LETTERS: HALLOWEEN HAS BECOME CIVILIZED

To the editor:

I always liked Halloween as a child. I remember how my father on Halloween night walked down to the corner of Broadway and Ellis with my twin sister and me to watch the children clad as ghosts with a sheet over their heads, a bar of homemade soap in their hands and marking heavily on each window as they passed. There were many little ghosts and goblins.

That was about the extent of it, with the exception of the following day when all the merchants were seen out scrubbing their store windows unhappily.

Today, Halloween is observed in a much different manner. It has become somewhat commercialized and even more civilized.

One may enter a fashion shop for the sole purpose of purchasing a Halloween costume. There are many from which to choose.

Parties are held for children as well as adults where one might win a prize for the best costume as well as the worst.

Childish pranks are being replaced by various uplifting activities. It is good that children are given an opportunity to use and develop their skills in the carving of pumpkins.

The legendary story of the Great Pumpkin is also proving to be a splendid way of entertaining the very young. Listening to it is even enjoyed by the youth of an older age.

Thus, the change that has come about in observing Halloween, I feel, is far better in every aspect from that of years past when the motive consisted mostly of childish pranks such as destruction of property where many items were carried away, some found hanging in trees, others not found at all.

On that note, then, I can say I even look forward to Halloween again in my very adult years. However, memories of Halloween as a child will always remain dear to me.

PAULA E. KEMPE

Cape Girardeau