The recent release of this year's McDonald's Boo Buckets has me thinking a lot about my childhood Halloweens, and how McDonald's played a very pivotal role pretty much until adulthood for me.
We had some of the old buckets in our home from before I was even born. My grandfather was an avid collector of anything and everything that he thought could be of value, or at least of amusement to future children of the family, so I often wound up with things like that. The buckets were actually some of my favorite toys from a very young age, likely my earliest Halloween memories.
As I got older, though, the collecting gene passed onto me. I always hoped to complete a McDonald's toy collection and Halloween was, of course, always a priority. When the costumed McNuggets came out, that first year I managed to collect all but the pumpkin, which was, of course, the one I'd wanted most. I have a distinct memory of going to McDonald's one night, in the final days before Halloween, so certain I would get it, as it was the only one left, only to find out they'd already sold out. It was one of the more devastating moments of my young, spooky life. I would have gladly traded the mummy, honestly, since it had a spider on its headpiece and I was still deathly afraid of them at the time. For many years that mummy would sit within my Halloween display, bald. I can't remember how I did with the second set of McNuggets released, but I don't think I cared at that point, as they really weren't Halloween-themed anymore and I'm pretty sure in my mind, it was all downhill from the loss of the OG pumpkin, anyway.
Then there was the year of the McDonald's mascot characters in snap-on costumes. This was exciting to me because I'd always loved Birdie and there really wasn't merchandise of her, so I was excited to get a figure. I believe I actually wound up with two of her, so I kept one in costume and one without. I believe I actually played more with my Grimace-as-a-ghost figure, though. My surprise obsession that Halloween season, though, came in the form of the cassette tapes that were also given out with the Happy Meals. Despite my initial disappointment not to actually be getting a toy with my meal, I went home, popped the tape in my old Fisher Price cassette player, and had perhaps my first exposure to Halloween music. What Am I Gonna Be For Halloween? became a go-to song for me. I still get that excited pang of a kid about to go shopping for their costume when I hear it even now. I think I mentioned this in another post, but I often walked around my yard, imagining a music video in which I starred with classmates and movie characters, singing about our costumes and whether they were "frightful" or "delightful" that year. I also used the Scary Sound Effects tape for ambience in my room when it was decorated. I distinctly remember once leading my family around my "haunted room" with those sounds playing in the background. (I swear if I could find the effort and motivation I have for Halloween with anything else in my life, I could truly be unstoppable.)
One of the final major memories I have of McDonald's Halloween fare in my childhood is of the video Scared Silly. (The YouTube video says 2002 but I'm pretty sure this actually was released in 1998.) I actually plan to do a full review of this one day, but for now I'll just say that it became a spooky season staple for me in my younger years. Something about it just nailed the atmosphere for me, though it could be because McDonald's was already such a huge part of my spooky life. I suppose a literal McDonald's Halloween special seemed only right, by that point.
This was all, of course, framed by the fact that part of my Halloween night was always spent at McDonald's. My yearly pre-trick-or-treating tradition with my Aunt Trish was always to stop off at McDonald's first. Halloween usually went like this: School in the morning/early afternoon (except when it fell on the weekend in which case, agonizing until around 4:30 PM), speeding through homework if applicable, a trick-or-treat round of the local neighborhood with my mother, come home and sort candy, get picked up by Aunt Trish, dinner at McDonald's, and then the main trick-or-treating event (sometimes preceded by a stop at Aunt Trish's if someone forgot a flashlight).
Now, living so close to a McDonald's, I ate there countless times. Not to excess of course, but I definitely got my fair share of Happy Meals. However, my local Golden Arches felt like they led to a different world on Halloween night. Sometimes kids from school would be there, also in costume. The year I was in sixth grade, I ran into a classmate, Lisa, who I'd known and been friendly with since kindergarten. She was in such professional looking clown makeup that it took me a long time to recognize her! And that was the excitement of it...almost like getting an innermost glimpse into the minds of people you saw on a daily basis. Classmates, parents, even McDonald's employees themselves...what did their costumes have to say about them? And could they finally see me, as more than the girl who usually just blended in?
I also remember the Happy Meals themselves...I don't think I ever got a Halloween toy on Halloween night itself. Even at a young age I found it oddly bittersweet...as if a reminder that after this night, things were going back to "normal", and the things I loved so much were about to go back into hiding for another year. It was a strange mixture of finality and anticipation, as I mourned what was passing but already began to wonder what the next Halloween season would hold. Because, in my childhood, McDonald's always held some part of the Halloween magic. And that is something I've never been able to forget, to this day.
It pains me when I see people complaining about "grown adults" buying up all of the pails these past two seasons. Yes, resellers are terrible, and more product should always be made to meet demand, but please keep in mind, for some of us, many of us really, that grew up in the 80s and 90s, these McDonald's pails, these memories, truly were our childhoods. Halloween has changed so much over the course of time, as society has tried to change the way we celebrate. Trunk or treats, mall-o-weens, the insistence that Halloween should only be celebrated on a Saturday...is it too much to ask, to want to hold on to these little things that anchor us to what once was? I can't speak for every adult that's ordered a Happy Meal this past week, but I know that I, personally, instantly feel like a child again, my happiest self about to embark on my spookiest adventures, when I pick up that pail with the meal inside. I don't eat McDonald's much as an adult, but I can tell you it tastes different from inside a Halloween pail. It tastes like, if only for a moment, part of my childhood is tangible again.
Comments
Post a Comment