This is sorta long the lines of seawitch’s thread. Only different.
I could have thrown it in there and been done with it. But where’s the fun in that?
One year, instead of handing out candy like everyone else, I decided to give out grilled hot dogs. I set up my grill in the driveway and cooked up some hot dogs. Ketchup and mustard were optional. (A lot of kids went with a straight-up dog. Kids, sheesh.) I was too cheap to get buns, so I wrapped the dogs in a piece of white bread.
That was my non-candy year. I’m thinking about doing it again this year. It depends on the weather.
-Rue.
P.S. Giving out those plastic spider rings is lame. Giving out mood rings is cool.
Giving out apples is lame. Giving out carrots is cool. (It’s unexpected, yet healthy. Extra points for leaving the “greens” on.)
Rue, you have got to tell me what street or small area you are in and I will bring the Olethlings[sup]TM[/sup] by Trick or Treating [sub]if it’s not too far[/sub]. I am sure we will be able to guess which house is yours. Especially after all of the damage from your Cocktail Party.
When I was a child (many moon ago) growing up in Detroit, I remember going to a house on Halloween and receiving a brand new 45 RPM single by some old crooner I had never heard of. It didn’t matter, I was just thrilled to have my own record. Maybe the house’s owner was just pleased that no one had burned his place down on Devil’s Night.
I suppose condoms are out of the question. Pennies are worth squat. Kids and parents alike shun fruit. I might buy a few cheap baseballs and sign “Barry Bonds” on them, it just depends on how mean I feel that night.
One the day after Halloween every year I go out and buy marked down Halloween stickers, pencils, and assorted other things and put them together in Looney Toons Halloween Zip-Lock bags (that I bought a dozen boxes of three or four years ago at .75 a box) and give those out. I also buy the Halloween candy making stuff when it’s marked down and pack goodie bags with added candy for my kdis to take to school parties.
While it looks like I spent a fortune on them, I really have spent about $25.00 and have at least three years worth of stuff to give out at any given time.
My sister found these miniature “Mad Libs” books (I can’t remember where right now). They come in packs of 10. Mom’s giving out those and some various candies this year.
I don’t give anything–I don’t get any trick-or-treaters at my apartment :(. I take my kid to Mom and Dad’s neighborhood for Halloween.
Fruit and homemade popcorn balls are “bad”, but parents let their kids eat a trick-or-treat hot dog??? Sheesh!
When I was a kid, there was the one strange old lady way down the street who would have all kinds of food laid out on her kitchen table, including individual-sized boxes of cereal, fruit, and cans of Campbell’s soup! My sister and I would usually take the cereal, since it was always those sugary ones Mom wouldn’t buy :).
Well, in my neighborhood (urban working class residential) we are all making a concerted effort to discourage trick-or-treaters. We used to get whole platoons of kids who would ride the bus around town and hit up all the neighborhoods for candy, and many of these “kids” were about 18 or 20, if you catch my drift.
And if you hand out really good stuff, like full-size candy bars, you’re sure to get even more “kids” next year.
So the Goose household, every year, hands out Dum-Dums. One per bag. Period.
We’ve had a noticeable decline in trick-or-treaters in the 15 years or so since we’ve been living here.
(For you non-U.S. Dopers, Dum-Dums are the ultimate insult candy, those itty-bitty perfectly useless lollipops.)
This thread causes me to wax nostalgic for the good ol’ days. In the mid-60’s there was an old lady in our neighborhood who would invite trick-or-treaters into her home where there was a huge table covered with homemade candy, fudge, cookies, cakes, and pies. We were encouraged to eat as much as we wanted and to take as much as we could carry. There was always plenty for everyone.
I never got anything like you guys describe… the best stuff I ever got was one year I got 2 cans of pop, a juicebox and a full size crispy crunch… all in one year… and the longest time I was ever trick or treating was 4 hours… me and my bro had about 2 pillow cases full of candy. I haven’t been trick or treating in a few years though but we always give out those mini chocolate bars at my Grandparents… one per bag of course.
Now, I’m just guessin’ here, but…
You keep the bags of loot for the next year, right? It’d be pretty goofy to buy stuff the day after Halloween and then give it out. Unless you have a really bizare Thanksgiving tradition…
-Rue.
One year I remember getting a little baggie full of loose change (mostly pennies). The guy apparently had an overload of change, and decided this was a good way to get rid of it (which really, it was). That was the best non-candy treat I ever got.
The worst was a dentist who handed out toothbrushes. Oh Halloween. It was completely sacrilege.
I’ve also gotten boxes of Sun Maid raisins, those little cheese-and-cracker sets, and cookies.
How about Wagon Wheels!!! All you need is 2 crackers and a hunka hunka hunka cheese!
The most memorable “treat” I’ve gotten was from an oriental neighbor who handed out some kind of asian cherry candies(? questionable name for them). I don’t know if asian cherries ALWAYS taste like ear wax or not but man were those candies nasty!
One year a guy in our neighborhood gave out comic books. That was cool.
My first time trick-or-treating, my parents claimed they forgot about it and we missed Halloween night, so we went out the next night. My brother (1 year older) and I went up to the first house.
Us: Trick or treat!
People in house: (thoughts: … the hell? Well, I don’t want to eat all this candy, so half the bowl for one kid, half for the other) “Happy halloween!”
I looked into my bag at about a pound and a half of candy. Neat, I think. How long has this racket been going on?
Next house. Same story. After about six houses, we went home because our PILLOW CASES WERE FULL OF CANDY.
I think Dum-Dums may be an insult to some 18-year-olds (do they at least dress up?), but most kids like them. My second grade teacher would buy a big bag of them at Halloween and then give them out in class throughout the year as rewards. I don’t remember anyone complaining :).
If you really wanted to discourage trick-or-treaters, you could give out Jack Chick tracts. Well, it might encourage the “trick” part, I suppose, so…on second thought, that’s a bad idea.
