In keeping with the holiday ...

[NanceGreggs]

... care to share a story of Hallowe'en from the days when you were trickin' and treatin', instead of handing out the candy at the door?

My story: I guess I was seven or eight when I was told - two days before Hallowe'en - that I couldn't go trick or treating, having been diagnosed with chicken-pox.

My mother was so distraught that I was about to miss out on the fun I'd been looking forward to for weeks, I woke up Hallowe'en morning to find my bed covered in candies and presents - including a stuffed animal I had coveted the last time we'd been at Macy's, and a 45 of "When I See An Elephant Fly" from the soundtrack of the movie "Dumbo" - one of my prized possessions for many years.

The following October, I hoped desperately to catch the chicken-pox again - alas, to no avail.

Thanks, Mom, for a Hallowe'en memory I still treasure to this day.

Got a story? Post it here.

[NC_Nurse]

1. We used to do a haunted house when my kids were young.

Their dad dressed up like a vampire and played his keyboard with the speakers pointed out the window. The scary phantom of the opera type organ sound.
I dressed as a witch and led the kids through our haunted house complete with flying ghosts, monsters and at the end we always had a scary gag (and candy, of course).
Our neighbors helped out too. We had people drive over from all over town. It was AWESOME! :D

[NanceGreggs]

2. I remember having drinks ...

... apres the Hallowe'en festivities, with other 'new parents' who had taken their kids out for the first time. We were talking about what this night was like for the little ones - imagine knocking on doors and having your goodie-bag filled with all the things you wanted MOST in life, like candy-corn and Mars bars.

As one of the dads pointed out, just to put things in perspective, "Imagine if we adults went trick or treatin', and got the things WE wanted thrown in our goodie-bags? 'Hey, I got a Rolex and four new snow tires!' 'Eh, that's nuthin'. I GOT a bottle of Chanel No. 5 and a diamond bracelet!'"

I guess it's all relative ...

And thanks for sharing what must have been some GREAT Hallowe'ens at your house! I'm sure you created some lasting memories for many lil' ones!

[Redstone]

3. I'm really old, And I grew up in a really small town. So what I remember is getting

mostly home-made stuff, not wrapped candy (there wasn't much money in that town back then to buy candy, anyway).

My mother always made and gave out popcorn balls: popcorn glued together with Karo syrup, about the size of a baseball.

Redstone

[Jane Austin]

Mmmmmmm . . . .

Popcorn Balls!

Thanks for that memory.

[NanceGreggs]

5. Oh, man, do I remember THAT treat ...

There was a woman in our neighborhood who did homemade popcorn balls every year, and her's was THE most popular house on the T-or-T route.

We used to meet up after a couple of hours and trade costumes, so we could go back to the 'best' houses - because those dumb grown-ups would NEVER recognize us, and the fact that we'd been there before!

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. I posted this earlier today on another thread:

When I was in college, some friends had a little boy and he went trick or treating in their neighborhood while Mom stood on the sidewalk watching him. He came running back to his mom after going to one of the neighbors and he had his hand held out and yelled "Look, Mom, DRUGS!!"

One of their neighbors was handing out Flintstones vitamins.

To this day, my husband says every Halloween "Don't worry, honey, if we run out of candy, we can hand out vitamins!"

[NC_Nurse]

6. LOL!

That's great! :D

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. It was really funny

Poor little kid thought it was cool that he got drugs from the neighbor.

Of course, this was a long time ago - before DARE. :)

[NanceGreggs]

7. Just stopped laughing long enough to say ...

... :rofl:

Thanks!

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. The rest of the story

We were sitting in their living room an hour or so later going through the candy the kid had in his trick or treat bag and we saw flashing lights outside. One of the other neighbors had called the cops.

That's when we really started laughing. Handing out vitamins at Halloween wasn't very smart but it certainly wasn't illegal.

[Irishonly]

8. Home made stuff

We didn't like the store bought candy. The more carmel apples, popcorn balls and fudge we got the happier we were.

I still make carmel apples and popcorn balls with my daughter. We do one batch and she gets amazed every year that my mom and I used to make over two hundred popcorn balls every Halloween. Alas, I can't give them out to trick or treaters but the neighborhood kids come calling.

[Redstone]

9. "you can't give them out." And that's a damn shame, because did you know that the whole

"razor blades in the apples" thing actually NEVER HAPPENED?

An urban myth turned into mass hysteria, and there's not ONE proven instance of it ever having been done.

Redstone

[Irishonly]

12. I know

I give them out to people I know. I don't think a lot of kids today know what popcorn balls are these days because of the urban legends. I think the kids lose out.

[kimmylavin]

10. Our whole town was in to it...

Starting after school, there were just HUNDREDS of kids walking around.
We'd all pass on info to each other about who had the best decorations, and who was giving out the best candy.
All the stores on the main street in town (the only one with businesses) handed out treats and took pictures, which would be up for the next few weeks.

Some of the houses looked amazing!
The woman across the street from my parents did her WHOLE house, and we all loved to see which decorations she had put up.

[Sparkly]

14. I love your story!

I don't have any great ones like that. Three things I remember:

1. Having to wear my jacket over my costume because it was cold in Connecticut and Mom insisted even though it RUINED the entire effect!!

2. One house, one year, where an apparent stuffed-clothes scarecrow was seated next to a bowl of candy, with a sign saying, "Help Yourself." We read the sign aloud and suddenly a man, who was actually pretending to be fake, said loudly, "That's what the sign says!" Freaked me out so much I still remember it. (Don't ever play that trick on little kids!!)

3. Trying to make the candy last until Christmas. We usually did -- but only the least favorite candies, dried out and disgusting, lasted long enough to be thrown away.

[The Straight Story]

15. I gave out condoms and birth control pills tonight

:rofl: