It’s almost Halloween. Beware Marionites! The ghosties and ghoulies and all of their friends will soon be out and about! Halloween is a long awaited event for a lot of kids and many not so young kids too.
My earliest recollections of Halloween have to do with the costume party thrown by the Chamber of Commerce for local kids. It was a huge event when I was a kid and if you are of a certain age, you remember it too. The costume judging contest was held at the township hall, or weather permitting, at the Bowl. I remember going to parties at both places. But the absolute highlight of the day was, of course, an afternoon of cartoons and Westerns at the local Sun Theater.
In 1954, when I was very small and not exactly sure what Halloween was all about, my parents decided that I could attend the Village Halloween party, accompanied by neighbor Esther Scherlitz.
Mom and Aunt Lola set about to make me up. I wore large, long, red wool long-johns. Never mind that they were indeed very long. They solved that problem by stuffing excess length into my red rubber boots. They took up the rest of the slack by stuffing pillows in the back and front and extras under my cousin’s corduroy jacket. They pinned a compass on the front and a hunting license tag on back and topped me off with a red vinyl hunting cap and green mittens. I was costumed as a rotund, little huntress. Best of all for this kid, I got to carry Jack’s BB gun around for the day.
I saw no humor in my costume. It was perfect. But Mom and Aunt Lola could hardly contain themselves. They laughed until the tears flowed. It didn’t matter to me. My focus was on the coveted BB gun. Had it not been Halloween I would not have been allowed to touch it, let alone traipse all over town armed. It was, of course, not loaded. I was sure that it was the BB gun accessory that got me on the stage at the costume contest. But it wasn’t the accessory that won me a silver fifty cent piece for my funny costume; it was likely the pillows that plumped me up. I remember being on the stage with Janice VanDeWarker, who was a cowgirl, I believe, and Bruce Jenema who had a great Big Bad Wolf mask and outfit. All the rest are lost to time.
After the contest I attended the cartoon fest at the Sun with Esther, who was decked out as a gypsy. I had to leave the fifty cent piece and the BB gun with Mom and Aunt Lola, who were still chuckling, and by then congratulating themselves on a costume well done.
The cartoon/Western feasts at the Sun were a big part of Halloween for Marion kids. It was a big deal and a great party, bested only by much the same kind of event at Christmas. I can still see Harry Ellis standing at the door, confiscating witches brooms, tall hats, wooden swords, plastic guns and any other accessory which could impede someone’s view or become a weapon in the melee.
Inside in the dark, the big screen was full of Tom and Jerry and the favorite mice, Mickey and Mighty, followed later by a Roy Rogers feature. It was pure kid heaven. We sat with our friends, talked or watched the screen intently. A visit to the theater was a treat for a lot of area kids.
We chose seats too close to the screen or way in the back. We ate too much candy and got too loud. Eventually Mr. Ellis would come in and settle the crowd down. He didn’t have to say a word; he simply strolled down one aisle and up the other. The show resumed and eventually so did the uproar. It was indeed a fine kid time. When we filed out, the confiscated items were reclaimed and we received a brown bag of candy, courtesy of the Chamber. We went home, happy, buzzed on sugar and ready to Trick or Treat for more.
I didn’t win any more Chamber Halloween Costume Contests. The Jenema boys used the Big Bad Wolf mask until it wore out, one or the other of them being Big Bad on Halloween until everyone knew who they were. By then their sister Liz had also worn out Little Red Riding Hood. The wolf mask eventually was retired to the toy box, a winner several times.
This week’s photo is of the Main Street block between Pickard and Carland, about 1952. The Marion Bank is on the left. The movie Trader Horn is playing at the Sun Theater. Take note of all the Chevrolet’s parked on Main.