When I was a lad, growing up in the heart of East Yorkshire, Halloween was hardly a thing. After all, just four days later we had Mischief Night to look forward to and on November 5th - one of the most momentous days of the year - Bonfire Night which is sometimes called Guy Fawkes Night. Compared with that, Halloween was a mere blip on the calendar.
When our kids were little, it was with much reluctance that we allowed the Halloween nonsense to seep into our lives. After all, the commercial hype had gradually become unstoppable. There were costumes to buy, parties to attend and scary films to watch. Halloween had got everywhere - rather like COVID19.
The presence of swollen pumpkins in our supermarkets was quite distasteful. Shouldn't farmers grow things we can eat and not orange orbs to be carved for Halloween and then discarded? It didn't seem right so I was a dad who never carved a pumpkin... until yesterday afternoon.
Partly, I carved it for the granddaughters but mostly for my own creative satisfaction. I had bought the pumpkin from Sainsburys for a mere £1.75 (US $2.30). Bigger ones cost £2.
I wanted to give my pumpkin a happy face. He or she should not be scary. There is enough scariness in the world right now so why should I add to that climate? Besides, as I said at the beginning, there are no ghosts or evil spirits. That is pure poppycock.
I planned the face and used one of Phoebe's water-based felt-tips to mark out the features - knowing that I could later wipe those lines away. Phoebe got on a step to watch the pumpkin artist at work but, annoyingly, she kept leaning on me, threatening to jolt my right hand in which I held a sharp kitchen dagger.
The insides of my very first finished pumpkin's head were thrown out for composting. In that sense I felt rather like a lobotomist. I found a large tea candle in a tin container and lit it just before teatime, placing the head on a table next to the French windows in our dining room. It was already dark by then.
Phoebe and Margot were called to the unlit dining room to see the glowing happy face outside and of course they were as impressed by old grandpa's artistry as Rembrandt's grandchildren were probably impressed by "The Night Watch". Happy Halloween everybody - whatever that stupid greeting might mean to you!
You and I seem to be in a minority these days, preferring the traditional English Bonfire Night instead of the ghastly American import of Halloween and particularly trick-or-treat.
ReplyDeleteI think there are some more of us around but the others keep quiet. It's a self-preservation thing.
DeleteAs kids, we only knew Halloween from American films. But having a massive US-American military presence in our area until the Gulf War, our businesses catered for their tastes, and of course gradually, much of it was adopted here - but fortunately, I was too old by then, and our parents never had to buy Halloween costumes for us or watched over us while we were knocking on our neighbours' doors for trick or treat.
ReplyDeleteNow, it's common practice in kindergardens and (elementary) schools to have parties and costume contests, decorating everything just as you describe.
The only thing we did try out several years before moving out from home was to carve a pumpkin, but its insides weren't thrown out - Mum made soup with it, and it was delicious.
Your happy pumpkin makes a refreshing change to all the "scary" decor around!
I am glad to hear that you missed all the Halloween nonsense when you were a girl.
DeleteExcellent first pumpkin carving! Happy Halloween!
ReplyDeleteOh yeah! Such happiness with ghouls and spiders' webs and skulls.
DeleteFasten all the doors together but leave one slack, then knock on them all.
ReplyDeleteSo - you finally confess!
DeleteBah, humbug.
ReplyDeleteOops ... wrong party ...
Nowt wrong wi an 'umbug missus!
DeleteLike you, mischief night and bonfire night were the highlights of the season, and I'm not on board with the halloween shenanigans that seem to get bigger and more expensive every year, but I do seem to recall that we made lanterns from swedes in a similar way.
ReplyDeleteI once made a lantern from a swede! It was an effort that deserved a medal. In comparison, these orange pumpkins are an absolute cinch to carve.
DeleteYou old curmudgeon! I love Halloween and always have. Of course it's nothing like it was when I was a kid, but I still enjoy it. I'm wearing my pumpkin shirt today and will wear my Dia de los Muertos shirts the next two. Boo on you! (nice carving, btw)
ReplyDeletePlease don't boo on me Kelly. I only have to wipe it off! Pleased to be an old curmudgeon!
DeleteAlthough I’ve always lived in Northern England, I confess I’d never heard of Mischief Night. Turns out, from a bit of googling, it’s localised in areas right across the North but I can’t have lived in any of them - talk about being parochial!
ReplyDeleteAre you posh Caree? That might explain it.
DeleteI like my old pumpkin which said fuck off on it
ReplyDeleteHow did you carve the "o"?
DeleteExcellent carving, Professor! I'm so impressed I'm sending your name on to the Minnesota State Fair to see if they'll hire you to carve Miss Minnesota out of butter next summer. Watch your mail, or post, I think you blokes call it.
ReplyDeleteIt will be easier to rescue Miss Minnesota from the butter when it has melted.
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