And now, from John Scalzi comes our...
Weekend Assignment #83: Your Halloween Story
Weekend Assignment #83: Tell us a scary Halloween story... that happened to you.
It's not scary, but it is a Hallween story.
Until I was twelve years old we had no indoor bathroom facilities; my parents were the telephone operators in a small town, and our living room was pretty much open to the public. There were no phone booths in town, so if someone away from home needed to make a phone call, they'd see the "Bell" telephone sign on our porch, knock, and come on in. Needless to say, everyone nearby knew us. Which means we were often a target for Halloween pranks.
The outhouse was the last place I'd go before going to bed at night, and my first destination upon waking in the morning; unless it was bitter cold, in which case there was a metal "pot" under the bed. It wasn't ever cold enough by Halloween to necessitate a pot.
Imagine waking up the morning after Halloween with a loaded bladder, heading out to the toilet, and seeing the outhouse laying on its side. Desperation!
Yep. That was the most popular "trick" in the fifties in small-town America. And it didn't matter whether the kids got a "treat" or not. In fact, the toilet-tippers were usually older teenagers who hadn't even gone around asking for treats.
Extra Credit: The song "Monster Mash": Fun or lame? As lame as it gets.
6 comments:
HA HA.... Cute.. When I was 5 years old my parents took us overseas to the Azores, and in those days (back in the early 1970's) homes in the countryside still did not have inside plumbing. I sometimes spent the night at my mother's aunt's home in the country that summer, and the kids all slept in an loft along with my mother's older aunt. I remember waking up in the middle of the night to see this older woman sitting on a white pot. It WAS SCARY, and I remember hiding underneath the blankets hoping that she didn't see me. Julie :)
http://journals.aol.com/coelha/CoelhaThoughts
Great story!
Maybe I will have to consider doing this one from John!
You got me started on this, you know? lol
Jackie
What a wonderful story. Not in the fact that they tipped the toilet but that I'm hearing about experiences of a time that I'll never know about first hand. My parents had stories like this and I loved listening to them. Thanks for sharing.
Monster Mash? If it's the song I am thinking of...it's fun but will never be a truly "great" song.
-Raven
cute story....LOL....and I remember the "outhouse trick"....didn't do it...never went trick or treating..in the country...no houses close by....but somehow the "gang" could find our outhouse....LOL...Hugs..Ora
Where did you grow up?
Hey there,
When I tell people we didn't have indoor plumbing until we moved to town when I was 8, they look at me like I'm from another planet. I remember that kids tipped over outhouses as a Halloween prank; this is a great story, thanks.
Judi
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