Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

Halloween in France I am a Pumpkin Head…

Pumpkin head

A photo of a photo that I took at Cassihaus Photographer by Raymond Meeks 

The "Trick or Treaters" trickled to our house throughout the day, starting Friday after lunch. Some came in costume, most not. They came to the door saying "BONBONS!" It is funny to
see this tradition wading into France. I put a candy or two into each
bag, they seemed to look at me like I was selfish. I wanted to say "Hey that is
Chocolate, the good stuff too." But as soon as the thought came to my
lips– I remembered who was in front of me- a child. Thankfully the
inner Halloween child in me took over and put "The Madame Scrooge" back in place. "Trick or Treat" I added, the children looked at me like I was an alien whispering to each other, "Elle parle Anglais?!" I smiled, "Happy Halloween! Adding a few more Bonbons to their scarcely filled bags.

As I shut the door the memories of my Halloween past raced in…

I am at home- My brothers and I are in their bedroom- Our Halloween loot is poured out on the bedroom floor- We are trading, "I'll give you the green M&Ms for the black licorice?" "No, I'll give you the Smarties for the Junior Mints!" "Who wants these cookies?" "I hate when they give apples, how dumb!"…. Our mouths are stuffed, we are "allowed" to eat as much of the Halloween candy as we want. My mom makes popcorn balls, we are in heaven.

Note:

Famous Black and White Photography.

Carving Pumpkins without the Mess.

A Summer of Running Raymond Meeks.

Later side notes:

My sister in law Shelley wrote a comment and I had to attach it to the post:

"Hey Corey, I've never commented before but when I saw the pumpkin head
I had to laugh. Did you know that I met your brother on Halloween and
he had a pumpkin on his head? I still remember it so vividly. He came
to my house with a mutual friend. When he took the pumpkin off I
remember thinking…..Hey, this guy is pretty cute. The rest is
history! There's just something about a guy with a pumpkin head! Shelley"





Comments

17 responses to “Halloween in France I am a Pumpkin Head…”

  1. Jeanne

    I love you my darling
    Rabbit Rabbit♥

    Reply
  2. Ellen Cassilly

    Ray Meeks from Montana is the photographer of Pumpkin Head. I went as Freda Kahlo last night. Photo later. E
    __________________
    Thanks Ellen I added his name. I love that photograph of Raymond Meeks that you own. It with Candy Cigarette, and Running away from the Family Reunion keep coming up in my mind’s eye.

    Reply
  3. Marilyn

    It is interesting to read that the tradition is growing in France. Each year we get fewer children coming to our door, as so many now go to parties where they feel it is safer. I use to have about 50 children and last night I had 21.
    Loved your memories. My mother made popcorn balls too. What fun memories.

    Reply
  4. Sue

    Ohhh I remember those days. Dots, I traded for all the dots. Not many trick or treaters in our neighborhood, like it was when my kids were young. It’s kind of sad. I give huge handfuls with lots of chocolate, I want to be remembered as the good house next year.
    Happy November to you!

    Reply
  5. jend’isère

    Childhood memories are high for holidays, as expectations. French kids do not have parents to teach the traditions of Halloween, so it really is not at all the same. And not the same when parents try to recreate in another country, as I did this Halloween. Along with my message to Shelley, tell her that when I asked my 4 yr old how to say “Trick or Treat” in French he repeated the phrase again but with an strong French accent. Now to “carve” the pumpkin through your link to compensate. With thoughts of approaching Thanksgiving and St Lucia with similar concerns!

    Reply
  6. Penny

    Rabbit, Rabbit. Jeanne wrote Rabbit, Rabbit. Other than my husband saying that to me once a month, a throwback from our dating days in college, I haven’t heard or seen it elsewhere. Thank you, Jeanne!
    And Corey, it is so fun to see our holiday through the eyes of another country. Thank you. We don’t get any treaters here on our country road. Even our neighbor kids don’t come – they can hit three houses full of treats before getting to ours. I miss it.

    Reply
  7. Diogenes

    “I hate when they give apples”…boy, my sisters and I were exactly the same way! We used pillow cases to hold the candy, and in those days they gave out the full-size candy bars, not the mini-ones.

    Reply
  8. carolyn

    My husband just shut the door– he doesn’t like his morning disturbed by blog-laughing. It started w “BONBONS!”
    Thanks!

    Reply
  9. mindi

    Great Picture! I love giving away candy to the little trick or treaters! Last night I told a little guy to take as much as he wanted, In addition to candy I had halloween pencils and he was sooo excited to get a handful of pencils! He ran away yelling that he got a bunch of pencils. He was also keen to point out to me a snail was on my pumpkin.

    Reply
  10. Visual Vamp

    It sounds like Halloween in France is like it used to be in the USA, sweet, charming, and for children.
    I hope it doesn’t become the bloated extravaganza it has become in the states, though the kids still enjoy all the candy!
    xo xo

    Reply
  11. Merisi

    Thanks for showing these little goblins true American spirit and generosity! 🙂
    My children act exactly like you did, after the great big pumpkin bucket was emptied out on the floor: trading like they were on Wall Street (wished those stocks were as real as the children’s loot!), all neatly into four piles and a fifth one, for me. I got all the Bounty bars. Yippie ki-yay, I am an old cowhand from the Rio Grande and my boots are filled with Bounty! 🙂

    Reply
  12. Bonnie Buckingham

    That reminds me of Jamie Wyeth’s “Pumpkin Head Self Portrait”
    http://images.artnet.com/artwork_images/424053410/132642t.jpg

    Reply
  13. Kimberly

    Corey, my boys did the trading game last night. It seems like 100,000 Grand bar was the most sought after candy. 🙂 Blessings, Kimberly

    Reply
  14. Helen

    Love your photo Corey. Our ‘Symphony in Black’, black hat ladies dined out for a Halloween Luncheon. We wore black outfits, cats in our jewellery and hats – but failed to scare the resident cat! Fun though!

    Reply
  15. Elizabeth Harper

    The part about separating candy and swapping reminded me of a picture my sister in Alaska sent me yesterday of the five pounds each… piles of candy her two boys netted from their neighborhood.
    Her kids are home schooled and youngest one got seriously into a project on trans fats last year and is now the self appointed health and nutrition guide for the family.
    His first act on spreading his loot was to separate it into candy with and without trans fats.
    I asked my sister what he did with the artery clogging sweets and she said, “He gave them to his brother.”
    How’s that for brotherly love…

    Reply
  16. susanna

    Really? Halloween is being celebrated in France?! Fun! And to think that YOU had trick-or-treaters while I, living in suburbia New Jersey, had NONE! How is that??!!!

    Reply
  17. Shelley Amaro

    Hey Corey, I’ve never commented before but when I saw the pumpkin head I had to laugh. Did you know that I met your brother on Halloween and he had a pumpkin on his head? I still remember it so vividly. He came to my house with a mutual friend. When he took the pumpkin off I remember thinking…..Hey, this guy is pretty cute. The rest is history! There’s just something about a guy with a pumpkin head!

    Reply

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