The neighborhood was teaming with kids walking door to door, ringing bells for candy. The sun was barely on the horizon, but the sugar-hungry monsters couldn’t wait any longer. The baby brothers and sisters were pulled along by their older siblings, with calls of “C’mon! All the good stuff is gonna be gone by the time we get there!” They scurried faster, not wanting to get stuck with black licorice or, heaven forbid, Circus Peanuts.
The older kids, in their teens, were just waiting for the sun to go down. In cover of darkness, like ninjas, they would throw eggs at houses and vehicles alike, all in the playful spirit of Halloween. The lucky yards that were targeted might also get their trees tee peed with roll upon roll of toilet paper, creating a distinctly spooky and hard to remove decoration for the yard that got bombed. Dads had a mixed response to such shenanigans. Mine tended to utter a curse every time he heard the distinctive “thump thump” of eggs hitting the house. His day after Halloween would include a water hose nearly every year. I’ve known of at least one dad who laid in wait on top of his van parked in the driveway, a cache of eggs at the ready. He fired back at the kids who tried to toss his house. I’m pretty sure he ended up having to wash egg off of himself as well as his house. It was all in fun. No police were bothered by either party.
Fall Celebrations were common at a lot of local churches. The “Devil’s Holiday” wasn’t taken quite as seriously back then. There were games like “bobbing for apples” and costume contests that were very competitive. I dressed in drag one year and won a prize. My pronouns remain “he and him”, so don’t worry about any lasting symptoms or disorders. t was all for fun and candy. You trusted your neighbors, except for the creepy guy on the corner. Everybody knew not to go to his house. Mostly though, you could expect to bring home a ton of sugar laden goodies (and some healthy apples that your mom would insist upon slicing up to make sure there were no razor blades embedded). If you were smart, and not a glutton like me, you could make that hoard last a few days, maybe even a week. Your parents might even “sort out the bad candy” and take some off your hands. Yes, it was the good stuff. The Kit Kats, Hershey Bars and Snickers mainly. Chocolate is valued by adults, too. Call it the Parent Tax. Washing egg off the side of the house takes calories.
I see almost no Trick or Treaters nowadays. They’ve all but disappeared from the holiday. It’s all “Trunk or Treat” at local churches and community centers. If a doorbell gets rung, it’s only family or someone that’s a well-known friend. It’s a sad reflection of the lessened trust that’s been earned by the horrible state of our society. Our communities are no longer filled with neighbors. They’re just “people we’ve met that we live near”. We live in an era where we can’t let our kids wander up and down the block, knocking on doors for candy because we don’t know each other anymore. Technology has made the world smaller, but it’s definitely separated one neighbor from the other. We talk to each other constantly, via text, email, Instagram, Facebook, and all sorts of social media. We just don’t talk face to face much anymore. We know what somebody’s having for dinner (they posted another picture of it) but we don’t know who they are, whether or not they’re a nice person (you can be anyone you chose to be on social media-it doesn’t make it true) or if they’re the kind of person who would call the cops if your kid egged their house. Those are important things to know about your neighbors.
Yes, the scary part of Halloween for us X Gens may be that our kids, and their kids, will never know the difference between the Halloween they’re growing up with, versus the one their parents experienced. I admit, I’m just an old guy reminiscing about lost youth, but it’s true. The candy tasted better and was bigger. You could get a ton of candy just on your own block, with a cheap mask. You could get away with tricks, as well as treats, without anyone getting hurt. Unless dad made me clean the egg off the house. That was yucky. Still, totally worth it. I miss my childhood Halloween. Enjoy your candy, folks! I’m waiting on it to go on sale the day after, like everybody else.
Rolling Stones 