No candy code when I was a kid but those were pretty clever. Half the fun was going through the bag aftewards and trading. I hated Necco wafers and always got rid of those. I also spent some of the prime trick or treat years in Asia so limited trick or treating.
How did you collect your candy - paper bag, plastic pumpkin, pillowcase?
We always went with the pillowcases - no holes in them from getting wet if there was rain/snow and they held more.
I call BS on the candy codes. It's a great concept, and some of the little icons are cute, but it doesn't pass the sniff test. I never heard of it in all my born days, no matter where I've wandered. Angus Beef? WTF?!? And the "nut oil" one is definitely postmodern, too.
Growing up, we just knew the neighborhood and who gave out the good stuff and who gave out the junk. I do miss Mallo Cups and Clark Bars.
I'll put in a Halloween plug for the dark chocolate mint Three Musketeer bars. They are wonderful! I hope I have no trick or treaters tonight so I can have the whole bag.
Since I never get trick or treaters, that is definitely a sucker bet. I've lived in my townhouse for 19 years and have never gotten a non-family member trick or treater. I miss the little ghouls and goblins.
So my older brother and I were not the only ones who went out in the night with pillow cases? lol
And do you remember when we were kids we wen out at dusk and didn't get back home until like 9:30 or so??
No "trunk or Treat" places, no "safety Spots" and other pre-designations back then.
As for candy, I was always in search of the illusive 3 musketeers or peanut M&M's. Hated the Necco and those terrible brown and orange wrapped candy thingamabobs! lol
Here are a few boring stories of glory days:
1. Pillowcases were definitely the preferred device to haul loot. Candy we hated: Sweethearts, jawbreakers, bubble gum, lollipops, and of course popcorn and raisins.
2. Driving someplace for additional trick or treating was just not done. You had to walk wherever you went. Actually, that's a rule Mrs Turk and I have established with the young Turks as well. They do our neighborhood and that's it. We'll let them trick or treat with friends in the friends' neighborhood and do the drop-off / pick-up, but we limit it to one friend, and they're walking. None of this driving all over the place nonsense.
3. Older kids who don't get dressed up and come to the Turk roost have to put up with a bit of verbal mockery before we give out stuff. e.g., A kid shows up in a Penn State sweatshirt:
"What kind of costume is that?"
"I'm, like, uh, you know, like, a college student, like."
"Oh how interesting. What's your major?"
...mumbles something incoherent...
"Shouldn't you be studying? You have midterms coming up!"
etc etc etc
We have also thought about handing out junk candy to older kids with lousy (or no) costumes, and giving extra good stuff to the little kids who are more in the spirit (ouch) of the event.
4. A long time ago, we rented a condo in the islands for our honeymoon. While we were down there, it was Halloween, so we got some visitors. We of course never even thought about that and were sorry to send the little folks away. I wanted to say "Here's some new underwear - it turns out we brought more than we needed" but Mrs Turk wouldn't go for it.
Last edited by Turk; 10-31-2008 at 12:40 PM. Reason: bad grammar
Since I don't get trick-or-treaters I would find excuses to go to another house to help hand out candy.
I'm with Turk - you had to walk on Halloween - no driving to the "good neighborhoods". Although, while in Tokyo I did get driven to one apartment building that was mostly American residents to trick or treat there. We only had one American family in our neighborhood. In Korea, the company had a housing compound so we walked but would go home and don a new costume to return to the houses with the best candy. There were only about 30 houses, so it wasn't too hard to remember the good ones and go around twice.
While we were robbed of steak-on-a-sword extravaganza, we did manage to fashion a basketball hoop and play a game of HORSE with our labor guys. Next year, we're packing a Nerf Hoop in our show crate. Embarrassingly, I was the first one out and our Gene (labor guy) won because he was getting lucky from outside. I did have the coolest shot of the night; rebound of the tower to a tip-in. Check out our killer goal:
Hope everyone has a nice Halloween.
For those who are bored with such a time as Halloween, I found fun online game of Tic Tac Toe.
http://stuff.pyzam.com/toys/tictacscare.swf
I won 8 out of 12 games. Not bad for my first time!
Does anyone else find the ad at the top "find your favorite hoops blog" funny on a basketball site?
I fell in the ring of fire
I fell into, into the burning ring of fire
I fell down, down, down, down into the deepest mire
and it burns, burns, burns, burns
the ring of fire, the ring of fire, the ring of fire
As I mentioned in your other thread, those are peanut butter taffy, and they suck!
I don't mind big kids, as I figure they could be out doing something much worse than begging for candy. What I DO mind are the adults who hold out bags alongside their children. My @#$%^&! No way, sweetie!
ESPN has a candy ranker:
http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sport...Id=2&listId=56
But it was missing York Peppermint Patties so I had to substitute Junior Mints instead... Too bad they don't have a "candy hater" one to go with it...
I went to a neighbor's/friend's house several years ago after my kids went. I showed up with a small paper bag and an empty six pack. He invited me in for an adult beverage AND gave me one of his home brews to enjoy later that night or the next day.
Ahh, my archnemesis is here and he has a lead...
Wow, and it has gotten to be a huge lead.