Burns’ Halloween Reverie on CBS

Frequent File 770 contributor James H. Burns made the “front page” of CBS New York’s website today with “Halloween Reverie: Then and Now”, a memoir about Long Island’s changing trends for celebrating the holiday.

On one Saturday in the early ’70s, I donned my first and only Halloween makeup job, a result of my new-found fascination with the Universal monsters that I had been introduced to on WNEW-TV’s Creature Features. I was some kind of green-skinned, fanged apparition.

When the afternoon proved so cold that my mom insisted I wear a sweatshirt under my jacket, I acquiesced, probably recalling that Frankenstein’s creation also wore layers in one of his later appearances (and that perhaps his ancestors–the whole lot of them!–might also have cared about his well-being!)

These days James is at home handing out candy:

My mainstays have been the miniature Hersheys with almonds and some kind of lollypop. The Scooby Doos were popular years  ago but I have to admit to keeping many of the “reds” for myself! The most popular candies over the years? No doubt, it was the eyeball bubblegum balls, although the Tinkerbelle candy necklaces, as well as other Disney character candies were also a hit a few years back.