My dad used to make popcorn and we would spend all days putting it in little bags. I wonder if parents were throwing those away. Anyway, one year when we didn't do that, people were asking, "Where's the popcorn?" Guess it was popular.
I'm old enough to remember when the big trick-or-treat candy scare was neighbors allegedly lacing candy with LSD. Though no one could explain why or how our neighbors - mostly middle-aged parents themselves - could score LSD in the early 1970s when even the local hippies couldn't get their hands on it.
It's kinda late for this year, but The Teal Pumpkin Project has some good ideas about how to make Halloween safe and inclusive for kids who have food allergies, sensory issues, etc.
Raised my kids in a town of around 5000 people. Sometimes they would get homemade treats in a little bag with the name and address and phone number of the person who was giving it out. I let my kids eat it if they liked the look of it.
I have a story about stranger danger. We had a house fire while living in that town, and lived in an old sorta townhouse development while our house was being repaired. All the kids just ran in a pack in the common areas and the sports field we were next to. One day, I was driving home in a torrential rain, and saw one of the neighbourhood kids walking home, he was maybe nine or ten. I pulled up next to him and asked if he wanted a ride, figuring he'd recognize me as one of the neighbourhood moms. The look of sheer horror he gave me! He took off like a bat out of hell for home. I can only assume he thought it had finally happened - a child molester in a '76 Impala was after him! He probably still tells the story of the day he just barely escaped.
I suspect some of the stories we hear about this stuff were actually something similar.
Biggest danger to kids doing trick or treating is getting hit by a vehicle. The number of pedestrian/vehicular accidents on Halloween is tragically high. Nighttime. Many costumes are dark. Many costumes use masks, hence obscured vision.
I live in a big city (SF) and across the city, neighborhoods shut down a few streets for the evening of Halloween for trick-or-treating. My street happens to be one, and there is an insane amount of parents and kids that walk our street getting candy as they go from door to door. The street is closed to cars the whole time. The houses along the street are generally pretty festive and go all out on decorating, etc. to make it fun for the kids.
I really like it because it is a safer alternative, especially in a big city, and also not trunk-or-treating, which honestly just sounds depressing. I get why it's a thing for safety reasons, but yeah.
Must have been all those elusive Satanists we keep hearing about but no one credible has seen, THEY would be the razorblade/hard drugs guys. Either them, or the sciapods*.
In the 1960s we lived in the burbs of DC and Halloween usually started before it got dark and lasted literally all night. My Air Force dad always made sure that he was off so he could hand out the candy. He kept track of how many people showed up so he'd know how much to buy for the next year. Teenagers would be the ones showing up after 10 until 4 or 5 in the morning. One year we had over 400 visitors. You definitely didn't want to run out of candy or refuse to give it to anyone "too old" because that's how your house got vandalized. As a child I just had fun and didn't think about any thing bad happening but as an adult I feel for my parents.
I was of Trick or Treat age in the ‘70s and of Trick-only age in the ‘80s. (Did anyone else swipe old corn stalks and spend weeks blistering thumbs to get the hardened kernels off so you could toss a few at the neighborhood windows whilst they innocently watched Walter Cronkite or The Love Boat?) We did take a look at the candy, but we lived in a small town and my parents were not overly paranoid. I’d heard before that all this was basically fiction, and I appreciate you for the deeper dive. Happy Halloween!
Some years ago I was an AIDS educator with huge boxes of free condoms that the County health department gave us to hand out. Our neighborhood attracted people who were (ahem) too old to be begging for candy. So I handed out candy to the kiddies, and condoms to the uncostumed folks who were old enough to know how to use them. Best Halloween ever! (and a tale for the ages!)
My dad used to make popcorn and we would spend all days putting it in little bags. I wonder if parents were throwing those away. Anyway, one year when we didn't do that, people were asking, "Where's the popcorn?" Guess it was popular.
I'm old enough to remember when the big trick-or-treat candy scare was neighbors allegedly lacing candy with LSD. Though no one could explain why or how our neighbors - mostly middle-aged parents themselves - could score LSD in the early 1970s when even the local hippies couldn't get their hands on it.
They've been nuttier than usual about Halloween this year.
I suppose with their disgraced and disgraceful Pig Daddy in legal hot water, they're desperate for a distraction.
It's almost like they're waging some sort of... WAR... on a beloved holiday.
My favorite Halloween story:
Kids: Trick or treat!
Me: Oh, my! *gives out one candy to each kid*
Kids' Mom [in Mom voice]: What do you say, Melissa?
Melissa: Gimme another one.
It's kinda late for this year, but The Teal Pumpkin Project has some good ideas about how to make Halloween safe and inclusive for kids who have food allergies, sensory issues, etc.
https://www.foodallergy.org/our-initiatives/awareness-campaigns/living-teal/teal-pumpkin-project
Raised my kids in a town of around 5000 people. Sometimes they would get homemade treats in a little bag with the name and address and phone number of the person who was giving it out. I let my kids eat it if they liked the look of it.
I have a story about stranger danger. We had a house fire while living in that town, and lived in an old sorta townhouse development while our house was being repaired. All the kids just ran in a pack in the common areas and the sports field we were next to. One day, I was driving home in a torrential rain, and saw one of the neighbourhood kids walking home, he was maybe nine or ten. I pulled up next to him and asked if he wanted a ride, figuring he'd recognize me as one of the neighbourhood moms. The look of sheer horror he gave me! He took off like a bat out of hell for home. I can only assume he thought it had finally happened - a child molester in a '76 Impala was after him! He probably still tells the story of the day he just barely escaped.
I suspect some of the stories we hear about this stuff were actually something similar.
"Except they hadn’t. There were no actual documented cases of this happening, anywhere."
`
Also, there are no documented cases of anyone being poisoned from ingesting poinsettias.
However, day lilies and stargazer lilies ARE poisonous to cats.
"bags of pennies."
`
I read this as "bags of penises".
For the love of God, WHY??
I blame your corruption on the non-comments here.
Biggest danger to kids doing trick or treating is getting hit by a vehicle. The number of pedestrian/vehicular accidents on Halloween is tragically high. Nighttime. Many costumes are dark. Many costumes use masks, hence obscured vision.
I live in a big city (SF) and across the city, neighborhoods shut down a few streets for the evening of Halloween for trick-or-treating. My street happens to be one, and there is an insane amount of parents and kids that walk our street getting candy as they go from door to door. The street is closed to cars the whole time. The houses along the street are generally pretty festive and go all out on decorating, etc. to make it fun for the kids.
I really like it because it is a safer alternative, especially in a big city, and also not trunk-or-treating, which honestly just sounds depressing. I get why it's a thing for safety reasons, but yeah.
Too many lazy or selfish parents driving door to door
Must have been all those elusive Satanists we keep hearing about but no one credible has seen, THEY would be the razorblade/hard drugs guys. Either them, or the sciapods*.
*https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/strange-maps-bad-medieval-world-map
i tried going trick-or-treatng one year without the traditional bag . . . i took a beer mug.
[ neighbors didn't get the hint . . . not one of them!
Nobody likes your kids enough to give them free drugs.
We set up in the driveway and everyone who stops gets candy, costume or not. I love seeing older kids Trick-or-Treating. Adulthood comes far too soon.
In the 1960s we lived in the burbs of DC and Halloween usually started before it got dark and lasted literally all night. My Air Force dad always made sure that he was off so he could hand out the candy. He kept track of how many people showed up so he'd know how much to buy for the next year. Teenagers would be the ones showing up after 10 until 4 or 5 in the morning. One year we had over 400 visitors. You definitely didn't want to run out of candy or refuse to give it to anyone "too old" because that's how your house got vandalized. As a child I just had fun and didn't think about any thing bad happening but as an adult I feel for my parents.
I was of Trick or Treat age in the ‘70s and of Trick-only age in the ‘80s. (Did anyone else swipe old corn stalks and spend weeks blistering thumbs to get the hardened kernels off so you could toss a few at the neighborhood windows whilst they innocently watched Walter Cronkite or The Love Boat?) We did take a look at the candy, but we lived in a small town and my parents were not overly paranoid. I’d heard before that all this was basically fiction, and I appreciate you for the deeper dive. Happy Halloween!
Some years ago I was an AIDS educator with huge boxes of free condoms that the County health department gave us to hand out. Our neighborhood attracted people who were (ahem) too old to be begging for candy. So I handed out candy to the kiddies, and condoms to the uncostumed folks who were old enough to know how to use them. Best Halloween ever! (and a tale for the ages!)
But were they chocolate-coated condoms?