Halloween isn't the same

www.aclu.org...

This year in Chesapeake, trick-or-treaters who are “over the age of 14 . . . shall be guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor,” which carries a fine of up to $250. Although the ordinance permits “any parent, guardian, or other responsible person . . . from accompanying said child,” no one is permitted to trick-or-treat after 8 p.m. or they, too, “shall be guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor.” That is a punishment not even a skeleton would find humorous.

originally posted by: CriticalStinker

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: JAGStorm

Plus it's so much more difficult to tamper with the candy and treats, it totally takes the joy out if it for me.

How safe is too safe? With stories and images like the below, there is no such thing as too safe.

Jesus. What kind of monster would give a kid taffy.

a reply to: JAGStorm

You remember the masks, they were cheap plastic ones, and that thin elastic strap always broke.

No worries this year.

The Donald Trump Halloween Masks are a vast improvement on those old models.

14 year old kids find them very frightening.

Well said OP and something I fully agree with.

For me growing up Halloween time was about getting a pillow case, grabbing your friends, getting in costume then figuring out which house had the full sized candy bars and going until the siren from the fire Dept signaled it was time to go home.

Now the current millennial version of Halloween is:
Not on Oct 31.
Make sure the costumes aren't trigger points.
Parents telling their kids that all costumes are equal because everyone is a winner.
Make sure you get the right angle for that Instagram photo.

All the fun is gone and I'm glad I got to experience this Holiday when I did.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Uh, sure? Maybe where you live, but not here. Last year, kids were donning everything from the standard vampires & witches costumers & cheapo Native American costumes to current superhero fad costumes.

And people in my neighborhood hand out chili and booze to the parents walking around. I'm looking forward to the old lady that makes and hands out old fashioned caramel popcorn, that's a huge hit around here with the kids & parents alike (you don't see homemade stuff anymore since the razor candied/caramel apples myth came about)
It's nice to live where I live. We'll probably take the car and park it at the end of streets so the kids can have a dry place to be if it gets really cruddy, it's supposed to rain/snow/both tomorrow night. And apparently may get very windy (i.e, gonna feel a whole lot colder than it is) I imagine we won't be alone in that plan.

Mi trick-or-treating is WAY BETTER than Florida trick-or-treating was when I was a kid. It died a quick, writhing death down there in the mid-90's when people had enough & got sick of walking around in 80% humidity & sweating to death in the process. Even us kids fekking hated it, it wasn't fun.
Mall ToTing sprung up fast as an alternative down there back then. I can see how & why it took over there. Not really any excuse for the lazy to do it in better climates, though.

I remember it mostly as you describe BUT for the following things:

We were accompanied by a parent
and trick or treating ended by 8-8:30 and by then we were home assessing our loot
we had plastic pumpkins but wanted the pillow case, it held more candy

a reply to: Nyiah

I'll agree with the Florida trick or treating part, it sucked!

Nothing like chocolate bars on a 90+ degree day. Last time I was there trunk or treating was
gaining popularity.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: Nyiah

I'll agree with the Florida trick or treating part, it sucked!

Nothing like chocolate bars on a 90+ degree day. Last time I was there trunk or treating was
gaining popularity.

Ugh, you mean the melted chocolate bars. You ended up sucking the goo out of the corner of the wrapper.

Our first Halloween up here in MI was extremely cold, I think it was down to 20* when we got back. I hadn't gotten around to getting the adults winter boots yet (kids were budgeting priority then) I spent over 3 hours walking around with the kids in sandals. Even looking back on that narrow miss with frostbitten toes, I'd do it again in that weather in sandals any day over ToTing in FL.

originally posted by: underwerks

originally posted by: CriticalStinker

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: JAGStorm

Plus it's so much more difficult to tamper with the candy and treats, it totally takes the joy out if it for me.

How safe is too safe? With stories and images like the below, there is no such thing as too safe.

Jesus. What kind of monster would give a kid taffy.

A dentist.... gotta load the market.

a reply to: Nyiah

you don't see homemade stuff anymore since the razor candied/caramel apples myth came about

Myth? I'm guessing you've never seen a kids mouth bloodied by a razor blade shard embedded in one of those apples. It's not a pleasant sight. Nevertheless, it was blown out of proportion by the media even back then, but there were isolated cases.

originally posted by: Nyiah
And people in my neighborhood hand out chili and booze...

Mother lover....I'm coming by you.

and this:

The Jehovas Wittnesses were the 1st group to start harping that Easter, Halloween and Christmas were all pagan holidays and so took them of their list of celebrations.

Shortly after it seems like the old school Christians that I grew up with started following suit on Halloween at least. They couldn't let go of their precious Easter and Christmas holidays though even if the JW's were right.
I'm like so what if they are right we still need a spring, fall and end of the year celebration. Christmas is for the little ones more than anyone in my eyes anyhow.

Churches started offering alternatives to halloween and called them something else like Harvest Festival or Fall Festival allowing only biblical costumes. And of course loaded with activities enough to where most folks wouldn't even care about the real Halloween by the time these activities were said and done.

I don't know if my anylasis is correct but that's how it seems it went down. I'm sure there are other contributing factors like you mention both parents working.

So much is different than it was back then. A few things are better and a few things are worse.

a reply to: JAGStorm

i remember [ 70s ] we [ the UK ] viewed this " trick or treat " thing " as an mamerican odity

halloween was a very sudued affair

but of course we had bomfire night to look forward too

originally posted by: Trucker1
Churches started offering alternatives to halloween and called them something else like Harvest Festival or Fall Festival allowing only biblical costumes.

The only way that snoozefest wouldn't be boring is they forced the girls to attend as Eve pre-apple consumption.

That's sure not the case here. We built a haunted garage walk through each year, and it was a constant stream of kids from about 6:30 - 9:00 every year. Most Halloweens we would have between 250-350 trick-or-treaters. I would buy no less than 20 bags of candy to hand out.

If you lived on our street, you didn't have time to do anything but hand out candy for a few hours, there were that many coming down the street. It was an absolute blast.

A couple years ago we moved out to the country, so we don't build the big walk through garage due to the limited number of kids, but the yard and long porch are still done up and tomorrow night I'll be out there dressed up and ready for however many show up. They usually organize a hayride to move kids around, since it's a long walk between homes.

We certainly don't have any rules or laws on who can trick or treat or what times/day.

a reply to: Trucker1

The Jehovas Wittnesses were the 1st group to start harping that Easter, Halloween and Christmas were all pagan holidays and so took them of their list of celebrations.

My dad is quite possibly the most stubborn man on earth. The JW visit him weekly. The only reason he let's them come over is to talk about Christmas and share his military stories. He is convinced he will convert them. This has been going on for 10+ years.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: Nyiah
And people in my neighborhood hand out chili and booze...

Mother lover....I'm coming by you.

Lmfao, technically, it's spiked apple cider they hand out, but there's brandy in there either way. And it's warmed. It's freakin' awesome, a small cup of that and a small cup of chili around the their fit pit roaring in their driveway makes that house everyone's favorite place to take a breather at before continuing. To say they're well-acquainted with virtually everyone in the neighborhood now is a vast understatement.

My municipality just shifted Halloween to tonight instead of tomorrow night.... because it is supposed to rain tomorrow night. Little wimps, make them earn that candy in the rain.
I am not ready.
I didn't buy candy. I was going to carve pumpkins tonight.
So I am turning the lights off, turning the dog loose and taking my kids out to dinner from 6-9 pm tonight.

originally posted by: ignorant_ape
a reply to: JAGStorm

i remember [ 70s ] we [ the UK ] viewed this " trick or treat " thing " as an mamerican odity

halloween was a very sudued affair

but of course we had bomfire night to look forward too

You hit up the spiked cider guy in my neighborhood already?