So I grew up in the city of neighborhoods. As a kid in the 70s we used pillowcases to collect the candy. We got so much candy, we went home 1/2-way through, dumped the pillowcase and went back out for another pillowcase full. Mom made special Halloween boxes: shoe boxes covered in Halloween contact paper (does contact paper even exist any more?). All candy was full-sized.
Aunts, uncles, cousins hung out after trick or treating, trading candy, eating grapes and nuts. Adults drinking wine or high balls, kids drinking apple cider.
Fast forward to the 90s/00s. Still living in the hood, but passing out âfunâ size candyâ2 or 3 per kid. Lots of neighbors stop becauseâhorrorsâchurches/youth groups from unsafe neighborhoods bring their kids to our neighborhood. SMH . . . theyâre kids and theyâre unfailingly polite. Probably went through 20 bags of candy on Halloween.
Then I moved to the burbs. My first four years I passed out âfunâ sizeâ3 or 5 per kid. I bought like I lived in the city: I think I just finished last Halloweenâs candy last week. Now I am back to full-sized Hersheyâs, Reeseâs, Kit-Kats because there just arenât that many kids and they have to trek up 1/4 mile drive to get the candy.
ETA: Whatever happened to 5th Avenue Bars? They were a favorite.
I think I remember Al Roker making a joke about âfun sizeââlike whose idea of fun was it to have smaller candy? Wouldnât the full-size bar be more fun (well, DUH!)? I donât think we ever gave out full-size candy. I grew up in a huge apartment complex, so that wouldâve gotten outta hand far too quickly. But Iâd have loved to trick-or-treat at your house as a kiddo. P.S. Who knew there was Halloween Con-Tact? HA HA! I bet there are a couple of generations of folks who donât even know what that is. My mom was a big fan.
Oh yeah, 5th Ave bars were great! Do they not make those anymore? I remember getting those crappy peanut butter chews in Orange/black wax paper. They were kind of like cheap version of Mary Janes.
Ah, quite the contraryâEVERY flat surface was safe! HA HA HA!
The only (formerly) penny candy, which I think was 2 pennies when we were kids, was the Tootsie Roll. All the rest of that stuff was just nonsense, though I did snarf them down as a kiddo. Kits, remember them? The tiny squares of taffy, maybe 4 or five to a little tiny pack? They came in strawberry and maybe chocolate and some sort of vanilla-ish option. I was never nutty about Squirrel Nut Zippers, either. Loved then and still love now: JUNIOR MINTS!
I am glad I ignored the news ladyâs advise to get candy you donât like because I got exactly 0 trick or treaters. I did get home a bit late but I picked up candy because there were still lots of people out but I guess my block is just not trick or treat territory. People were heading back to the hood from hipsterville but not stopping here. Peanut butter snickers in my lunch for monthsđ
Wow, zero? And youâre in the city. Did you get home after the Temple/ND game started? I know that was my cut off point.
That said, this was the slowest year ever. We got 12 or 13 kids. My varied menu for this week? Hersheys, Hersheys with almonds, Payday and Reeses PB cups. Kit Kats all went. Actually, the family next door has 6 kids, so Iâll see if I can foist some of the leftovers on to them.
No, a good hour before. Score breaking my heart right now I am a different species of Owl but I am pulling for the home team. Iâm on a pretty big street too people were heading home but not stopping. I think they went into Fishtown proper to trick or treat. Not one other house on my block had lights on or doors open.
Ah, if no other houses were open, that explains the zero. Every single house save one was open on my street and the neighboring ones. I think most of the neighborhood kids are aging out of trick or treating.
I grew up a ND fan (Irish Catholic roots). But Iâm loving the current score: Philly girl whose BIL and nieceâs husband (nephew-in-law?) work at Temple and nephew is a senior there.
So all this talk about Halloween candy . Did you hand out this year ? I have them name their costume . Then I give them a handful . One of my favorite holidays . Around fifty kids this year .
I bought 2 big bags of assorted chocolates at BJs, which was around 250 little bars, and a big box of chocolate granola bars too for the healthier kids. Then I got maybe 10 or 12 little groups of kids, thatâs it. I figured Saturday would be over the top trick or treating. Could be that our village started doing an Edgar Allen Poe Weekend for Halloween and everyone went there instead, thatâs all I can figure.
I remember getting candy corn, but Iâm stuck on Snickers.
âAfter taking a nosedive during the pandemic, Halloween candy spending rebounded to return to (and even exceed) pre-pandemic levels in 2022, reaching record numbers. Experts say that the trend is likely to continue, with Halloween spending expected to be strong again this year. Although the economy will motivate some shoppers to seek out bargains when loading up on their Halloween haul, the majority of consumers plan to spend up to $100 on candy and food for Halloween.â
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CCE
(Keyrock the unfrozen caveman lawyer; your world frightens & confuses me)
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You might get the prize for the most long-term threadsurrection ever.