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Old 10-14-2018, 06:04 PM
 
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I never liked Halloween, even as a kid. No imagination for costumes. I must have gone out a few times in my post-war suburb but really don't remember. I did once throw an egg at a house and when an angry tired-looking man came out in a bathrobe, I felt so ashamed (I was about 10). I can still see his face.

To be honest, I think there's enough scary and nasty stuff in real life and don't see the fun of playing at it- is life so safe that it's fun to play at unsafe?

In my former house, houses were pretty far apart, no sidewalks, and I think people with kids went elsewhere. In my new and current house in this town, I have no idea what people do, but even in-town houses are interspersed with stores and empty lots, there are no sidewalks and the streets are unpaved, so... I will leave my light off- glad to have that option. I sure don't want to be opening the door and having my four dogs rush out.
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Old 10-14-2018, 08:04 PM
 
Location: Southern MN
11,970 posts, read 8,289,652 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brightdoglover View Post
To be honest, I think there's enough scary and nasty stuff in real life and don't see the fun of playing at it- is life so safe that it's fun to play at unsafe?
Stephen King wrote an essay on this. For me you can blame it on my mom who taught sixth grade for forty years. She handed me a book of Edgar Allen Poe's short stories when I was twelve and from then on I was hooked.

Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of (wo)man? I can't even kill a spider but I love playing ghoul to the neighborhood kids. DH teases me that I pretend so that I don't really have to do it. Heh.

Interestingly that's what Mr. King says, also.
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Old 10-14-2018, 08:54 PM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Piney Creek View Post
We're fans of "Trunk or Treat" parties. It's held in the afternoon the Saturday before, in community center parking lot. People decorate a truck or a van, which is a lot easier than decorating a house. Some of them are really creative! Some clubs sponsor trucks, others are from individuals.

The kids are local kids (this has become a real issue in recent years), and the people handing out candy are known, too, so there aren't issues with tampered candy. It's in the late afternoon, so you can see all the details in the costumes and take fun photos, and taken photos.

It runs until sunset, so that lit pumpkins etc. can be appreciated, but then it's officially over and you don't have to hang around waiting for the last few trick or treaters. Instead, everyone cleans up the party area and then we have a party.
Our church used to do that on the Sunday before Halloween, right after church. By the time we joined this church, our kids were grown but DH is a big "kid at heart" so we always participated. No costumes though, the kids were in their church clothes, which in our area can be anything. Then the youth director who organized Trunk or Treat left, and we haven't done it in a while.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Signs9 View Post
I still live in the same neighborhood where we raised our kids. We've been here for 26 years and know all of our neighbors on the cul de sac. In the beginning when the neighborhood was new we had tons of kids. Over the years the number has dwindled quite a bit but last year we had more than the year before.

What we do is my neighbors and I who live on the cul de sac get our candy, chairs, candles and some drinks and sit out in the middle of the street. We have our own little party during the trick or treat hours and call the kids over to us in the street. It's a great way to get caught up with neighbors and we've been doing this for over 20 years.
We've been in our house 29 years, starting with a 2 year old and a 5 year old. Same as yours, numbers dwindled but now are increasing again.

I like your neighborhood party idea. I may suggest that.
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Old 10-15-2018, 07:11 AM
 
Location: Elsewhere
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Originally Posted by JOinGA View Post
Kids love Halloween. As adults we tend to forget just how exciting it was to dress up and trick or treat. Besides, where I grew up, tricks were the night before and not as a result of not getting candy. We called it Goosey Night, which is a name that will be recognized only by people who grew up very close to where I did (she said mysteriously). I actually even soaped a few car windows in my day. The "bad kids" threw eggs...that was pretty much the extent of it.
Northwest Bergen County, New Jersey. That's where I grew up, and we called it Goosey Night, too.

I soaped windows AND put toothpaste on them. Had some eggs in my hooded sweatshirt pockets only one time. The cops pulled up, walked over and said to us, "What do you have in your pockets?" and then squeezed them so that the eggs broke in our pockets. It was pretty gross.

Usually they won't sell eggs to kids anymore on Goosey Night.
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Old 10-15-2018, 08:07 AM
 
Location: Philadelphia/South Jersey area
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Lol I buy candy that I like. Win/win. No trick or treaters I get good candy
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Old 10-15-2018, 08:14 AM
 
Location: Knoxville, TN
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801 View Post
Northwest Bergen County, New Jersey. That's where I grew up, and we called it Goosey Night, too.

I soaped windows AND put toothpaste on them. Had some eggs in my hooded sweatshirt pockets only one time. The cops pulled up, walked over and said to us, "What do you have in your pockets?" and then squeezed them so that the eggs broke in our pockets. It was pretty gross.

Usually they won't sell eggs to kids anymore on Goosey Night.

Yep! Goosey Night is the name for October 30 in a particular area of north Jersey. I grew up in Hawthorne. I found the following on the 'net........

"Goosey Night is more prevalent in western Bergen County and Passaic County, and the origins of the term are murkier. Wyckoff Police Chief Benjamin Fox used the term in a letter to parents urging them not to let their kids go out. Carol D'Alessandro of the Passaic County Historical Society said she remembers using the term growing in Pompton Lakes, but doesn't know where it came from.

"The Jews of Paterson," a history by David Wilson, calls Goosey Night a "Paterson Tradition," during which boys in the 1940s would soap up car and store windows, but also offers no explanation as to where the term came from.

Perhaps, Wright said, the simplest explanation is best.

"Goosey. It means flighty or unreliable," he said. "It's a night to act goosey. Or maybe get somebody to throw a cabbage at a house."
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Old 10-15-2018, 09:29 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JOinGA View Post
I lived in my previous neighborhood for 32 years. When the neighborhood was new, we had lots of kids and everyone would sit out at the ends of their driveways to distribute candy to the trick or treaters. As the years went on, the number of young kids declined and there were fewer and fewer willing to walk up the hill into my short cul-de-sac. Also, fewer houses kept their lights on. I would still keep my lights on and sit on the porch, but I did not have many takers.

Now, I live in a new (for me) neighborhood. Halloween night starts with dinner in the clubhouse and then the kids disperse to trick or treat. I am told it is a well-attended annual event. I live right across from the clubhouse and on the side of the street with sidewalks, so I expect many kids to ring my bell. I understand we are also popular with families who don't live in a subdivision and want a safe place for their kids to trick or treat. I am actually looking forward to Halloween this year! In contrast, I have a friend who turns off all of the lights in her house and hides (her term) in a backroom watching TV until trick or treat hours are done.

Do you find trick or treaters fun or a bother? What will you be doing on Halloween?

It depends how many kids come and how long the thing lasts. None of the houses I lived in during my adult years had lots of TorTers, so I didn’t mind. The last two homes had none at all. We would buy candy and end up eating it ourselves.

However, as a kid we lived in a subdivision packed with young kids. There was not even one childfree home. We would bring home almost a full oldfashioned grocery bag of candy! Mine lasted almost an entire year, till I started giving some away and then tossing the rest when they got old. It was a bonanza for kids, and a PITA for adults, because the craziness ran from 5 pm till 9 pm. Dinner, what dinner? I do remember one or two houses would be completely dark and nobody answered the doorbell—“GRINCH!”

Where we now live is not suitable for TorTing due to distance between houses, very long driveways, and dirt roads (no sidewalks or shoulders). There is also the possibility of mountain lion attacks, since they too start prowling at dusk.
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Old 10-15-2018, 09:37 AM
 
9,868 posts, read 7,632,006 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801 View Post
Northwest Bergen County, New Jersey. That's where I grew up, and we called it Goosey Night, too.

I soaped windows AND put toothpaste on them. Had some eggs in my hooded sweatshirt pockets only one time. The cops pulled up, walked over and said to us, "What do you have in your pockets?" and then squeezed them so that the eggs broke in our pockets. It was pretty gross.

Usually they won't sell eggs to kids anymore on Goosey Night.
A perfect example of letting the punishment fit the crime.
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Old 10-15-2018, 09:51 AM
 
9,868 posts, read 7,632,006 times
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Originally Posted by Lodestar View Post
Here's this picture of the little girl I got my inspiration from. Only my little girl has jeans, mary janes and red curls with a pink bow in her hair.

Can't decide if I feel sorry for her or if I'm terrified.
I love your displays!
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Old 10-15-2018, 04:35 PM
JRR
 
Location: Middle Tennessee
8,130 posts, read 5,592,463 times
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Where we lived in Central Florida it had dwindled to maybe 10 kids. Last Halloween was our first one here and we were warned that we would get slammed. Had over 400 as we are considered a nice safe area for everyone to bring their kids around. Quiet streets with no thru traffic. So I will be stocking up on Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies (40 boxes) and everybody gets one. Most kids seem to like something different from the usual candy. And if there are any left over, I like to have one with a cup of coffee for breakfast.
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