Call me a romantic but those memories make me smile and I never got sick from a homemade Halloween treat. But boy has the world changed.
Our next door neighbors lived far from their grandchildren so my siblings and I were the beneficiary of lots of homemade holiday treats. She made caramel apples, popcorn balls and iced cookies shaped like ghosts. They became an honorary set of grandparents!
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It changed for the horrible in the Houston area in 1974 when the man that killed Halloween poisoned his son with a pixy stix for insurance money. Trick or treating was rare after that for years and most candy was taken to inspection areas for examination and x-rays.
Dan-you just stirred a wonderful memory I had almost forgotten. Even in my Halloween heydays (the 70s), homemade treats were a no-go and got tossed by mom & dad immediately. The one exception was the next door neighbor, who made the best homemade peanut butter cups ever. But even she gave these only to the children she (and I now assume, their parents) knew well. All the other kids got packaged candy. Poor kids never experienced the wonder that was Mrs. Bâs peanut butter cups.
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Back in the day a few dimes would buy a candy bar or two of your choice, so it was a welcome addition to the bag.
And does anyone else remember âTrick or Treat for UNICEF?â Every year we were sent out with orange & black boxes to collect change for the UNâs Childrensâ Fund while we collected candy for ourselves. I remember my parents always kept a bowl of change next to the candy for those boxes.
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When i was a kid we just went around the immediate neighborhood, a few streets that included a mix of young families and some elderly couples. One house with an elderly couple would hand out homemade treats, popcorn caramel balls. Because my parents knew them we were allowed to eat them, but i recall coming home one time with a little pretty baggie that had some homemade pretzel chocolate caramel candies in it and we couldnât recall what house gave those out so that went to the bin and we werenât allowed to eat it.
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The times I did caramel apples, I used individual clear plastic bags with my printed address label firmly affixed to the inside, in hopes that would reassure any worried parents.
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Yes! I did that every year too.
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All I had back then was a disposable camera, so no digital photos, unfortunately.
Do you think trick or treating is dying out . I sure hope not . What do you think ? I found to be a little less kids year after year.
I think the entire country paid attention to reports like this. We always inspected our bags when we got home. It would be very difficult to know if your candy was tainted, wrapped or not. Homemade treats got tossed, many store bought candies were reported.
The treats we received were from neighbors we knew when families actually knew their neighbors very well. But the trust level sadly was taken away from an entire generation.
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Not dying out, changing.
True that. I still have a few disposable cameras around here.
Our school teachers handed out the boxes and we returned the full ones to school. Talk about trust! 
Some of those dimes were used at 7-11 some went in the UNICEF box. I just recall a large shiny bowl of dimes. Didnt see that often as a kid.
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Our son is 28, he enjoyed a good old fashioned Halloween every year. Homemade costume, treats, neighborhood parties, school parties, carving pumpkins himself, decorating the house.
Mischief night was harmless. Neighbors looked out for every kid.
Call me a dumb romantic but itâs time to reclaim the Halloween of our youthđ.
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Couldnât resistđ»
Maybe we saw 40 kids this yearâŠbut some very creative costumes.
Now, do we start a topic on how to repurpose leftover candy? Care packages for Troops?
Love the Dame Edna conceptâand the other costumes too! So creative. Last night our biggest task was keeping our mixed breed rescue pooch out of the candy bowl. And stopping her from giving trick-or-treaters a lick. Sheâs not great at boundaries so thatâs our job.
Next year, a costume.
No trick or treaters! 
Itâs a mystery why there isnât much candy left!
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