"Old School" Trick or Treating

[ckay87]

I'm wondering whether anyone else did the trick or treating the old fashioned way? I'm from a teeny-tiny, itty-bitty little village in the country, so maybe that is the reason. But here's how it went for us:

Dressed up, mom took picture, and sent us off. Walked 1/4 mile into town and started knocking on doors. Here's where, in retrospect, it got bizarre (by today's standards): Old man opens the door and invites us into the kitchen. Yells "hey Stella, come on in here, we have trick or treaters!" Stella comes in and they both stand and stare at us for 5 minutes saying "oooh, who is this, who could it be??" After 3 or 4 wrong guesses, they give up, we reveal, then receive a full-size candy bar or two.

That was the gist of it. We spent more time at some houses than others, but I think we always ended up inside somehow. We had one guy that even took us upstairs so his handicapped mother could see us! Note that even though this was a tiny town, we only ever saw a lot of these people once per year on Halloween.

HUGE contrast (albeit far less safe!) to today's rituals of ringing one million doorbells to have a bite-size Snickers dropped out the door, with maybe a quick "hi" and "goodbye" at each house.

Not better. Just A LOT different. My mom would take the time to check our apples for razorblades , never considering we could have been abducted and killed about a hundred different times over.

How did it go for you, way back when? Are you surprised you survived?

 

[Rora]

Well, I'm 23 and didn't trick or treat too long ago but I notice a significant difference from today's trick or treaters and when I went trick or treating.

My parents rarely came with us (except for when we were babies of course) and an older sibling/child was in charge. We'd go to everyone's house in the neighborhood, if we knew the neighbor, we might go into the house. They gave us candy (sometimes full sized bars) and we went merrily on our way.

There was none of this parents following their kids in the car, no parents seemed to be drunk (although I'm sure some were!), the kids didn't seem to be as greedy and "entitled" about candy, etc.

Ckay- I wished I experienced your kind of trick or treating! It sounds perfect!

 

[petchie]

we not only went into the house, we had to do a "trick" to get a treat. You sang a song, said a poem (5 little pumpkins sitting on a gate) or told a joke.

You then got a treat which was often home made.

Mrs Holmes had great candy apples, and Mrs. Curtin had the best cut out cookies wrapped in a ribbon.

Granted, the people in a 3 block radius all knew us and our parents! we were often given things to drop off back home for our moms

 

[piglet50]

yes, we did it that way back in the day. gathered at one house and walked around our small town. got lots of full sized candy, popcorn balls, apples, and homemade treats. came home and just dug in. wouldn't it be wonderful not to have to worry about dangerous treats again? you can tell i'm a child of the mid 50's.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Our "old school" was..small suburban Detroit town. Small houses, small lots, short walk ways, SIDEWALKS. Almost every house gave out treats. I mean out of 20 houses there might be one that was dark. The houses all had screen doors where the top half would come out, they would take it out. Open the wooden interior door and lean out the top half. This all lent itself to the most efficient and prosperous way to amass a bagful of candy in just an hour or so. We would come home and dump it when it got too heavy, then head back out for more.

Lots of oohs and aahs over the thin nylon costumes that had come out of a box with a hard plastic mask with elastic band holding it on, and the name of the character printed across the chest, because otherwise no one would know what it was. Kids with homemade costumes were not the norm, you had to have one out of a box. Paper grocery bags (no plastic ones back then) were used, but usually ended up tearing along the way. The best bag was a pillow case, and you could sling it over your back like Santa Claus. By the time you and your friends were 10, you were out on your own until about 10:00. No one worried about the kids at all..

 

[luvflorida]

Lots of oohs and aahs over the thin nylon costumes that had come out of a box with a hard plastic mask with elastic band holding it on, and the name of the character printed across the chest, because otherwise no one would know what it was.

I'm a child of the 50s and 60s and store bought costumes like you describe were the norm. I remember my mom taking me and my siblings shopping for our costumes. We couldn't wait to get back home to try them on. I remember trying to be so neat and refolding the costume and putting it back into the box so it would stay nice until Halloween.

The plastic masks used to get really hot and sweaty, which I guess they would when all you had were two tiny holes cut out for the eyes and a tiny slit for the mouth. The other part of the costume usually was just a thin, one piece plastic-type material that slipped on like a dress and had a couple of strings that tied at the back. If you tied them too tight, they were sure to rip, and usually the elastic on the mask didn't make it to the end of the night. But, we thought the costumes were the best things ever!

I remember getting a lot of home-made treats, popcorn balls and apples, along with a ton of candy. And it wasn't at all unusual to be asked to step inside someone's house so others at home could see your costume.

Ah, the good ole' days!

 

[Becky2005]

Hmmm....we never ever went inside people's houses when I was a kid trick-or-treating.

About the only thing that has changed is we would get those homemade popcorn balls a lot (which my mom always threw out) but I don't think I've seen one of those in years. I'm sure because they would be thrown out. Full-sized Candy Bars were *rare* to get.

The rest still goes on pretty much as I remember it from when I was a kid & I'm in my early 40's so it's been a while.

 

[ksjayhawks]

That's the way I grew up trick or treating. We went into the houses, sometimes we signed a list so the people could count and see who was there. We visited with people. Our costumes were homemade, not boughten. We got wonderful homemade treats at a lot of the houses. We went by ourselves cause our parents were busy handing out treats at their houses.

It was small town Iowa and we had so much fun!

 

[WaltD4Me]

We didn't go inside all the houses, but we did go in some, closer neighbors that we knew would invite us in. We got lots of homemade stuff too. One lady made caramel corn....it was soooooooooooooo good. Another neighbor made cake donuts she decorated all fancy, caramel apples and lots of full size candy bars. We got apple cider at a few houses and one lady gave out hot chocolate with mini marshmellows, loved that. This was 30 years ago of course, but it was much different and alot of fun.

 

[bumbershoot]

I never went inside; my mom would have fainted if she even *thought* that might happen.

We lived on a dead end, 8 house street. In 17 years we got ONE trick or treater that ventured onto the creepy dark gravel road...

We went to the neighborhood that grew up next to our street after they cut down the orange grove for TOTing. Went to the door, rang, got a small sized piece of candy, thank you, moved along. Mix of handmade and store bought costumes...ours were made, almost every year, because store bought were just too expensive. Though my little brother did have quite the awesome Hulk costume one year (store bought part was a green inflatable chest piece along with the green makeup).


So so strange to think about kids going inside someone else's house, especially if they didn't know them.


Oh, and there was ALWAYS a parent with us...

 

[mjkacmom]

I TOTed in the 70's, and I don't remember store bought costumes (and my parents were very well off). My mom wasn't crafty, so we alternated between being a cat, a baby, or a bum. I have no memory of my parents TOTing with us, and most on our street gave out full sized candy. I still live in the same town, and the popular routes have most people home to give out candy. My kids go off with their friends starting in the 5th grade. Until then, we tend to go out with groups of families. I don't remember going into people's homes - we were on a mission, and had no time for theat!

Our elementary schools still have the afternoon halloween parades, and the kids head off to TOT at 3:15.

 

[golfgal]

We went inside SOME houses but not many-usually friends of the family only. They usually had "better" candy for the kids they knew. Our parents stopped going with us when we were probably in second grade or so and we would have 10 or 15 neighborhood kids running around together. We would canvas the whole town and be out for hours. We would stop home halfway to empty our bags because they would be too heavy to carry.

I can't believe no one had those store bought costumes that came in a box with the totally flammable polyester robe/dress and the plastic masks you can't see anything out of My favorite one was Cinderella .

 

[BLTtinkerbell]

We went w/our siblings & parents when we were little. After that, it was siblings & friends. We lived in an area where everyone knew each other, so the adults always were at the door to see the kids in their costumes. I don't remember going in any houses, but I do remember people saying "hold on" & then yelling for their spouse to come see us. Lots of oohs & ahhs. It was so much fun. I did have those costumes in the box with the plastic mask. I once was a bride & it looked more like an astronaut.
I do remember on the news all the talk about razorblades in apples, poison in homemade stuff. We never went to a house where we didn't know the people, we were scared to death to do so. We just stayed in our own neighborhood to be safe.

Where we live now, it is like the old days. We know everyone in our neighborhood. One woman makes doughnuts out on her porch. Another woman gives out apple cider if it is hot out & hot chocolate if it is cold out. Both woman give to the parents who are w/their children. I sit on my porch & talk to every child that comes. It is one of the few times we get to see all the children in our neighborhood. Even the high school kids come out for awhile before going to a dance at the high school. They come w/younger siblings & in groups of friends. They all wear costumes & I don't think they are too old to ToT. I love seeing them all out having a nice time! I have lived here for 18 years & this is how it has always been.

 

[kristilew]

The plastic masks used to get really hot and sweaty, which I guess they would when all you had were two tiny holes cut out for the eyes and a tiny slit for the mouth. The other part of the costume usually was just a thin, one piece plastic-type material that slipped on like a dress and had a couple of strings that tied at the back. If you tied them too tight, they were sure to rip, and usually the elastic on the mask didn't make it to the end of the night. But, we thought the costumes were the best things ever!

Ah, the good ole' days!

Yes, I have a vivid sensory memory of how slimy those masks would get around the mouth!

We were in upstate New York, so those costumes were always put on over snow suits - we looked like the Michelin Man in drag. God forbid if anyone had to pee before the night was over!

 

[lillygator]

we never went alone but mom or gma would stay at the end of the driveway.

 

[HM]

Also a child of the 60s-70s. We always had homemade or put-together-from-stuff-we-own costumes. Trick or Treated with siblings and friends. No parents were in sight....they were at home to give out treats. Getting a full size bar was a big treat and not many people did that. I remember the popcorn balls (hated them) and the candy apples (hated them too). We were not allowed to eat anything until we came home and Mom looked through the stash for problematic treats.

 

[3boymthr]

When I turned 7 (on my b-day) we moved to the country (which is no longer the country - we still live there) and there were no neighbors for a mile in either direction and even the center of town didn't have many people. So every year we would drive to my DGMA's house who lived in a "real" town, and DB and I would go TOT with 2 of my cousins (there were 5 of them but only two were our ages) who lived next door. The four of us would leave and we'd tramp around all over the place, even to my aunt's creepy and mean next door neighbor (but who always gave the best candy ). We went indoors in some of the houses. The corner store gave away donuts and cider. We'd be gone for hours and no one thought anything about it. Every so often we'd run into one of the older cousins out causing trouble (TPing, etc.) and they'd chase us off so we couldn't tattle .

When I was little (before 7) we did the costume over the head dress thing with the plastic mask. Oh those things were awful - but sooo cool. After we moved we did homemade costumes; we moved because DF lost his job so there was no money to stay where we were and he decided to try his hand at farming. He wasn't the best farmer at first so no money for store bought costumes anymore.

So different from now adays.