Tales From the "COUGHIN"
If you ask a group of children what their favorite holiday is, the response from many would be Halloween! Of course, why shouldn’t it be? A day to dress up as spooky ghosts and witches, favorite cartoon characters or superheroes, and to play games, have parties, and go door to door collecting candy.
Many of us have our own favorite Halloween stories to tell. I for one, certainly do have a story to tell of my own. Being raised on a farm, we didn’t have a neighborhood to walk around trick or treating, so my sister and I were taken out by our parents just one year. This year was special. I grew up in a time and in a place where everything was done home spun. People often made their own treats; I remember candied apples, covered with caramel and nuts, and chewy homemade peanut butter candy, and cookies. We imagined the faces that we would carve into a pumpkin; creativity never came in a boxed kit. Games were passed on from previous generations and played in the yard, those didn’t come in a box either.
The one year that we went trick or treating, several cousins and other children from near by came along. We had just the car to haul a crowd to town. We lived in Cameron, Missouri, and my father commuted over an hour each day to Kansas City. He had purchased a big car to accommodate himself and the few men that rode with him to the Ford Plant each day. My favorite Halloween story is about the year that I went trick or treating, with all my cousins and friends, in my dad’s 1967 Hearse, with his own special touch, a license plate that read, "COUGHIN."
Jennifer Thompson
Column Editor
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"It Happened This Month"
200 years ago - October 1803
October 2 - Samual Adams, US Revolutionary, dies at age 81
October 3- Birthday of John Gorrie, inventor of cold air refrigeration.
October 20- United States Senate ratifies Louisiana Purchase
October 21 - Birthday of General George Wright Brig of the Union volunteers.
100 years ago - October 1903
October 1 - Birthday of "Slapsie" Maxie Rosenbloom of New York City, Light-Heavyweight Champion, 1932-1934, and the first World Series was played between the Pittsburgh Pirates vs. the Boston Pilgrims (now the Red Sox)
October 5- Birthday of Jimmy Ritz, comic. (Ritz Brothers, Blazing Stewardesses)
October 13 - Birthday of Patsy Moran of PA, actress. (Children of the Wild) and "Babes in Toyland", by Victor Herbers premiers in New York City
October 16 - The first Jewish self defense organization, Homel, is founded in Russia.
October 17- Birthday of Irene Ryan of El Paso, TX. actress (Granny of Beverly Hillbillies)
October 20 - United States also wins disputed boundary line dispute between District of Alaska and Canada.
75 years ago - October 1928
October 2 - Birthday of Spanky McFarland of Dallas TX, (Little Rascals, Our Gang)
October 8 - The musical "Paris" by Cole Porter and E. Ray Goetz premiers in New York City.
October 9 - In the 25th World Series, the Yankees sweep the Cardinals, Babe Ruth hits 3 home runs in the game.
October 18 - Birthday of Keith Jackson of Carrollton GA, sportscaster of ABC’s Monday Night Football.
October 20- Birthday of pop psychologist Joyce Brothers.
October 20- Birthday of pop psychologist Joyce Brothers.
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U S Legacies Magazine October 2002
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