In Islamic culture, there are only two legitimate occassions to celebrate: the 2 Eids, Eid il Fitr and Eid al Adha. I've never had Valentine's, New Year's, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween and we were even discouraged to attend any sort of festivals or national holidays. It just isn't the Muslim thing. I got to truly experience Halloween (Philippine version) once. I wasn't even in costume but my friends were. But with my friends, adult friends, it's just an excuse to wear skimpy outfits. Glad to reading your posts again!
I think wearing skimpy outfits for some adults on Halloween is in some ways akin to the revealing costumes many wear to celebrate Carnival in places like Brazil and in Latin and Caribbean countries like Trinidad and Tobago, or my hometown's West Indian Day Parade. For some, Halloween, much like Carnival (or Mardi Gras) is the one day of the year when folks feel sanctioned with a built in excuse :-) to behave in ways that they generally would not allow themselves to at any other time. In the US I suspect America's puritanical roots is one of the reasons why the modern celebration of Halloween is sometimes so focused on sexy costumes.
I've never attended an Eid celebration, though in HS I remember fasting on a few occasions in friendship with some Muslim friends, in part also as a challenge to see if I could do it. It's hard! Some friends were very strict - abstaining even from water! Last year, one of my children brought home an Eid Mubarak goodie bag from a classmate and she was so excited to talk about her friend and how her family celebrates. It was really sweet.
Oh so many mentions of so many things made me smile! I also made all the kids costumes and loved throwing Halloween parties all around the world. Celebrations, even spooky one, unite.
Halloween around the world sounds like its own theme - oooh Halloween candy from all around the world sounds like a fun picture book for kids. What were some of your favorite costumes?
That Invisible Man costume is amazing. Back in the 80s, when our 3 sons were of Trick or Treating age, the neighbors all looked forward to what kind of costume we would come up with. Each year we would spend days manufacturing a costume according to the whims of a particular (dare I say peculiar!) child. Many involved lights, batteries, and repurposed cardboard boxes. The tradition carried forward, as my wife has been pressed into service on many occasions to make a costume. The middle son took his son, aged 1, dressed as a golf ball. Later years saw him garbed as Curious George, with his dad as the man in the yellow hat. Fun times!
Thanks Jim! I had a lot of fun making that one :-) For years I have been intending to make Halloween photo albums - because now that my kids are tweens and teens - the golden era of costume making is in the past I am afraid! But I honestly hadn't thought ahead to the possibility that my own children might one day do the same for their kids (which just blows my mind even thinking about them maybe being parents one day). The golf ball costume sounds adorable! I hope you have as many photos as memories! Fun times indeed!
Your costumes are incredible! I also don’t sew, so my kids’ costumes are usually Value Village finds and family hand-me-downs. This year marks the first one my kids have asked to go with their friends instead of me, which is kinda bittersweet. I said fine, but they still have to share their haul ;) They can keep the candy corn, though. I’m all about the peanut butter cups lol
My Halloween memories are peppered with trick or treat expeditions in the snow with costumes stuffed under parkas. The reality of a childhood in the frozen tundras of Central New York!
I think kids are like postal workers when it comes to Halloween - Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds 😂
Memories of Halloween MUST include a handmade, sewn, beautfil costume made big enough to go OVER your parka....Halloween in Kansas in the 70s must go on!
Halloween in Kansas in the 70s sounds exactly like Halloween in Northern Ontario in the 80s :) I definitely remember it snowing one year. It didn’t put me or my siblings off at all.
I definitely got sick leaving my coat open to show off a costume once I was out of my mother's sight. (Thank goodness for the modern invention that is Heat tech!)
Utterly nostalgic and wonderful! You celebrated Halloween like I would have loved to back when I was a kid. Having said that, Hong Kong went ALL OUT for Halloween and trick-or-treating was a must. I thought - it must be like 20x better in the west, but then again, stranger danger isn’t much of a thing there so maybe I had it good after all!
Thank you arielle! Oh wow, I bet Halloween in Hong Kong was incredible! I really hope to be able to travel more in the future as there is so much I want to see and experience first-hand! Happy almost Halloween!
In Islamic culture, there are only two legitimate occassions to celebrate: the 2 Eids, Eid il Fitr and Eid al Adha. I've never had Valentine's, New Year's, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween and we were even discouraged to attend any sort of festivals or national holidays. It just isn't the Muslim thing. I got to truly experience Halloween (Philippine version) once. I wasn't even in costume but my friends were. But with my friends, adult friends, it's just an excuse to wear skimpy outfits. Glad to reading your posts again!
I think wearing skimpy outfits for some adults on Halloween is in some ways akin to the revealing costumes many wear to celebrate Carnival in places like Brazil and in Latin and Caribbean countries like Trinidad and Tobago, or my hometown's West Indian Day Parade. For some, Halloween, much like Carnival (or Mardi Gras) is the one day of the year when folks feel sanctioned with a built in excuse :-) to behave in ways that they generally would not allow themselves to at any other time. In the US I suspect America's puritanical roots is one of the reasons why the modern celebration of Halloween is sometimes so focused on sexy costumes.
I've never attended an Eid celebration, though in HS I remember fasting on a few occasions in friendship with some Muslim friends, in part also as a challenge to see if I could do it. It's hard! Some friends were very strict - abstaining even from water! Last year, one of my children brought home an Eid Mubarak goodie bag from a classmate and she was so excited to talk about her friend and how her family celebrates. It was really sweet.
Oh so many mentions of so many things made me smile! I also made all the kids costumes and loved throwing Halloween parties all around the world. Celebrations, even spooky one, unite.
Halloween around the world sounds like its own theme - oooh Halloween candy from all around the world sounds like a fun picture book for kids. What were some of your favorite costumes?
I love all of the creativity in this post! Motivates me to start thinking up a Halloween costume for myself.
This was definitely a treat to read!❤️
That Invisible Man costume is amazing. Back in the 80s, when our 3 sons were of Trick or Treating age, the neighbors all looked forward to what kind of costume we would come up with. Each year we would spend days manufacturing a costume according to the whims of a particular (dare I say peculiar!) child. Many involved lights, batteries, and repurposed cardboard boxes. The tradition carried forward, as my wife has been pressed into service on many occasions to make a costume. The middle son took his son, aged 1, dressed as a golf ball. Later years saw him garbed as Curious George, with his dad as the man in the yellow hat. Fun times!
Thanks Jim! I had a lot of fun making that one :-) For years I have been intending to make Halloween photo albums - because now that my kids are tweens and teens - the golden era of costume making is in the past I am afraid! But I honestly hadn't thought ahead to the possibility that my own children might one day do the same for their kids (which just blows my mind even thinking about them maybe being parents one day). The golf ball costume sounds adorable! I hope you have as many photos as memories! Fun times indeed!
Your costumes are incredible! I also don’t sew, so my kids’ costumes are usually Value Village finds and family hand-me-downs. This year marks the first one my kids have asked to go with their friends instead of me, which is kinda bittersweet. I said fine, but they still have to share their haul ;) They can keep the candy corn, though. I’m all about the peanut butter cups lol
My Halloween memories are peppered with trick or treat expeditions in the snow with costumes stuffed under parkas. The reality of a childhood in the frozen tundras of Central New York!
I think kids are like postal workers when it comes to Halloween - Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds 😂
Memories of Halloween MUST include a handmade, sewn, beautfil costume made big enough to go OVER your parka....Halloween in Kansas in the 70s must go on!
Halloween in Kansas in the 70s sounds exactly like Halloween in Northern Ontario in the 80s :) I definitely remember it snowing one year. It didn’t put me or my siblings off at all.
I definitely got sick leaving my coat open to show off a costume once I was out of my mother's sight. (Thank goodness for the modern invention that is Heat tech!)
Utterly nostalgic and wonderful! You celebrated Halloween like I would have loved to back when I was a kid. Having said that, Hong Kong went ALL OUT for Halloween and trick-or-treating was a must. I thought - it must be like 20x better in the west, but then again, stranger danger isn’t much of a thing there so maybe I had it good after all!
Thank you arielle! Oh wow, I bet Halloween in Hong Kong was incredible! I really hope to be able to travel more in the future as there is so much I want to see and experience first-hand! Happy almost Halloween!