By Barbara E. Garnett, November 14, 2017 — Can you remember what the holidays meant to you? Did you have fun? Do you have pleasant memories? Can you remember your meals and what you wore on that special day? Certain odors are in the air according to the time, place and season. And above all the memory of the family and friends will come to mind.
I am eight or nine years old and I live in North Philly, Strawberry Mansion area. For weeks I have been waiting for Halloween. My brothers and sisters have already decided our route and how much candy we will get. We would visit and see many houses before finishing at 8:00 p.m. In my father’s house everyone had to be in by 9:00 p.m. or else.
Now comes the big day! We will be taking our little brother Donald with us for the first time. We didn’t consider that the little ones walked slow. We never came home to dump our bags. We had all our candy with us. In those days the big kids would snatch your bags. You had to be very careful.
When it came to the end of the night danger was present for my brothers, sisters and me. We were at 28th and Diamond Streets. I looked back and saw a gang of boys with sticks. In the 50’s there were gang wars in the city of Philadelphia. We lived in the 29 D’s and 30th & Norris area. These were times when you told someone where you were going. We didn’t have a phone. Word of mouth was the “in” thing for the family. We were in front of the Most Precious Blood Catholic Church at 28th and Diamond Street when Donald said he was tired. I had to drag and carry him across the street or the boys would have taken our candy. Thank you, Mama for leaving the door open for us. Needless to say, we stayed in for the remainder of the night. We sat around the dining room table. We began checking our bags. Then came the good part: trading goods for what we did or didn’t want. Dad liked chocolate candy. I don’t remember what Mama liked.
Years later, my sister and I, being adults gave a party for the children in the old neighborhood. We dressed up in costumes and gave away large bags of candy and hosted a spaghetti dinner.
The only thing missing was Mama and Daddy, but they will be with us in every piece of candy that we eat. Love and kisses to all my brothers and sisters and friends near and far.