The Book of Me: Prompt 9 - My Halloween Stories

I faintly remember dressing up for Halloween to go Trick or Treating when I was a young child.  The costumes we had were handed down between the 5 siblings and the costumes from back then entailed a face mask and a pull over the head and stick arms through design for the costume (think pillowcase or trash bad with holes for head and arms).  One in particular that stands out in my memory is a Batman costume my older brother had. Guess it’s because Mom still has the mask nearly 50 years later.

www.unicef.org

Before I was 10, my siblings and I would go trick or treating for UNICEF right after school let out.  Fortunately those folks would also give us kids candy so we didn’t need to go back out later that night.  I also remember having to sort my candy (along with my siblings) and giving up 1/2 of it to be donated to those less fortunate.  We’d sort our candy to make sure we kept our favorite pieces, even trading between siblings before handing over what we didn’t want.

The year I turned 10, my family moved to another town and we had had some issues with boys in the neighborhood just prior to Halloween.  We kids were allowed to visit the 5 other houses on our street for candy and then set us watch areas on our property from various locations - brothers in the trees across the street, Dad in costume on the front porch, sisters and I watching from behind the curtains.  Nothing happened that year nor any other year on All Hallows Eve, although there were different times over several years our house got egged.

One of the years Dad dress as a dummy on the porch we put a speaker next to him so we could add eerie sounds.  A few of the neighborhood boys got in to a discussion as to whether it was a person or a dummy. One boy who was convinced it was a stuffed creation went so far as to kick my Dad in the leg.  You should have seen those guys scream and fall over each other as they tried to get away from us.  My Dad grabbed 2 of the boys (1 being the kicker) and had them sit in front of our garage door while their parents were called to come over.

Other Halloween memories I have as a child were of costume parades at school.  One year (4th grade) I went as a princess and thought I was the most beautiful of all the girls.  Unfortunately when it came time for judging, the best princess award went to one of the truly stunning beauties in my class.  Around that time I decided to try to the beauty prize and started doing my own thing, something I continue to do today.

During college, one Halloween party I attended I went as a frog.  Had a huge frog head and wore green clothes and gloves.  Even spray painted swim fins green for my footwear.  I went to a party store and bought some red paper party horns that uncurl when blown.  I glued a bunch of flies on the end and would go and blow my “frog tongue” into peoples’ drinks, sometimes leaving behind a fly.  (Oh, I was bad that year)

In my 30’s I was in to Ballroom Dancing and the studio would have costume parties.  Sometimes I’d make a costume for an upcoming dance performance and would wear it to those parties. Other times I’d do something goofy, even dressing as Fred Flintstone.

I use to work as a mascot at a store and one year was asked to distribute candy to the kids on Halloween.  Since my mascot costume was already rather large, I tried to think of what I could dress the character up as, while still keeping it a friendly being (no oversized ghost).  I had been working as a crossing guard in my town and opted to adjust my guard vest to fit my larger alter-ego and grabbed my stop sign.  Happily my employer went along with my dressing up the big guy.

While working as a crossing guard, I had a lot of fun and would wear a different hat on the last day of the week for the kids.  I had an interesting collection of hats and costume pieces and didn't care that it wasn't Halloween, I wore them to make others smile.

When my husband and I had our home, I would take joy in decorating the yard for the enjoyment of myself and the trick or treaters - I’d make stuffed dummies to sit on park benches, turn over tomato cages and bend the legs and then cover them with white pillowcases and place them over the walkway lights for illuminated ghosts.  I bought silly  print shirts and hats for hubby and I to wear when the kids came.  Without spending lots of major decorations, my front yard was easily transformed into a kid friendly Halloween scene.

Now we’re living full-time in our RV, traveling all around the U.S.  If we’re going to be at a campground for several days leading up to Halloween, I’ll put out the few decorations I held on to. But if we’re just stopping for the night, we don’t do much for decorations.  Two years ago we were at a campground for Halloween week and Mother Nature decided our decorations weren't enough and added several inches of snow.

The Book of Me: Prompt 7 - Paternal Grandparents

The Book of Me prompt for week 7 is Grandparents.

What were their names?
Where were they from?
Were they related? – Cousins perhaps
Where were they born? Another County or state/area?
Photos
What did they do?
Did you know them?

I considered myself blessed in that I knew 3 of my grandparents and even 1 great grandparent well into my late teen years.  I'm splitting this in to a 2 part prompt, Paternal and Maternal. 

Norman Bartlett in his teens

The one grandparent I did not get to know was my paternal grandfather, so I’ll start with him.  Norman Henry Bartlett was born in April 1895 in Manchester, NH, the first of two children to Herman Luther and Mae (Harris) Bartlett.  Norman was 8th generation born in the U.S. on the Bartlett tree.

From stories my father shared with my siblings and myself, Grandpa Bartlett worked at a shoe factory in Manchester, NH; a fact clarified on my grandfather’s WWI Draft Registration Card which stated he was a foreman at a Shoe Factory in 1917.  After marrying in 1919, Norman moved to Massachusetts, first living in Lowell and then settling in Walpole. While in MA, Norman worked as a welder or machinist in various machine shops.

Both my Dad and his mom had a photo of Norman on display, so I had an idea what my grandfather looked like. Information from the WWI and WWII Registration Cards show that my  paternal grandfather was short and slender, standing 5’6” and weighing 138 lbs.  He had blue eyes and light brown hair. Norman wore glasses and did so from a young age.  He died of a massive heart attack in Oct 1953 at the age of 58.

Norman Bartlett abt 1950

Norman’s wife, my paternal grandmother was Jennie Viola Jenness, born in Sept 1896, in Hill NH. She was the first of four children born to George Milton and Jennie (Emmons) Jenness.  Jennie was 7th generation born in the U.S. on the Jenness tree. In my family, my paternal grandmother was called “Nana”.

Jennie Jennes with parents and brothers

Nana had a tough childhood as her mother died in childbirth when Nana was 4 1/2 yrs old.  For some reason Nana’s father kept her with him but sent his sons off to live with other families.  Nana’s father remarried a year after being widowed and Nana gained an older step-brother, but her younger brothers did not rejoin their father at that time.  The newly blended family moved to Manchester NH where Nana’s father had grown up.

Because her birth mother was Jennie also, my Nana chose to use her middle name of Viola as her primary name and many records refer to her as Viola J Jenness.

Nana’s family lived one street away from Norman’s family in Manchester NH and they both attended the same school, graduating from 9th grade together.

After her husband died, Nana stayed in the house they had lived in for almost another 30 years before she moved to a retirement community closer to their son, my father. She stayed there for just a short time, and was admitted to a nursing home a month before she died in 1983 at the age of 87.

Jennie Jenness in her teens

Jennie (Jenness) Bartlett abt 1950

My siblings and I would save our sewing repair projects for when Nana would come to visit, either spending holidays or a short "vacation" with us. She said it made her feel useful during her visits. Nana's home was about 50 miles frommy home and several times a year we would do a day trip to her home as well.

Because I knew Nana for 22 years I have lots of memories of her.  To describe her physically, I’d say Nana was short, maybe 5’1”, and she was a little bit stocky. Nana had a double chin and a warm friendly smile. She wore wire rim glasses, always was in dresses and stockings (not pantyhose but actual stockings), 1” laced or strapped black shoes and a single string of pearls.

The final piece I’d like to share about Nana pertains to her appearance; her hair. For as long as I knew her (and proven from photographs of her throughout her lifetime) Nana had long hair that she wore in a braid crown, secured with tortoise shell colored hair combs. 

Norman and Jennie - wedding photo