Worst: apples, raisins, anything healthy, pennies, anything else not-candy, gum (other than Bazooka Joe), peanut butter tooth-crackers, whatever those gluey sesame candies are, peppermints, chocolate coins in gold foil (don’t ask me why, but I just hated those).
Best: any kind of candy bar (even the little ones, but especially Butterfingers and Baby Ruths), Tootsie Rolls, Tootsie Pops, Life Savers, butterscotch candies, Andes mints (I had sophisticated tastes, even as a child).
And for all you who hate Circus Peanuts (which I never recall receiving for trick-or-treat, candy corn either for that matter), you deserve your windows soaped, your house TPed and a bag of burning dog-doo on your doorstep. Philistines! moon
I remember getting these…wheeeeeeee…these just sing Happy Halloween.
My neighbors on either side of us gave out homemade gingerbread men and popcorn balls annually. It was a wonderful tradition that the entire neighborhood looked forward to.
Nowadays, I’m sure that parents would just throw them away as a safety precaution. Man, its sad crap like this that make modern times suck.
BTW, I remember that I liked Kraft toffees the best when I was a kid doing trick or treats.
(What I like now about Halloween is buying the bags of candy bar treats at the supermarket afterwards after the stores have to mark them down. It’s like buying candy canes in January. Mmmmm, Candy canes (Homer Simpson noise))
My mother expects over 300 kids at her house tonight. How many for you?
THE GOOD: Mini-Crunch bars-- They’re like crack, or something! also snickers, milky way, 3 musketeers, and Reese’s Pieces.
THE BAD: Those Godawful toffees, and Smarties.
THE BUTT-UGLY: Many long years ago–I got a pack of candy while tricking treating called ‘Dem Bones’. The pack is about the size of my fist, and it has a skeleton wearing a top hat and dancing a merry jig on the front. I don’t know what the candies inside look like, and I still don’t. It frightens me. The only reason I still remember is because I have it with me on my shelf. I’ve never thrown it out, either. (It literally was at least 3 years ago.)
When I was a kid, the worst treat was ice cubes. Every once in a while some joker would dump one in the bag, and the massive thump sounded like a serious candy bar. And in the dark, who could tell? Then the cube melts and sticks all your candy together. Sonofabitch.
The worst I ever got was a handful of nuts. Unshelled nuts.
“I got a Kit Kat, two Mr. Goodbars, four rolls of Smarties and a full sized Snickers!”
“I got… umm… a walnut, two pecans, a hazelnut and… umm… I think this is a brazil nut.”
He claimed it was because people were poisoning candy (this was the first year you really started hearing about it in the 80’s). Personally, I’d rather have taken my chances with the poisoned candy.
I like Peanut butter toffee, and every year I want to buy it so that I can have a few pieces, but I abstain, lest some 8 year should old think I’m cheap. (Not such a good reason, now that I put in into perspective).
I am living in a neighborhood that can at best be described aas “low rent” right now, and one of the things I noticed tonight was that the handful of kids that came around had *really * crappy candy–all smarties and dum-dums, no chocolate at all. A couple different groups marveled at my Reeses and Butterfingers and Almond Joys. Talk about things you never apppriciate when you are growing up middle class. . . .
Those are the grossest. I have recently discovered that that is what my mother-in-law gives out every single year, too. Explains a lot, I think. Their town is pretty lame, too…one of those ones that legislates trick-or-treating to be sometime like “between 1 and 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon.” I guess that’s the only reason it’s safe to give away something like that–no cover of darkness for playing tricks.
She was warning me about Halloween weirdos this year. Apparently, someone in her town once gave out “red-hot pennies” and burned children’s hands. (My husband, who grew up there, has no recollection of this, so it must have happened fairly recently…or not at all.) OK, when faced with the choice of a red-hot penny or a orange- or black-wrapped toffee thing…hmmm, I think I’d start trick-or-treating with oven mitts on.
Oh those halcion days of my youth when we could go out for hours and hours and sometimes fill two pillowcases with candy. We were really poor when I was growing up so Halloween was greatly anticipated.
My favourite things were chiclets, kraft toffees, kit kats, jellybeans, and anyone who gave out full size chocolate bars. We would make multiple trips to those people’s homes. Our haul from Halloween could last one many months if a kid paced himself.
Our neighbour used to make caramel apples and huge gingerbread men, she would even write our names on them in icing as she knew we were coming.
The worst thing had to be peanuts and caramel popcorn.
I now find myself looking for the real molasses “kisses”, (those toffee’s wrapped in the orange and black wrappers). The old fashioned one’s were soft and melted in your mouth but what they make these days isn’t fit for anyone to eat.
Oh my. I LOVE ice cubes!
I never did get any for halloween.
Last night, my son got a wrapped up cracker (you know, cracker on the outside, cheese gook on the inside).!
Best: Peanut m&m’s, blo-pops.
Worst: milk duds, ball candy.
Worst - Another vote for those disgusting black toffees with the orange and black wrapper and circus peanuts (Y’know, I have never seen those toffees in the store, where the hell do they come from?). Also apples, we won’t eat them anyway!
Best - A woman on my street used to make large pieces of homemade fudge and put a sticker with her name and address on it so we could eat it. Another lady used to do the same with popcorn balls, YUMMY!
I have a confession to make…my Mom used to give out the worst candy (I was embarassed for friends to come over before going out). She used to give out 2 shelled peanuts and a 2-pack of Chiclets. I thought of her when The Simpsons had an episode where Homer ate a pack of “Nuts and Gum Together At Last”. Even when I was 8 I was complaining about the stuff that she was giving out. I dunno, times must have tough for my parents back then…I’ll have to ask.
There was a family who gave out Caramel apples every year…they would be cleaned out FAST.
I think my mom actually went out of her way this year to get the worst candy to give out. Mary Janes, Dem Bones, those orange/black peanut butter things…all the crap you could ever want! Which sucks, because I usually enjoy helping myself to the leftovers.
Well, she did also give out those Dum-Dum lollipops, but there weren’t any left when I got home from class. Oh well.
WORST: Pennies, apples, and pencils (did anyone else ever get stupid pencils for Halloween?)
Also, there was always one person on the block who would set the candy out on the porch with a sign that read “Not Home, Please help yourself to 1 candy.” Oh man that stuff lasted about 15 minutes tops.
Favorites: Hershey Kisses, Starburst, Now and Laters, Reese’s Cups, Mini Hershey Chocolate Candies, Andes Mints, Snickers, Lollipops (any kind), Milk Duds, Smarties, Tootsie Rolls, Sweet Tarts, Caramels (real ones!), Nestle Crunch Bars (mini or otherwise), Pixie Stix
Worst: Icky Caramels with the white crap in the center, Another vote for Mary Janes, Necco Wafers, Pennies (which made any loosely wrapped or unwrapped candy taste like nasty pennies), Popcorn balls, Candy Corn, Circus Peanuts, Raisins, Apples, Coupons (i.e. Free McDonalds Ice Cream Cone)
Caveat: Even the Bad candy was good for trading purposes.
What I handed out this year: Tootsie Rolls, Starburst, Now and Laters, Dum-Dums —Not Great, Not Horrible, Not too Expensive, Not too Cheap
My mom always gave out Dum Dums, Smarties and the little two-packs of Sweet Tarts, because they were the least expensive of the brand-name candies. We were pretty poor when I was growing up, and my mom loves Halloween. She loves to get dressed up and answer the door to see all the kids in their costumes. The only alternative to handing out the cheap candy for her was to turn out the porch light and not give out anything. We simply couldn’t afford chocolate candy, like mini candy bars. She got (and still gets)great joy out of Halloween. It makes me sad to realize there are probably kids who think she’s lame or hate her because she gives out lame candy.
(It literally was at least 3 years ago.)
