Posted on 10/31/2016 8:08:29 AM PDT by Borges
We always went out after supper, usually 6pm. The neighbors kept the lights on until 8 or 8:30 depending on their candy supply. Costumes were always home made and after TOT one of the parents would drive us to the rec center for cider and donuts and the judging for best costume. One year I won dressed as Aunt Jemima. Imagine that happening today.
In the 70s, we went trick or treating sans adult supervision - that never even occurred to us as being an option.
Now it appears that at least half the kids have a chaperone...many go to indoor trick or treating events at the mall...and I’ve noticed a sharp decline in the number of houses with lit pumpkins, or even porch lights, on Oct 31st.
Most of us don’t really know our neighbors like we used to.
Trick or treating in the 70s was special because, for most of us, it was the only candy we would get all year... *sigh*
Getting together with neighbors used to be form of entertainment for people, now TV and video games take care of that.
"Go buy your own damn candy, and get off my lawn!" LOL!
Still plenty of it in the sunbelt. It’s gonna be 89 today, excellent trick or treating weather.
“Trick or treating in the 70s was special because, for most of us, it was the only candy we would get all year... *sigh*”
This is a great point. Getting a bunch of candy is not as big a deal for kids today. There are even candy machines in schools now.
Makes me sad. I did all that in the 60s and early 70s. Lots of good memories. Covered a lot of ground with friends and no adults. Definitely a good part of my childhood. I remember the stories about razor-blades in apples but that just meant we checked things and were careful. It didn’t slow us down at all.
But times change and I don’t think that era is coming back.
I think today is a tough time to be young — whether 8 or 18 or 28, I think the world has less joy now.
Back in the 50s on Long Island, in suburban New York City, NO ONE had Halloween decorations of any kind except maybe some carved pumpkins. The only kids with parents were the three and four year-olds. From five on, we usually went house to house with friends until we were exhausted.
But back then, everyone had a sense of right and wrong. We never even locked our house.
ML/NJ
I have such good memories trick or treating in the late 60’s and early 70’s. And then there was the big candy swap afterwards where my siblings and I would spread out our candy on the living room floor and swap with each other.
“I’ll give you ten Clark Bars and a baggie of home made popcorn for one of those Milky Way Bars!”
Forward to about 10 years ago, where we used to live. Houses close together again. We gave out stuff to around 100 kids each year. Then we moved to a street that has 100 ft wide lots and the houses are 100 ft from the street. Zero kids.
“I think the world has less joy now.”
Well put. I was lucky enough to grow up in a community where we all knew each other (even in the 1970’s that wasn’t the norm). Knowing everybody gave kids freedom of movement. As soon as I could ride a bike, I was free to roam all over the place. The generic nature of my boundaries (the mountain, the highway, the lake) indicate just how much freedom I had at a mere 6 y/o.
Those days are all but over now...and it does seem like a lousy time to be a kid.
Yep. Our parents told us, “I don’t want to see you in the house until dinner time.” And just imagine, we didn’t even have cellphones back then for them to keep tabs on us.
THat’s right. When it becomes nothing but an opportunity for the dindus to “take it to the suburbs”, nothing good can come of it.
Halloween isn’t that much fun when your neighbourhood is filled with drugged out crazies.
My parents would expect us to hand over the candy so they could ration them out. But we'd stash away all the good stuff and hand over the "not so good" stuff to be rationed out. Like the Milk Duds and candy corn. They never had any idea just how much candy we actually took in!
As I recall, some of the kids that looked too old to be trick or treating were probably in the 13-14 age range, and some of them probably looked older than they were. So we gave them the benefit of the doubt.
Get off my lawn you kids!!!
Maybe things will get better soon. We have been oppressed and suppressed. Maybe joy will return.
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