Astroworld at Halloween, circa 1975, Roeders to the left!
The rest of the Halloween stuff I've collected from the Leader
Note the caption above: The South Belt Optimist Club and Memorial Hospital Southeast will be operating free x-ray screenings of candies for foreign objects.
I haven't found any caption or paper carrying the photo below, but methinks it's precisely why x-raying treats became the norm.
This photo really interests me in terms of its back-story, because growing up, it felt as though danger lurked around every corner, with children dying left and right from poisoned candy.
I remember hearing about all kinds of crazy things -- razor blades in apples, heroin-laced candy, you name it, someone would swear it actually happened to someone they knew. The media wasn't much help. They'd print incendiary headlines and bury the retraction when the investigations revealed the hoaxes and cover-ups.
In fact, only one child in the entire United States has ever been killed eating any poisoned Halloween candy, and that was slipped into his stash by his own father.
It happened in the neighboring community of Deer Park, 40 years ago today and the legend of the Candy Man pretty much killed the carefree nature of trick or treating after that. You'd only go to the houses you knew, or school festivals, or go to the mall or some other "safe" place to get your haul and still have to get your candy x-rayed.
I'll be curious to see if any of the Houston media revisit the Candy Man case today, in light of the 40th anniversary.
KRDO's piece on the 39th from 2013 (a bit strangely, out of Colorado Springs)
The Statesman's piece on the 35th from 2009
The Chronicle's piece on the 30th, from 2004
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