[redwitch]

Funny, I read your posts and am so envious. My childhood was a mixed bag with all the traveling we did. The first time I heard of Halloween was when I was five or six in California -- it was practiced anywhere else in the world that I can remember back then. All the kids talked about their costumes and were all excited. I went home and asked my mom for a costume. She thought I was nuts. My father, fortunately, saved the day (he was American) and turned me into a little G.I. That first time trick or treating was actually frightening. Knocking on strangers' doors and asking for candy just didn't feel right to this little girl. However, after seeing my bag of goodies at the end of the evening, I was all for it and couldn't wait til next Halloween.

Most of my younger days were spent in post-WWII Germany where survival was the order of the day and treats were few and far between, excepting when my dad was around and brought us K-rations. Loved the jam and bubblegum and, of course, the Hershey bars!

I do remember things like collecting soda bottles to get the money. Also candy cigarettes (loved 'em) and marshmallow peanuts. Saturday matinees were one of the great things of being in the States or near a military base. Loved everything -- the newsreels, the cartoon, the main attraction (usually a western).

America was also where I saw my first television. I couldn't watch The Mickey Mouse Club (it was on opposite American Bandstand, which my brother watched) but loved The Howdy Doody Show. Ditto Sky King, Lassie and Fury. BTW -- According to my brother, The Mickey Mouse Club was a Communist plot to take over the minds of American children. Took me about six months to figure out that I could watch MMC since I wasn't American and he was now stuck taking turns watching it or Bandstand. Of course, we moved to Japan right after I figured that out.

And let's not forget the Red scare. Think it terrified all of us way too much.