This year for the first time in I don’t know how long—maybe since forever—I missed watching It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. When it aired (weekend before last), I had driven Momma to her college reunion and stayed overnight in Russellville. While Charlie Brown got a rock in his trick or treat bag, I was treated to dinner with Momma and her college friends. As you might imagine, finally meeting the ladies I’ve been hearing about for years and listening to their stories firsthand brought its own sort of entertainment.
Why does everything good happen at the same time?
Yes, I know I could watch Charlie Brown any time on YouTube or Netflix or iTunes. But any member of the Great Pumpkin Fan Club knows that’s not the same thing. I need to watch it on television when it airs while my sister and friends and classmates and cousins are watching it too.
They are watching it, aren’t they?
Thankfully, all is not lost for Halloween 2018. A few weeks ago when Staci and I helped Momma pack for her move to Fayetteville, I found our original copy of the book. Every dyed-in-the-wool reader knows 95 out of 100 times the book is better than the movie.
About that Rock
We can assume that even in Charlie Brown’s town, adults handed out candy. Who was the mean old witchy woman (or man) who gave Charlie Brown a rock? And why on earth?
Did you know after the show initially aired, lots of children felt so bad about the rock they mailed candy to the television studio in care of Charlie Brown?
When my kids were young, there was an old man in our neighborhood who sat at a card table in his front yard on Halloween and handed out dental floss and slips of paper containing Bible verses.
I’ll leave that right there.
Things to note…
First Edition!
Well, what do you know? Ours is a first edition. You know what this means? Staci and I are older than the Great Pumpkin. No surprise there.
Three Other Things…
- We own this treasure jointly. Momma wrote our names inside so we couldn’t fight over it then or now.
- Staci and I loved to play “Library”. Inside the cover (of this book and many others) we drew what is our version of a library card used to check out books and track patrons of our personal library.
- The blurry red ink stamp says Buy Cotton! It made this check possible. Yes, we’ve always been farm girls through and through…
Anyone who knows anything about first edition books would be quick to point out the value of our Charlie Brown classic is greatly lessened by our names printed in ink, the freehanded library card, stray pencil marks, and the Buy Cotton! stamp.
Boo to that.
If you ask me, these things make it all the more priceless.
Here at our house, we are sitting on GO for Halloween, ready for trick-or-treaters. Pumpkins and mums line the porch steps. The jack-o-lantern will be glowing. Our caldron is overflowing with the good stuff—Snickers and M&Ms and Reese’s Cups— and I unpacked my witch hat from storage. You know, in The Great Pumpkin, Lucy said a person should wear a costume that is in direct contrast to her actual personality.
?
Happy Halloween,
Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.
Musical Pairing:
Vince Guaraldi, Graveyard Theme
Oh this is so good! Happy Halloween.
Thank you!
What a great post. I bet the guy at the card table was popular
You know it! LOL.
Oh my! We had a man like that too..he ride a bike and sat outside like that & we were too scared to go up close to his house on Halloween…Thank You for sharing your “Charlie Brown” book of wonderful memories for you and your sis! Happy Halloween ?