Mr. and Mrs. Teabody Attend a Costume Soiree

Good Morning, Gentle Reader.  'twas quite a snuggly night last night, and the Teabodys are ever so appreciative of their restored electrical power, having been denied its comfort and joy for sixteen hours  because of Sandy. As usual, Mrs. Teabody has risen a bit before the rosy-fingered dawn, and this brisk Hallowe'en  requires that one don both socks and a robe.  Do bundle up! According to Mr. Wikipedia, the word Hallowe'en was first used in the 16th century and represents a Scottish variant of the fuller All Hallows' Even ('evening'), that is, the night before All Hallows' Day. Hallowe'en is also thought to have been influenced by the Christian holy days of All Saints' Day (also known as All Hallows, Hallowmas or Hallowtide) on November 1 and All Souls' Day on November 2. By the end of the 12th century they had become holy days of obligation across Europe and involved such traditions as ringing bells for the souls in purgatory. "Souling", the custom of baking and sharing soul cakes for "all crysten christened souls", has been suggested as the origin of trick-or-treating. Groups of poor people, often children, would go door-to-door on All Saints/All Souls collecting soul cakes, originally as a means of praying for souls in purgatory. Similar practices for the souls of the dead were found as far south as Italy. Mrs. Teabody is sincerely sorry any children missed their planned activities, and she remembers trick-or-treating as a girl with mixed feelings.

Ask anyone over sixty about trick-or-treating and you will find that NO ONE had a  purchased costume. One was limited by what existed in the household so there was a plethora of "ladies" and "men", an occasional cowboy, a "hobo",  a  member of the military depending on the reverence for a uniform felt by the veteran parent, and far fewer ghosts than one might imagine as sheets in general were in short supply, and finding a white sheet anywhere in a household with seven children as likely as finding a Louis Vuitton handbag or a bar of gold. Once in costume, there was a very short list of pre-approved houses to visit for the very simple reason that there were a great lot of children and candy was somewhat of an extravagance. The neighbor ladies made the candies famous in the day: penuche, divinity and Hershey's cocoa fudge, all of which were gleefully inhaled on the spot leaving only a well-intended apple or two in the goody bag at the end of the neighborhood trek. The two activities of the evening -- the "tricks" if you will - - were soaping windows and/or throwing corn kernels on the porch of a house which Mrs. Teabody and her siblings were permitted to do ONLY at their own house. It was also patently clear that anyone who soaped or threw would be doing the cleanup of such folly the very next day. Mon Dieu! Is an act of anarchy truly an act of anarchy if oneself is one's only victim?  

Mrs. Teabody mentions all this as prequel to her tale of being invited to a "Costume Soiree" hosted by one of Mrs. Teabody's most adored friends, but a friend who would herself tell you that she is overly mad for this sort of thing and EXTREMELY talented at stepping into another persona with the agility of a white-tailed deer clearing a fallen log while Mrs. Teabody is unnerved by the experience of attempting to become someone else and could probably perform brain surgery with more success. The simple act of applying false eyelashes proved to be as time-consuming as making bread and how folks go about at night wearing sunglasses and stilettos without ending up in the Emergency Room is beyond Mrs. Teabody's comprehension. Mrs. Teabody was made perilously uncomfortable skulking about the Sheetz convenience store parking lot looking for a fairly unused cigarette to place in the cigarette holder, and that same dastardly Newport cigarette with just the tip burned made Mr. and Mrs. Teabody all queasy-stomached inside their ancient motorcar as they made their way to the fete. Have you guessed that Mrs. Teabody had guised herself rather unremarkably as a movie star? Rarely has such huge effort been met with such marginal success. On the other hand, Mrs. Teabody had the good sense to purchase a delightful "Jack Sparrow" costume for Mr. Teabody and as he is a handsome man to begin with, he looked quite dashing.

The costume soiree itself featured wonderful folks in divine costumes - -one beautiful lady appeared in an authentic trapeze artist costume for the 1950's - -, a lovely and generous repast including "zombie" cocktails and a chance to engage in intelligent conversation with some very clever folks. Leave the costumes out and the fact that everything took place in almost complete blackness with many, many designed-to-scare-your-bloomers-off elements  and it would have been perfect. 

Today is the very last day of October, and it is Hallowe'en. Perhaps tonight you will find yourself gathering treats and honoring a tradition that goes back hundreds of years. Or perhaps you will just decide to just be yourself and eat all those leftover  Gummi Bears and Tootsie Roll pops the trick-or-treaters passed by. Or apples. And if you happen to find corn kernels on your porch or your windows etched by soap, you must know these "tricks" were not the work of Mrs. Teabody. Probably not. Ta for now!