Ahhhhh Trick or Treating!

[Rhett N. Cochran]

One thing I really miss about my childhood is Trick or Treating. And back in the day, we did it right. None of this start at 3, end at sundown, mom and dad in the minivan crap. My buddy or my brother and I would head out AT sundown and go until we could walk no further or until our bags were so heavy with loot that we risked losing our hard-earned treasure to a burst seam. The best was when we got home and we started inventorying the catch.

Starting with the large pile from the bag (no need to X-Ray then) and we'd divvy it up into smaller, more specialized mounds. Chocolate based goodies (excluding anything Tootsie-related) on the left: Snickers, Hersheys, 3 Musketeers, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Milky Way, Nestle. If you had someone really cool and if you knew them, brownies or cookies may be baked. These were Holy Grail items because they were almost always AWESOME and warm. If you knew that person, you could circumvent the whole Let-Mom-and-Dad-Check-It-Out-FIrst.

Then came the secondary pile. Not chocolate, but still quality candy: anything by Willy Wonka (Bottle Caps, Gobstoppers, Nerds, and crack for kids Pixy Stix), Jolly Ranchers, Bazooka Joe, Smarties, Tootsie Pops. Then there was the candy that no one really, but fell into the theory that "candy is candy": Candy Corn, Tootsie Rolls, Necco Wafers, Chuckles, any grandma-hard candies (individually wrapped Butterscotch, Cinnamon, Peppermints, or GOD FORBID some taffy based crap with a jelly Christmas tree in the middle), and Dum Dums suckers.

Then there was food that wasn't candy. They knew it. We knew it. But since it usually came from an old person, you were respectful and didn't take an egg to their house. At worst, you might chuck it back in their shrubs. Occasionally, though, it came from a person who was trying to make us healthy and did not understand that candy on Halloween doesn't rot your teeth, thereby trying to circumvent the long-held sacred contract: Trick or Treat. These were not Treats, and since these people weren't old, the often got a trick that was Toilet Paper, Egg, or Flaming-Bag-Of-Dog-Poo based. This would include Apples, mini boxes of Sun Maid Raisins, Hard Boiled Eggs (I'm REALLY not kidding on this one), popcorn balls. Worst of the worst? Pennies. McDonald's Coupons. Tooth Brush (really, smart ass? You're just BEGGING for a bag o' poo). Random household item that showed they were poorly prepared for this All Hallows Eve.

Now some of you may question my inclusion of Popcorn Balls. Yes, I'm putting them here because my mom made them so I didn't need more popcorn balls. I had plenty. This is my system. You want to mix popcorn balls with your chocolate? Fine. That's you. I'm me.

[Kirk Booher]

Them there are some 'scary' jack-o-lanterns. Those were the days. Like when we used to drink water out of the hose, ride in the car without seatbealts, no helmets on the bikes, no worries about the candy, it is amazing I am even alive.

Hope you and your business are well. The IBFAA is having a get together Nobv 7th if you havent heard. Let me know if you wanna know more.

[Cindy Hartman]

I found myself smiling into the 2nd sentence. I LOVED the popcorn balls, but my mom didn't them. And the big, full-size candy bars...ate so many I was sick by the time I got home. The most fun was going BACK the next night to soap the windows of those who gave out the crap. Got caught once, and spent the entire next day scrubbing the screens (I learned to only soap glass). What fun!

[Hazel "The Queen" Walker]

GREAT Post!!! I remember NO store bought costumes, we made our own!! We let our imagination run wild.......and trick or treated until our bags were too full to carry and we were too tired to walk! I loved Holloween, still do! And I give away the BIG Candy Bars, full of sugar, caffine and really bad for us stuff that you only get to indulge in once or twice a year!

[Andrew Ball]

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. We didn't have Willy Wonka - it would be 20 years before the movie was made. And candy bars were BARS. Not the pop-the-whole-thing-in-your-mouth sized stuff. No, we had gimongus bars. And lots of different ones. Boxes of raisins? Hell no! Raisins didn't come in small boxes and no self-respecting parent in our neighborhood would pass out anything but candy. Or maybe gum. Or maybe both! And thus we never ever even thought of doing a trick - 'cause where I grew up it was ALL TREATS!!!

Dang those were the good old days!