-----Talking about "Trick or Treat"--------

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the late '70's & early '80's, My neighbor across the street and I rigged up tricks for the kids in the neighborhood. We rigged up a continuous cable between our two bedroom windows with a ghost made up of a basketball and a sheet. When the kids came up the steps to either house, three things happened in succession. 1 - When they came up the steps, they tripped a record player with a 78 rpm record with the hole drilled off center. 2 - Whoever answered the door, when the kids said "Trick or Treat" they said "Trick" and closed the door. Then  #3 - The "ghost" came flying at them from across the street. 

Then we opened the door and gave the kids candy. The parents were standing on the pavement laughing. They loved it.

Jim 

Stay Safe.

keavdog

Hey Dodgy what do you call Tater Tots down under?

 

Ive never tried them mate, but I'm pretty sure that they go by the same name.

Dodgy

When we went Trick or Treating in the late '70s- early '80s being in a rural area mom would drive us in the big Chevy. We only hit relatives and neighbors. 

We went to the local Ben Franklin's five and dime and picked up a costume- I think they were Ben Cooper brand every year. 

And I think best I can recall it rained pretty much every single friggin' year. Not hard but enough to get us soaked... 

Greg

 

 

bigbluejavelin

 I am surprised nobody has mentioned the best way to eat candy corn is mixed with plenty of salted peanuts. Tastes like a Payday candy bar, and also if you add M&Ms to the mix it is awesome!

 

 

 

 

 

So, BBJ, this is entirely your fault!

Well, and Eugene's too for starting this thread. And yes they are Brach's, and yes I snuck to the store to buy them while my wife was at the gym. It that absolutely insane or what? (at least I walked to the grocery)

(I'm just kidding about angry devil emoji, BTW, what an awesome combo)

If my wife comes down here, I'm toast.

And yes, I need to clean my mess up.

 

 

Wow that's interesting- I'd never thought of eating them that way Javelin! 

Candy corn, haven't had any in years and years. Honestly; It'd be the last candy I'd eat. Everything else in the bag would get eaten first, and then the candy corn would be the dregs... 

bigbluejavelin

 I am surprised nobody has mentioned the best way to eat candy corn is mixed with plenty of salted peanuts. Tastes like a Payday candy bar, and also if you add M&Ms to the mix it is awesome!

 

 

So, BBJ, this is entirely your fault!

Well, and Eugene's too for starting this thread. And yes they are Brach's, and yes I snuck to the store to buy them while my wife was at the gym. It that absolutely insane or what? (at least I walked to the grocery)

(I'm just kidding about angry devil emoji, BTW, what an awesome combo)

If my wife comes down here, I'm toast.

And yes, I need to clean my mess up.

Jumping on the Old Folks' bandwagon here.

When I was small, my parents took me out trick or treating only till I was maybe up to 2nd or 3rd grade or so.  After that, we had free run of the neighborhood, with just a couple of rules about how far we could go and how late we could stay out.

Sex predators did exist back then, and there were stories about razors in apples and poisoned candy, but we never had any problems.

Some of my classmates were hardcore and took along those Little Red Wagons to haul their loot, but me and my buddies just went around a few blocks and that was it.

As I got older, going out just to see what the other kids were wearing became the main attraction.  The really good ones were home made.  As others said, the off the rack stuff was just a vac form mask and a cheap poncho with a design on it.

My BFF went as Kamen Rider V3 one year.  

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DUBslTP-7Cc

His dad worked at an auto shop, so he made the metal Double Typhoon belt buckle for him, and fashioned the helmet from a basketball, with round red reflectors for eyes and car antennas.  His mom made the suit.  I think out of all my friends, his costume was the best ever.

Worst costume goes to another friend who wore his church choir robe and a modified pillowcase to be a Ku Klux Klansman!    But no one threw beer bottles at him.  Such were the times - everyone knew it was just Halloween, and not a political statement.

As for me, one year I got some empty toilet paper rolls and cardboard, and made a Tusken Raider mask using elastic bandage to hold everything together.  I wore my dad's old brown terry cloth bathrobe to complete the ensemble.  Fun times.

Trick-or-treating is definitely not the same here, as when I was a kid.

First, I grew up out in a township, not a city, and Halloween was on Halloween, not on the Friday or Saturday before the 31st, or worse, after real Halloween.  It didn't matter where the holiday fell during the week, Halloween was on Halloween.  And Mischief Night was the night before, though since we weren't allowed out on Mischief Night, we took supplies with us on Halloween.

Second, it was after sundown, not at 5PM.  How scary is broad daylight?

When I moved to Bethlehem, I was introduced to the modern urban custom of the city council deciding when Halloween would be, including any Halloween parade.  Trick-or-treating is usually set for the Friday before the actual holiday, and parades are set for the Saturday before, in the early afternoon.  And while I still had a communte, I would pass groups of parents with their kids out between 5PM and 6PM, walking them up and down the block.

As far as psychos go, sure, that's always a danger, but in town, I think you're more likely to get shot by a gangbanger than have some creep hand out poison.

My favorite Halloween was when I was in high school.  I played trumpet in the marching band, and homecoming and our game against our biggest rival fell at the end of October.  When I was a junior, that was on Halloween, and it was an away game.  While we were waiting for the trucks to load up and board the buses, we went trick-or-treating, in uniform, to the homes adjacent to our school.  When we knocked and people asked who we were supposed to be, we just said, "We're the band!"

AHA !

 Candy Corn, YUM!!!

When I was a kid, the neighbor across the street would have a halloween cookout in his backyard, hot dogs and cider.

Kids from all over town would show up, as per RealG's description above.

Odd thing, the gentleman was reclusive and was otherwise almost never seen.

I recall one year I was trick or treating with my dad, dressed in my costume and a pair of damnable red snow boots my mom bought me at the old Ball Band factory store (because I was such a small boy, boys sizes wouldn't fit me). At least that was Mom's story, looking back, I'm not so sure???

Some little kid came running up to us all excited, exclaimng "Mister, Mister!! You and your little girl gotta to to THAT (pointing) house!!! He's cooking hot dogs in his back yard!!!!

Those boots caused me a lot of grief at school.

Tojo72, you are so right about trick -or-treating not being the same as it was when we were kids.  When I was teaching, I'd often describe to my students how your parents would get you one of those vaccuformed plastic masks with the rubber string around the back to hold it up to your face and that was your costume!  Then they send you out, on your own, in the dark to go door to door.  In my home town, they sounded the tornado siren each night at 9:00 and that was the curfew call and that's when you had to be home from trick-or-treating.  Neighbors would hand out apples or home made cookies and you never thought anything about it.  We had it pretty good back then.

tjs

I think it's pretty crazy for parents these days to send their kids to stangers houses to get candy,who knows what strangers are giving out,fentanyl or worse.Or what pervert is behind the door.Maybe going to family or trusted known neighbors or known businesses works,but to random doors,I would think any parent doing that is extremely naive or worse these days.

Trick or treating isn't what it when we were kids.

bigbluejavelin

 I am surprised nobody has mentioned the best way to eat candy corn is mixed with plenty of salted peanuts. Tastes like a Payday candy bar, and also if you add M&Ms to the mix it is awesome!

 

 

As much as it's killing me, have been resisting the urge to go buy a bag of candy corn since this thread started.

But between the mention of Brach's (which I've never tried) being the best, and the above quote (also, never tried), I'm doomed. And the domestic commander in chief is going to be unhappy.

What time is it kids? It's time to sing the Mr Diabetes song!  

Our neighborhood's kid population goes up and down based on generation cycles.  There were lots of kids at Halloween when I was young.  I was probably near the end of the kid boom, as most of them were older than me.  But the kids grew up, moved out, and what was left were their now older parents.

There was a time I would sit outside with 50 bags of candy and hand out only 10-15 of them.  There are now more kids here, as their parents moved back due to the insane housing prices.

But there is also a new annoying development - people are now driving in from all over the place, disgorging squads of un-costumed kids from illegally parked minivans and SUVs.  My street turns into a parking lot, and the sidewalks are overrun, like a zombie apocalypse scenario.

For a couple of years I attempted to meet the tidal wave of candy scavengers, but when 100 bags of candy went out in 15 minutes, I just gave up, went inside, and turned the lights off.  Like we do when termites swarm.

I think from now on I'll just pass out candy around 6:00-6:30 pm, when it's still light out and just my neighbors' small kids (in costume I might add) show up.

But I digress.  Enjoy your candy corn any way you see fit!  Maybe add to the "What's Cooking" thread for all your gruesome candy corn recipes, as well as your other Halloween favorites.  And don't forget to attach photos, because you all know we are dying to see what they look like!  

Hey Dodgy what do you call Tater Tots down under?

Nope. some guy by me has the whole yard decorated with goblins already. I also have Snickers and Baby Ruth in freezer knowing at most I get two kids.

 I am surprised nobody has mentioned the best way to eat candy corn is mixed with plenty of salted peanuts. Tastes like a Payday candy bar, and also if you add M&Ms to the mix it is awesome!

Tanker-Builder

Hi Dodgy!

 Listen, There's folks saying there's something wrong with the Messaging so---

 Here's my address to send the Tuna Boat to. G.J.Geracci, 436 Copper Hill dr. New Braunfels, Texas, 78130-9295. If you need anything else, let me know!

 

No problem TB. I'll get onto that in the coming week.

Dodgy

Brach's is the best !Sathers not so much!

  I can honestly say I don't think there is another brand. Pure confection perfection.

You got that right!

Jim 

Stay Safe.

Hey,Little Timmy!

       At least you picked the right brand! Those are unequovically the best ones!

No, ... it's ALWAYS time for candy corn !

I must have missed where somebody called it a bee.  

Hi Dodgy!

            Hey, you know what? If you look at the Bug in the picture. That says "Wasp" to me. Bees are shorter, smaller and some are slightly fuzzy-All the better to pick up pollen with! That "Wasp" If you notice, has a distinct pattern between the Yellow and Black. This can be spotted even when they are buzzing around you. Don't mess with them and they will usually leave you alone.

           Another thing most folks don't know is this. On a very hot day, Most insects like this are more active. Like lizards and stuff, heat makes them more active. That's you don't want to interact with them. They will be VERY aggressive then. So if you see any while working around the house flying in a certain area, it's not to far from their nest. Leave the area and don't come back till the heat eases up or the sun goes down!

Hi Dodgy!

 Listen, There's folks saying there's something wrong with the Messaging so---

 Here's my address to send the Tuna Boat to. G.J.Geracci, 436 Copper Hill dr. New Braunfels, Texas, 78130-9295. If you need anything else, let me know!

 At least beer is universal....on Earth anyway

Est.1961

It can be like that in the same country Rob. Take scones for instance ; besides the issue of cream with jam on top or jam with cream on top. There is the pronunciation; scone as in con or cone. I've always used the former the later been imho a bit posh. In Ireland it's pronounced as in cone, dispite been home now going on 18yrs I still say scone as in con. I'm just back from a holiday in Devon and Cornwall two counties next-door to each other and they can't agree with either cases above.

Sent from my phone

 

It can be like that in the same country Rob. Take scones for instance ; besides the issue of cream with jam on top or jam with cream on top. There is the pronunciation; scone as in con or cone. I've always used the former the later been imho a bit posh. In Ireland it's pronounced as in cone, dispite been home now going on 18yrs I still say scone as in con. I'm just back from a holiday in Devon and Cornwall two counties next-door to each other and they can't agree with either cases above.

We've got a lot of different terms like bonnet (English) and hood (American) in automobiles, boot (English) and trunk (American).

Potato chips actually make more sense in American English. When sliced thinly, the potato resembles poker chips prior to being deep fried. But then they become crisp, so I see the Queen's Enlgish reasoning, much like we often call French fried potatoes simply "fries".