A Halloween Party
by Mary B. Ferris, 1924
"So was I! Tell me about it!"
"Well, first we got the cutest little verses, written on corn shucks and tied with colored grasses. These were our invitations and this is what they said:
'To our Halloween party we bed you come,
Just one hour after set of sun.
Wear white costumes, if you can;
To make it spooky is our plan.
Ask your mother to let you stay
Till midnight drives the spooks away.'"
"Oh! I got one of those, too," said Ann. "What happened?"
"The fun started at the front door. Standing on each side was a grown person all in white, with a tall, black, pointed cap on holding two brooms crossed and tied with a big bow of black and red ribbon. We had to jump over these before we could get in the house.They said the brooms were there to sweep out bad spooks, if they tried to come in.We had a good time watching everybody jump. The boys had to jump high because the witches would hold the brooms up every time.
"The house was beautiful with candles and pumpkin lights, and in the dim light everyone looked pretty. In the big parlor were tubs of water with lovely red apples to bob for, and one little boy fell in trying to get one.
"I laughed until I cried at those boys that night. In another tub were the fortune boats. I never saw them before-walnut and peanut shells, with little candles in them. We would light the candles, make a wish and send it out. If it sailed to the other side of the tub, without upsetting, it was a sign that our wish would come true.
"The other tub was called luck fishing. If we caught a fish with a number on it, we got a fortune written in a little verse and they were surely funny. Mrs. Day had oilcloth under the tubs, or her floors would have been spoiled."
"What next?"asked Ann eagerly.
"We all took a turn at trying to bite the swinging apples, tied on a string on the curtain pole, between the parlor and the library. I got one little piece off. It's the very hardest thing to do. We threw the peelings 'round and 'round our heads and let them fall, to make the letter of our sweetheart's name. Then there was a big fire in the fireplace and we roasted apples, marshmallows and chestnuts and popped corn. After that we were asked to make a long line and march around the dining room table and put things in the charm cake. There were all kinds of things from the kitchen and we just put in anything we wanted to. I never saw such a funny cake. Whatever we put in, we would tell whether it was to make it sweet or black or sour. The cook was stirring and mumbling all the time, to keep up the "spell," she said. When it was baked, we took some home in cute little thimble boxes to charm our dreams. Want to hear some more, Ann?"
"Oh, please go on!"
"Just out of a window on the dining room porch was a colorful little gypsy tent, with a pot boiling and an old witch handing out fortunes to us, tied up in clever little packages. We read them aloud and such heaps of fun we had. I kept mine.
"Then, best of all were the goodies we had--little round yellow cookies with raisins for eyes and nuts for noses and mouths. They looked like pictures of the man in the moon. the lollypops were made like little brooms. I wanted to keep mine, but one taste and I just had to eat it.
"We went home just as the clock struck twelve. All the candle lights were put out and Uncle Jake, the old butler, came down the big stairway with a tray full of little glass candlesticks. He gave each boy a little candlestick and each girl a doll mirror. Every boy lighted a girl to the big station wagon that was to take us home, and we all made a wish as they blew out the candles. I never has such a good time in all my life!"
I almost felt as if I'd been to that Halloween party, myself!" said Ann.
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