mask held on by a rubber string that always broke, snapped you on the side of the cheek, or got tangled in your hair.

We would go to the door, holding our masks to our faces and utter a muffled, "Trick or treat!" Then we would leave, tripping over the ghost sheet our unfortunate sibling had to wear.

At what point did Halloween became an opportunity for every woman to spice up her wardrobe? Men's costumes haven't changed much through the years, but these days, costumes for women make us look like we are headed to the strip club to pick up an extra shift.

When it comes to couples costumes, the difference is quite obvious. For instance, there's the policeman and his sexy prisoner, the vampire and vampiress, the ketchup bottle and his sexy mustard sidekick. There's nothing sexy about mustard.

Unfortunately, this trend has made its way into teen girls and even children's costumes. Objectification aside, do other parents think it's cute for their 8-year-old to dress like a dominatrix?

Not at my house!

When I was a kid we had to put our costume on then put our snowsuit on over the top of it. My Mom would drive us from farm to farm where we'd have to unpack from our snowsuits to show off our costumes before claiming our full-sized candy bars.

That's right, full-sized!

We had it pretty good when I was a kid.

Pass the Snickers!

Tracy McCray writes the "Talk of the Town" column and hosts a live blog at 11:30 a.m. Thursdays.

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Gr8ful
SE MN, MN

Posted on 10/28/2009 at 4:21:00 PM

Agree with everything said in this article. Why do parents cave in to peer pressure and allow their young daughters to emulate high school or college aged girls? Disturbing to see 7 yr. olds doing ‘stripper moves’ at dance/cheer class. You get one shot at childhood.

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Pirate77
Rochester, MN

Posted on 10/28/2009 at 10:06:45 AM

I’m guessing it was Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.

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Tripp
Rochester, MN

Posted on 10/28/2009 at 10:45:54 AM

Where are you seeing these costumes? We must travel in different circles.

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Benji
Rochester, MN

Posted on 10/28/2009 at 1:16:56 PM

Tripp, look online. The costumes for little girls are unreal.

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southside
Rochester, MN

Posted on 10/28/2009 at 4:00:37 PM

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate this column. I used to love Halloween but now that every female costume has turned in to Sexy ______ (fill in the blank with your favorite character- police woman, army girl, vampiress, fire woman, etc), it has become a “holiday” I choose to ignore. If I wanted to look like a hooker, I’d dress as one.

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Gr8ful
SE MN, MN

Posted on 10/28/2009 at 4:21:00 PM

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Native
Rochester, mn

Posted on 10/28/2009 at 4:56:07 PM

Because our society insists on sexualizing everything from cars to toothpaste, girls grow up under the pressure to be “sexy” at a very young age. Have you seen the TV show Toddlers & Tiaras? Makes me want to hurl. I came of age in the 70’s when women’s rights were hard fought for. Now it seems to have come full circle, with women again being judged so critically by their appearance. The pressure to be thin, shapely, beautiful and well-groomed is tremendous. “Slut”,“ho” and “bitch” have become mainstream in conversations. Think about how these words, sleazy costumes, and all the rest influence our children.

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Gr8ful
SE MN, MN

Posted on 10/28/2009 at 7:28:28 PM

Remembering plastic costumes, I loved my Casper the Friendly Ghost costume and half mask, with the annoying, uncomfortable rubber band strap stapled to the sides. One neighbor man made kids do a trick for a treat, usually a cart wheel, song, or something. We eventually just skipped his house.

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