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Old 10-25-2013, 11:55 AM
 
31 posts, read 50,365 times
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I did mean "tipped", not "kicked" -- lol!! Yeah, kicking a cow is probably NOT a good idea!
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Old 10-25-2013, 12:45 PM
 
Location: West Des Moines, Iowa
31 posts, read 53,696 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lizle79 View Post
We're new to Des Moines, and are wondering what the accepted protocol is here when you can't or don't want to be home on what apparently is referred to as "Beggar's Night" in this area? We aren't fans of trick-or-treat for a variety of reasons (one being that the dogs go crazy every time someone comes to the door; my pet peeve is the older kids who show up later in the evening, not even wearing costumes, looking for free candy). We don't want to be perceived by our new neighbors as being "Scrooges", nor do we want to have our house vandalized because we failed to give out candy. Is it acceptable here to leave your house dark to indicate that you're not participating? Would that not then invite the possibility of having the house egged or worse? Your input is appreciated!
If you don't want to participate you don't have to I have been here for almost 3years and don't participate and I have never seen or even heard of this happening to anyone.
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Old 10-28-2013, 07:12 PM
 
28,803 posts, read 47,686,482 times
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Originally Posted by capitalcityguy View Post
Never been on a farm?? But you live in Iowa! Don't you know we all pass by a barn on the way to our outhouses.

Laugh all you want, but I did until I was 12. And we didn't live "Out in the country".
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Old 10-28-2013, 09:32 PM
 
4,857 posts, read 7,608,065 times
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We would always go to my aunts house for a party and nothing ever happened to our house. Also, never heard it called Beggars night. Weird ass Des Moines.
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Old 10-28-2013, 10:30 PM
 
Location: Iowa
3,320 posts, read 4,128,686 times
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Yes, and another Des Moines Halloween twist from the past that has faded somewhat, but is still practiced. Before you give the kids any candy, you make them tell you riddle or joke. A common knock knock joke will suffice, but each kid should be joke capable. It was very prevalent 20 years ago, and I'm almost sure a local kids TV show "Floppy" influenced that custom. A typical Floppy joke that showed up at your door on Beggars Night was....Why did the man put his car in the oven? Because he wanted a hot rod!

What gets me, people with kids that decorate their home for Halloween, then leave their home dark on beggars night, so they can drag their kids across town to the suburbs and get more/better candy. Someone in the family should stay home and hand out candy !
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Old 10-29-2013, 02:43 AM
 
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Make them tell a joke? Right. They make me listen to a joke before they will take the candy. I'd rather have them just say Trick or Treat and be done with it.

My neighbors light up their house for Halloween but never hand out candy. They don't have kids
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Old 10-29-2013, 07:03 AM
 
9,480 posts, read 12,289,523 times
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Originally Posted by Dport7674 View Post
We would always go to my aunts house for a party and nothing ever happened to our house. Also, never heard it called Beggars night. Weird ass Des Moines.
It isn't a Des Moines only thing. I grew up in SE Iowa and that is what is was called there too, and was always on Oct 30.

It reaches many areas of the midwest: Beggars Night - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Beggars Night, or more properly Beggars' Night, is a regional term for the Halloween-related activity that is referred to in most parts of the United States as "Trick or Treat". Specifically, the term is broadly but not exclusively used in central Ohio, and in many parts of Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and western New York.

In the Buffalo area Beggar's Night is October 30 and is a scaled down version of Halloween itself. Mainly kids seeing if they can squeeze an extra night of candy out of the holiday. In the Des Moines area during Beggar's Night, kids ring doorbells, say "Trick or Treat" then tell riddles or bad jokes such as "Why didn't the skeleton cross the road? He didn't have any guts!" Homeowners will groan and laugh, then give out treats.

In general, Beggars Night represents the "treat" portion of Trick or Treat, where children in costume make evening rounds of homes (and to a lesser extent to businesses during the day) and are given candy. This event being closely tied to, but distinct from, Halloween itself, when various forms of mischief (or "tricks") may occur. (See also Mischief Night.)
The night has often been scheduled by municipal governments on a date prior to the actual Halloween date of October 31.
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Old 10-29-2013, 08:21 AM
 
28,803 posts, read 47,686,482 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dport7674 View Post
We would always go to my aunts house for a party and nothing ever happened to our house. Also, never heard it called Beggars night. Weird ass Des Moines.
There are people who have to have something to complain about and find fault with. Here we have a prime example.
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Old 10-29-2013, 10:00 AM
 
Location: Des Moines Metro
5,103 posts, read 8,605,780 times
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Well, it's looking more and more like Begger's Night might get rained out. I've got one bag of candy. I'll bring it into work (probably along with a dozen others) if I can't give it out.
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Old 10-29-2013, 10:11 AM
 
9,480 posts, read 12,289,523 times
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Originally Posted by Meemur View Post
Well, it's looking more and more like Begger's Night might get rained out. I've got one bag of candy. I'll bring it into work (probably along with a dozen others) if I can't give it out.
If yours is a neighborhood that usually sees a good amount of trick or treaters, they will still come! LOL
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