Halloween isn't the same

a reply to: Nyiah

Yeth. Yeth I didth.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: Nyiah

Yeth. Yeth I didth.

< nudges Aug with foot >

How's life down there on the floor, bud? You didn't have to empty his stock pot out, there's plenty for everyone.
Well, there was plenty for everyone.

Wait a minute. Where's DB? And the chili pot? God dammit!

a reply to: JAGStorm

Honestly the biggest thing I've seen, and this is just from where I am, It's currently October 30th. I took my mother out to dinner for her birthday on the 26th, when I got home 3 apartments had Christmas lights up. It's not even Halloween yet, we're not even close to Thanksgiving. Why in the world would people celebrate Christmas for 2.5 months? Or more for that matter, because I know full well those lights will be up after New Years.

I've been tempted to go speak with the apartment management, but I'm only here until my house is built, and frankly I don't want to be that guy.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Ah, the crisp Autumn air, colorful leaves falling and crunching beneath our feet, candy and costumes, decorated houses, fun and laughter and safety. I remember the days of my youth fondly.

a reply to: JAGStorm

We host "Trunk and Treat" in our city at churches and schools, police, fire...safe environment and treats from the different trunks (as in cars)...

It's far from the 50's-60's when I was a kid...sadly....sigh, you're right

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: Edumakated

There was nothing more funny than watching our friends at school the day or so after.
EVERYONE would be sooo sick from all the candy!

We didn't get candy like these kids today, they eat it every week, some every day.
Candy was actually a treat!

Yes, the kids school hands out candy, cupcakes, ice cream, cake, and junk food all school season long for anything from some sort of function, class reward, grade reward or just because it’s Friday. Candy is no longer considered a treat anymore.

a reply to: JAGStorm

My mom bought me one costume. ONE! And it was one like this, the damn thing was plastic. All the other times she'd slick my hair back, cuff my jeans, and roll a pack of her cigarettes up in the sleeve of my white t-shirt.



Now that I've grown up and I have kids of my own, I kinda know how she felt. It's not like they were broke, my dad was a Sales Manager for a huge oil company. My mom probably just didn't care to go trick or treating with me and my sister, lol. Growing up in a small town, you have to go find a neighborhood in the city or you won't get anything. So mom would drive us by her friends' houses so we could stop and get candy.

But growing up in the 80's and prior, as kids, we didn't have all the technology that kids have today. Our joy was being outdoors and our entertainment was an 8 bit Nintendo or an Atari, the only tv channels were ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox 33. Things couldn't have been better back then. The only thing I like about technology is the advanced medicine and online bill pay.

Man, I would love to go back to 1983 and be 10 years old again.

Trick-or-treating was one of the most fun times in the year for me.

I try to vicariously relive it through my kids now. It's still 'fun' I guess..... but not the same. Not even close.

And that is a real bummer.

a reply to: LSU2018

dudeeeeeeeeeee, seriously...............

That is the costume I had!!

Not in my family.... although I'm not in USA so maybe that's why.

Both parents home for trick or treating, happy family times

a reply to: azbowhunter


We used to sing

"Trick or Treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat,
if you don't, I don't care, I'll pull down your underwear"

Now there are too many sickos, they'll love the feet part and will pull their underwear down themselves! sick world now.

originally posted by: DictionaryOfExcuses
a reply to: JAGStorm

The wife was just telling me that churches in the area do something they are calling "Trunk or treat", where a bunch of kids go trick or treating from car to car in a parking lot. I mean wh

Nevermind. It's too early to get fired up like this.

Trunk or treats are fun. My parent's church does one every year but everything is inside. My kids usually come home with 5 or 6 cakes, along with all the candy, from playing games like musical chairs.

originally posted by: Ahabstar
For me the magic was the smell of the maple and oak leaves. Feeling them crunch beneath my feet. The bit of smoke in the air as people had to fire up the fireplace or wood burning stoves. Maybe some of the leaves had been slowly burnt a day or two before here and there.

Even just door to door for candy was an adventure of sorts, exploring with friends as a group seeing what all we could haul in. I still like Smarties and even those nasty peanut butter things in the orange or black paper wrappers. But that adventure of unsupervised exploration with the smells was the magic of the night.

Bahahaha!!! I bought a mega size bag of Smarties a month ago and I'm STILL snacking on them things everyday after I get home from work. And those peanut butter things you said are nasty, I couldn't agree more, but like you, I'll nosh those things down like a mad man...

It was usually never too cold down here in NW LA to burn the fireplace at Halloween, but nothing beat the smell of burning leaves at this time of year. Hell our leaves haven't even started turning colors yet this year, usually I believe the trees are bare by now. I have leaves on the ground but not even enough to fill one of those pumpkin lawn bags, and that's with 3 huge oak trees, 2 pecan trees, and several crepe myrtles.

Kudos to JAG for starting this thread and jarring some fantastic memories.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Is that you, Russ McKamey?

a reply to: toolgal462

My mom was always with us. But the night ended when the porch lights turned off.


In honor of Halloween, here's a dark, albeit great, version of Paint it Black...

a reply to: LSU2018

The cake walk

Growing up in the 50s and 60s Halloween was probably on par with Christmas. Now it's been over three years since the last time I noticed any kids out or had someone come to the door and I'm in the middle of good neighborhood with plenty of kids near by. They pile in a car and go to some event instead of door to door. I used to buy lots of treats just in case, but now I don't bother anymore. I miss all the kids at the door and the fun of seeing them having such a good time.

Halloween growing up was a blast. The three brothers from next door and I would hit the school Halloween Carnival, win a couple of cakes at the Cake Walk to start us off on our sugar rush. Then we would start going door to door in a competition to see who could get the most stuff.

The lady directly behind our orchard always gave us giant caramel popcorn balls, twice the size of a softball. One lady around the corner always gave us a freshly made caramel apple, sometimes two. Some houses would let you take a handful of candy instead of grabbing one out of a bowl. We had a couple of years we all filled up a grocery sack each and had candy for months.

Then it was straight to the graveyard for the mischief. Kids would dare each other to walk through the graveyard and of course they would find us there to scare the crap out of them. It was a tradition. The best year was when running through, one of my friends ran right into and open grave. I'll never forget seeing his eyes looking up at me from the bottom of the grave.

From streets filled with kids looking for candy to empty streets now. It's truly sad. We've lost things like that which made us a community.

a reply to: Blaine91555

that is a funny story!!

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

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.

Oof... Yeah I'm a religious dude, though not so religious that I think all sinners are hell bound, and couldn't get down with something like that. No thanks. I'll take the pre-apple Eves though, or even just the fig leaf covered Eve.

a reply to: Blaine91555

Then it was straight to the graveyard for the mischief

How could I forget this part!
This is what we did as teens. I was a respectful graveyard visitor even as a teen, I would never step on the graves.

originally posted by: LSU2018
Is that you, Russ McKamey?

The man is a visionary.