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Although I haven’t gone trick-or-treating for almost two decades, I still remember the greedy delight I took in collecting, cataloging, and ultimately binging on Halloween candy each year. Now that I’m officially some sort of grownup, I feel it’s important to consider my Halloween Giveaway Strategy — in other words, fit myself into the landscape of treat givers that I remember from back in the day.
These are the archetypes I remember:
The One Piece of Candy Per Kid Rule (aka The Walter Sobchak “There Are Rules” Approach). This method generally involves a big bowl of “fun size” goodies monitored by a stern taskmaster. Each child follows the universally agreed-upon process of saying “trick or treat?” and his or her hand is allowed to grasp a single treat from the bowl. Any child attempting multiple treats is immediately disciplined/shamed.
The Monty Hall Mom. These folks generally go for a bit more costume-related chat, then offer a “handful” of candy, which makes it a game of skill for kids with little hands. Strategy is key — using a scooping method can yield more candy than closing your fist around the goodies.
The Absentee Landlord (aka the Leave Me Alone Family). These people leave a tray of stuff by their front door, sometimes with some lame rule (like “take only one, please!”) on a sign. Because of the inherent greed issues here (see: tragedy of the commons), the goodies are usually apples or something equally disappointing.
The Fruit Peddler. I really wish there was some kind of hobo code for kids to identify these houses. At best, you get an apple, tangerine, or box of raisins. At worst, you get a weird lecture about how fruit is better than candy. (On the bright side, when you grow up you’ll sort of understand. But you’ll never forgive.)
Here’s a Nickel, Go Buy Yourself a Clue. These people give you money — in pitiably small quantities. Perhaps they’re hoping you’ll start a college fund. In my day the going rate was a nickel. Do kids get quarters now?
The Slightly Unsettling Proselytizer. I only encountered this once, when trick-or-treating in a fancy neighborhood in Sarasota, Florida — but it has stuck with me. My fellow trick-or-treaters and I were greeted at the door by a smiley couple who gave us full-sized candy bars with Jack Chick tracts wrapped around them.
The “I’m Totally Not Home” Guy. Dude, we see that your TV is on in your otherwise darkened house…couldn’t you just leave some candy by the door?!
So let’s have it. What’s your Halloween Giveaway strategy? And I’m also dying to know: what candy/fruit/money/tracts are you giving away this year?
I tend to splurge on Halloween. Hold open your bags kids because you are getting Dum-Dums, Smarties, and at least one piece of chocolate (Kit Kats or peanut butter cups).
posted by Janix on 10-26-2007 at 10:45 am
My neighborhood has few kids, and the kids we have apparently don’t even bother going house-to-house in our neighborhood, so I haven’t developed my own strategy yet. My parents, however, always had a really nice method. They’d buy about 6 different bulk bags of different kinds of candy (one extra bag of Tootsie Rolls just for our family), and little Halloween treat bags. My mom would stuff each bag lovingly with an equal variety of good treats. The kids liked it so much, sometimes we’d get repeat offenders (i.e. “Trick or Treat! I’m a ghost under a sheet!” then, “Trick or Treat! I took off my sheet, now I’m a pirate!”) which never really fooled my mom.
posted by Molly on 10-26-2007 at 10:51 am
The more enthused the kid, the more enthusiastic we are about giving out the goods. Big smile and decent costume = 1 big ADULT-sized handful of the yummies. Extra points for creative, not-store-bought costume. Half-hearted “trick-or-treat” = a few candies. Teenagers with no costumes and a pillowcase = small handful… hey, I don’t want my house egged!
(By the way, teenagers, with or without costumes, are not meant for trick-or-treating… one kid last year was talking on his cell phone when he came to our door! Not really the Halloween spirit!)
posted by Flipper on 10-26-2007 at 11:16 am
My strategy is to be a cat lady living in a big ol house with a quarter mile driveway. Make ‘em work for it, if they can find it, which they never attempt anyway.
*sigh*
posted by LorinJuliet on 10-26-2007 at 11:17 am
I find my neighborhood lacks Halloweeners each year. I think last year I had 5 kids stop by total. Unfortunately, I have a sweet tooth and tend to buy way too much candy. This year so far… 4 bags snickers, 3 bags Nestle’s Crunch, 2 bags of 1000grand and 3 Musketeers. So I have a very full candy cauldron. Fortunately, I also know the candy is probably bad for me, so try to get rid of it.
Usually, the first kid or two gets a ton. The next set I worry it will be an odd year and I’ll not have enough candy, so I give a little less. As the night progresses, and I realize I will have few kids again, I start increasing.
The last kid, well… let’s just say I am probably extremely disliked by that kids partents as I tend to give almost 1/2 of what’s left.
posted by Chris on 10-26-2007 at 11:22 am
One of my neighbors growing up was a dentist. He and his wife handed out apples and TOOTHBRUSHES.
posted by Lindsay on 10-26-2007 at 11:22 am
In the apartment, in my study (usually anyway)– with a note on the front door “NO CANDY”. Might as well say “GO AWAY I HATE KIDS” which is apt and true. Yeah, I was a “beggar” — we did our T&T on 10/30, which was called “Beggars’ Night” where I’m from — but I don’t want to be disturbed. Crabby Appleton. Yup. Hey, you kids, get off my landlord’s lawn!
posted by WizardBoy on 10-26-2007 at 11:27 am
Our wealthy next door neighbours (as kids) would give out those giant Gobstoppers that had 13 layers and could barely fit in your mouth. It was definitely the talk of the subdivision!
posted by Kate on 10-26-2007 at 11:28 am
Higgins - “The Fruit Peddler” - you have “At worst, you get a weird lecture about how candy is better than fruit.” Is that supposed to be “how FRUIT is better than CANDY?” or am I just reading it wrong?
posted by caitlen315 on 10-26-2007 at 11:30 am
First, everyone in my family makes Chili on halloween and, of course, when the kids come to the door we approach with the pot of chili and ladle and tell `em to open their bags. Some of the reactions are priceless.
Anyway, when I was a kid, the best was getting full-size bars candy bars. Now that I give out candy, I found buying full-size bars (in bulk from Sams Club or Costco) and giving one to each kid is less expensive than giving out handfuls of mini’s.
Also, like flipper, we keep a few mini’s on hand to give teenagers who have no business going out, but we still give them a little to keep our house from getting egged.
posted by It's good to be the King on 10-26-2007 at 11:31 am
There is a house near where I used to live, and every Halloween they’d wheel their cotton candy machine (!!!) out in the front yard & give good-sized portions to all of the trick or treaters! :)
posted by caitlen315 on 10-26-2007 at 11:32 am
Caitlen315 - oops, you caught me in a typo. Fixed!
posted by Higgins on 10-26-2007 at 11:36 am
We live on a road which, in a quarter-mile stretch, has maybe six occupied houses. We’ve gotten one set of trick-or-treaters in thirteen years, and that was my friend with her little brother.
On the topic of teenagers, I agree that you get to an age where you are too old to trick-or-treat. I still dress up, but I hand out candy instead of taking it; I’ve camped out at a friend’s house in a large housing development the last two years, and that was more fun to me.
posted by scoobnut on 10-26-2007 at 11:37 am
We are known as the Nerds Rope house. Kids LOVE us.
posted by Jill on 10-26-2007 at 11:40 am
Hmmmm. . . .
The Phat Phree just did a piece on this a couple of days ago, eerily familiar… I’m just sayin… Google “phat phree halloween ultimate eleven”
posted by John on 10-26-2007 at 11:48 am
I leave an empty plastic bowl outside the front door and then go to the local pub. Everyone is forced to assume some greedy kid took all the candy before they got there.
posted by dim wit on 10-26-2007 at 11:49 am
Trick or Treaters have kind of trickled off since most of the neighborhood kids have grown up and moved off (including me!). My parents are the type who hand out whole candy bars. But since barely anyone ever visits anymore, they end up giving all the extras to me.
It’s kind of like passive Trick or Treating, in its way.
I’ll make sure to pick up some treats to hand out at my apartment - I have gotten a few knocks in years past.
As a kid, my favorite house was always the one with the guy who would jump out of the bushes in a scary mask, then hand over a huge handful of candy! Classic!
posted by Katherine on 10-26-2007 at 11:52 am
Anyone have a good strategy if you’re not going to be home? We love Halloween, but this year we’ll be at a friend’s house for a “fancy Halloween dinner.” I always thought it was incredibly lame (and naive) to leave a bowl with a sign saying “take one,” but what else can you do if you’re not going to be home but don’t want to stiff the kids?
posted by Eric on 10-26-2007 at 11:52 am
I live in a house split into 3 apartments and my door is on the side down a little allley. My first year there I made a sign and put allt kinds of spooky lights and such but only 8 kids came! I was so jealous of my upstairs neighbor who has the front door. I could here a ton of kids up there. The last two before I shut down for the night got the “I don’t need 80 little chocolate bars around the house tempting me” treatment. I split the bowl between them and went inside to pout.
posted by Lisa on 10-26-2007 at 11:55 am
There was a talented, artistic woman in my neighborhood when I was a kid who would decorate her very big house on a hill as a haunted house. She’d dress as a witch, and open her door into a dark, spooky front hall with genuinely scary sounds in the background. We all knew her - she was the mother of schoolmates of ours - but when she’d tell us (every year) that we had to step inside and get our treats from a bowl behind the door, only the bravest of us could bring ourselves to do it. To me, THAT’S Halloween!
posted by Betsy on 10-26-2007 at 11:59 am
One more:
When my husband was a kid, there was a family that gave out full-sized chocolate bars with a coin taped to each one - anything from a penny to a half dollar. The trick was that they’d put them coin-side down on a glass table, and the kids could pick whichever one they wanted but were not allowed to crouch down to look up through the glass to find the biggest coin. The way my husband tells it, the kids (including him) would stand there for great lengths of time trying to somehow figure out which one to pick while overcoming the almost irresistible temptation to try to peek.
posted by Betsy on 10-26-2007 at 12:16 pm
In the last two cities I’ve lived in kids just don’t do door to door anymore. There are community events or neighborhood parties. Last year I was sitting at home and a mini van pulled into the driveway and a four year old knocked on the door. First kid in 7 years. I gave him a dollar… it was that or a pop tart.
posted by Trevor on 10-26-2007 at 12:16 pm
In my neighborhood, we had one mom who would let us choose between a handful of candy or 3 lightsticks (choice of colors!). There was also an old lady who painstakingly taped a nickel to a piece of orange paper.
Since so few children still trick-or-treat in my neighborhood, my mother gives out huge (and often multiple) handfuls of candy.
Once, though, my dad and I were attacked by a guy raking his leaves (at night??) calling us devil-worshipers and stuff. My dad got MAD and told him to let us have our fun and stay inside if he didn’t believe in the holiday. Even dressed as a hippie, my dad could scare the crap out of anyone bothering his little girl (who was a zebra).
posted by Lea on 10-26-2007 at 12:17 pm
I am the ‘The Monty Hall Mom’ except I am not a mom but a poor kid at heart who remembers loving the candy and never getting enough! So I use my hands and give out two large handfuls to each kid.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!
posted by InkdGemini on 10-26-2007 at 12:20 pm
This has been so fun to read!
Our current neighboorhood is quite barron on Halloween which is sad; we have some lovely neighbors. The upshot is our two boys are welcomed with enthusiasm and extreme candy generosity. They only need to visit about seven houses before their containers (one jack-o-lantern and one cauldron) are too heavy to continue.
Oddly, if you venture 2-6 blocks south of our house, there are swarms of trick-or-treaters - some even come on busses. A friend of ours in that area says she buys $100 worth of candy each year and always runs out before 8:00 pm. By contrast (and a somewhat lame suggestion for Eric in #18) last year I set out nine individual cups (the idea being “Please take one”)of Wonka candy (BottleCaps, Nerds, Laffy Taffy, SweetTarts,…) on our front steps while we took our boys trick-or-treating and to a party. When we came home several hours later, all nine cups were still as we left them.
posted by elizabutt on 10-26-2007 at 12:21 pm
I have no problem with teenagers trick or treating as long as they have a GOOD costume. We usually get a few teenagers that put some real time and effort into making awesome costumes, and I think that’s better than going out causing trouble. But the ones that aren’t dressed up are just jerks.
Last year we had so many kids we ran out of candy in the first hour. I want to be able to give candy to all of them, but I’m not made of money either, so I’ll probably try to get a bunch of bulk things like sweettarts and dum dums, which are good treats and I can afford to give more than one to each kid.
posted by Amber on 10-26-2007 at 12:23 pm
We used to enjoy getting trick or treaters… but in recent years it’s become kind of a drag.
One year we made candy apples… and got a lot of angry parents ticked off at us because we were giving away homemade treats instead of prepackaged (and hence safer) candy.
Nowadays if we get kids we give them a handful of candy each. The candy bowl stays well away from the door, we’ve had too many grab-n-runs. More often then not we get high schoolers or sad-sack 20-somethings dressed in street clothes saying, “Gimme candy”… at this we all mercilessly make fun of them until they go away. The ones that stick it out get one tootsie roll each.
I’m seriously considering doing what one of my friends did… he got so sick of trick or treaters that one year he handed out chick pamplets on the evils of halloween to every kid that came to his door. He claims not to have had a tricker treater since then.
I guess I’ve lost the halloween spirit…
posted by Jason! on 10-26-2007 at 12:27 pm
I grew up in a huge trailer park as a kid. Even people from the nearby towns would come to the park because you could hit so many homes in such a small area. It was not uncommon for me to collect three pillow cases of candy on Halloween. My parents always kept track of the number of kids, an average of 500 a year. Everyone of them got a treat bag with at least 5 assorted candies in it. Come around 10:30 when my parents and the neighbors started running out (it was usually older kids anyway at that point) I use to get so frightened because the trailer would get egged and soaped. It was like that every year.
posted by Rekkid on 10-26-2007 at 12:28 pm
One year we gave out little snack size packets of goldfish crackers, and the kids seemed to like them. I’m a big fan of handing out all the “good” candy early on, when the tiny kids are out, and saving the dum dums for later when the high school bums are out. I keep a box of Milk-Bones by the door too. Anyone who’s taller than I am, or has a beard gets a milk bone. If you’re old enough to shave, you’re old enough to buy your own candy. Now get off my lawn, or I’ll untie the dog.
posted by Maggie on 10-26-2007 at 12:29 pm
The coolest giveaway I’ve seen so far was when my then toddler (as Yoda - homemade, of course) went trick-or-treating for the first time. One man gave him candy, then snapped a Poloroid and gave it to us. Expensive, but cool. We still have the picture to laugh at eight years later.
posted by elizabutt on 10-26-2007 at 12:29 pm
theese here is a desi indian house… give somasa….
posted by fatboy on 10-26-2007 at 12:30 pm
I was a kid during the razorblades in the treats scare of the mid eighties.
There were three people in our neighborhood that would give out whole fruit, usually apples and we were never allowed to actually eat them because our parents were convinced that anyone who gave out fruit on Halloween was mentally unhinged.
Though I’m sure none of our neighbors were interested in harming little kids, fruit on Trick or Treat, just plain wrong in my opinion. So are Smarties or Fizzers for that matter. Those are cop out candies.
posted by Thomas on 10-26-2007 at 12:32 pm
Can’t fathom trick-or-treating as a teenager. It was so uncool after, like, fifth grade! One definitely did not want to get caught out by a classmate on door/candy duty. Too, too humiliating.
posted by Megan on 10-26-2007 at 12:33 pm
I’m pretty generous. I buy the good stuff: Peanut Butter cups, m&ms, mini milky ways, etc.
As long as I get a pleasant “trick or treat” out of everyone, you’ll get a nice handful. If you don’t say anything, just push your bag at me, you’ll get a look. And if you STILL don’t say “trick or treat,” I usually say something along the lines of, “Aren’t you supposed to say something first?”
I do a wee bit of costume chatter, mostly with the younger kids. I get it with the older kids–they don’t care what they’re wearing, they just want the loot.
posted by Jenny on 10-26-2007 at 12:34 pm
the best fun I had giving out treats was one year when the stream of kids had wound down, and I dumped the entire bowl of candy into one kids bag, which filled it to the top. He stood there for the longest time, looking down through his mask (perhaps taking in the spiritual experience), finally said “thanks” and skipped down the driveway.
posted by Nipper on 10-26-2007 at 12:38 pm
suggestion for if you’re not home:
instead of just a note that says “please take only one,” make a note that has a pair of eyes, and says “You think we’re not home…. But we’re watching you!” slightly creepy, but there have actually been studies that people are more honest when confronted by a pair of eyes (even just drawn) then when they think they’re truely alone.
It’d be interesting to compare, like with a neighbor or something. yes, I’m a dork.
I’ll probably get 3 kids total this year. I think I’ll do full size candy bars. I live in a small apartment complex full of seniors and weirdos. not much candy to be had. I still may carve a pumpkin, but just for myself.
posted by bcj on 10-26-2007 at 12:48 pm
John - wow, I hadn’t seen that Phat Phree thing. It is kind of eery, though they took it a lot further than I did.
posted by Higgins on 10-26-2007 at 12:51 pm
We have one neighbour that gives out comic books. Superhero genre to boys, Archie to girls. There’s always a line up at his place. I always wondered where he got them.
posted by Irene on 10-26-2007 at 1:01 pm
My grandmother and I have always fixed tiny “grab bags” for trick-or-treaters. We get together a night or two before Halloween, and make the bags while having coffee and a chat. We stuff each one with 3 or 4 pieces of “dime-store” candy, as she calls it, and one really nice piece of chocolate. The kids love to take the bags and be surprised with what they get! Having bags also lessens their temptation to take more than one, and it seems more like they’re getting a present!
posted by Kathryn on 10-26-2007 at 1:04 pm
I also had a dentist in my neighborhood who gave out toothbrushes every year.
posted by Brian on 10-26-2007 at 1:04 pm
I live in a small apartment complex of 16 units. Every year for the past ten years that I’ve lived there each tenant contributes candy into a giant pot and the apartment manager then divides up all the candy. She then makes up 100 individual bags with an assortment of candy that is handed out on Halloween.
This keeps kids from having to go door-to-door and takes away the worries of some kid falling down the stairs in the complex.
posted by Niekon on 10-26-2007 at 1:05 pm
Eric, if you have neighbors you get along with, here’s our tactic: If someone has other plans or needs to go out, he leaves his candy supply with a neighbor who’s also giving out candy. Then it’s like, “Here you go, Happy Halloween, and this one’s from my neighbor.”
We are lucky to always get hundreds of kids. I buy good candy, all the same kind, good-sized pieces but not full-size. (I have a discount source, 99 Cents Only stores.) I have it divided into several bowls inside the house and I make myself comfortable on the porch with a bowl at a time. I put the single piece of candy into each bag myself. If they ask for more, I tell them we have hundreds of kids, so I need to save it for the others. I love seeing the kids on Halloween. We’re almost the only people on our street with a real jack o’lantern.
posted by kittymama on 10-26-2007 at 1:08 pm
I grew up on the beach in Maine so my friends and I would start early and hit our old neighbors who had mile long driveways first (They always had home made stuff…which ROCKED) then my mom would drive a group of us into town.
Three years in a row one house would do an Adam Family routine and scare people who came to the door. When they moved everyone thought it was a part of their joke and would wait on the stairs for a long time before moving on hoping they were still there.
This year I’ll be passing out candy for my parents while they take my little brother and sister out (8 and 10). They live in the suberbs of WI.
Im planning on giving candy to the cute kids and creative teens and a blast from a super soaker filled with ice water to the idiot teenagers who dont dress up.
posted by Diane on 10-26-2007 at 1:12 pm
I only give candy to kids with costumes. if you are a teenager and wearing regular clothing, you have to impress me to get candy. surprisingly we haven’t been egged! this year we won’t be handing out candy because we are having a halloween party at work and I’d rather be there!
posted by sarakenobi on 10-26-2007 at 1:18 pm
I am the crazy overboard twenty-something in a neighborhood full of young families - I get somewhere in the hundreds of children at my door, and I love it!
I give out small handfuls to average costumes, big handfuls to fabulous costumes (or particularly polite/adorable children) and rolls of Smarties to teenagers - UNLESS said teenager is clearly escorting their younger sibling and not complaining about it - then they get extra.
I also keep a handful of King Size candy bars for children I know. Their parents just LOVE me for it. ;)
posted by Megan on 10-26-2007 at 1:19 pm
I have a real dilema this year, my entertainment room is in the basement far away from the from door, so I’m either going to be making laps up and down the stairs or I’ve gotta come up with another solution. It may not be an issue as I live in a very conservative neighborhood, and I expect most of the kids won’t go trick or treating as its an occult practice (sheesh).
I will however buy a bundle of good candy and I give a handfull to any brave soul who rings the doorbell… and who can wait for me to run up the stairs this year.
posted by Scott on 10-26-2007 at 1:32 pm
I always take extra care every year to put together treat bags that have stickers, pencils, toys and of course candy! I love when kids get excited at the prospect of getting a huge bag stuffed with goodies. I’ve even gone gender and age specific as to make sure the really young ones don’t get toys with small parts or choking hazards. I still remember the houses in my old neighborhood that took the time to make an impression when it came to holidays, I just hope that I can make those kkind of memories for the children in my new neighborhood.
posted by Talula Blue on 10-26-2007 at 1:34 pm
My strategy this year is the same every year since I got dogs that want to eat all strangers that ring the doorbell. I unhook the doorbell. Seems mean, but my dogs scare the crap out of most kids when I did try to give out candy once, and even when I turn out all the lights and the front porch light, those kids don’t seem to get it and ring the doorbell anyway…
posted by demilu on 10-26-2007 at 1:49 pm
I put out a big empty box and post the following sign on the door:
“HAPPY HALLOWEEN
Welcome Kiddies!
Leave all of your candy in the box below,
go quietly, and no one will get hurt.”
posted by Sorcerer Mickey on 10-26-2007 at 1:52 pm
Scott- an entire neighborhood full of non-Halloween?! Where do you live?
In college I lived in an old house that had been previously split into four different apartments. When I live there, we re-converted it back to one house. There were still 4+ doors to the house, and children would come to every one of them. We always needed tons of candy and multiple hander-outers.
It was amusing to open a different door to a kid you’d already given candy to and see the confused, yet “may I have more anyway” face.
posted by WarTiger on 10-26-2007 at 2:16 pm
I give out one full-sized candy bar per kid. If I know the costume, I’ll probably say something about it. If a kid doesn’t say “trick-or-treat”, I’ll usually stare at them for a minute then give them the candy anyway.
I don’t find it odd that teens trick-or-treat - I’m a teen myself. I’d trick-or-treat, but I’m a very picky eater and my parents usually eat most of my candy. So I just stay home and give out candy to everyone else. I do think the teens that don’t dress up are stupid, however.
posted by Misty on 10-26-2007 at 2:31 pm
Ugh, when my parents (well it was my stepfather’s idea) did give something out they gave out those awful Jack Chick tracts to the trick-or-treaters, one year without any candy at all and another at least with lollipops (the other years we were forced to go to church to watch a movie about the evils of Halloween.)
My husband and I have a tradition of going out to eat on Halloween, so we won’t actually be home; although, now that we have our own house this will probably be the last year that we don’t hand out candy. We handed out candy for my dad at his house once, and we both dressed up in kind of scary costumes and didn’t intentionally scare the kids, but that’s what usually happened. I think we only gave the kids one little candy bar or something, but that was because my dad only had enough for us to do that. I haven’t figured out what my strategy for next year will be yet.
posted by Kristy on 10-26-2007 at 2:38 pm
I’m giving away those awful Bananna Peanut Butter Cups Resses’ made in honor of Elvis. I had to find something that I wouldn’t eat up before the trick-or-treaters even had a chance!
I do really creepy/gruesome makeup, resolve to be all silent and spooky, and then end up feeling bad and gushing over the tyke’s get-ups. (Perhaps scarier than saying nothing?) I’m not a very good frightener.
And I give out about 3 peices to each kid. I’m about fairness, but I’m not stingy, either.
posted by frumpiefox on 10-26-2007 at 3:30 pm
I’m going as the Energizer Bunny. I always go with my friend who lives in an older neighborhood- way less traffic. Also, there’s always nifty candy.
posted by Mal on 10-26-2007 at 3:35 pm
Depends.
Small kids get the good stuff, such as full size candy. I love to go to the local dollar store and get the movelty stuff such as light up suckers, gross gummy stuff, and other candy toy combos.
Kids over 13 get a handful of candy.
Kids over 17 and adults, get a strange look and a “sorry out of candy” I always have a sign handy when I run out, so that I can have peace and quiet after it gets too late.
posted by Patrick B on 10-26-2007 at 3:36 pm
I know that this may not be a stategy exactly but I will never forget the Halloween where my father created a haunted house so incredibly frightening that noone would approach our house; kids or adults. That is, until late in the evening when a little girl of about 6 years old wearing an angel costume had the courage to walk all alone passed all the bloody dummies hanging from the trees, passed all the body parts strewn all over the sidewalk, and through all the spooky sound affects. When she climbed the steps and gave her “Trick or Treat”, my father dumped the entire bowl of candy into her bag. It must have been 10 pounds worth. The look on her face and that of her parents when she showed them what she had gotten was priceless.
posted by Rayzor on 10-26-2007 at 5:13 pm
I’m going out that night, so I’ll be leaving a big bowl of assorted hard candies (dumdums, blow pops, butterscotch ect) outside the door. no stupid rules, I live in an apartment and I doubt we’ll get many, so they can take as much as they want!
posted by moonablaze on 10-26-2007 at 5:35 pm
I grew up in a very small town. My father was a teacher at the only high school. He’d stay home and do candy duty while we terrorized the neighborhood. He’d scoop up a handful of gravel from the driveway and hide it in the bottom of the bowl of candy. Whenever someone high school age came by, they’d get a couple candies and a couple of rocks. If they were especially bad students, they’d get all rocks.
I have friends give out cold cans of generic soda to their visitors. A nice treat since it’s still usually pretty warm here in Florida.
posted by pam on 10-26-2007 at 5:48 pm
I think it’s a blast to hang out at the door handing out the candy. We usually get a lot of kids going door to door in our neighborhood, and our house is well known for being generous with the goodies. My eldest son is too old for trick or treating, so he’s planning on dressing up as a scarecrow, flopping himself on a bench in front of the porch, & jumping up to scare kids when they get close enough. He’s done that a couple of times already, and it’s almost worth setting up a video camera to catch some of the reactions!
Scott: I think you may be surprised how many of your neighbors will have their kiddies out & about on Halloween. We conservatives aren’t the sticks in mud you might imagine. ;0)
posted by Dave on 10-26-2007 at 6:36 pm
My husband loves the little kids in costumes on Halloween and sseing them at the door. I dress up as a witch but am a nice one :-) It’s my headless man on the front porch with spiders climbing out of his neck and a jack o lantern head held in his lap that the really young trick or treaters have a problem getting past to ring the bell.
To each kid we hand out a couple of pieces of mini candy bars, one mini pack of micro popcorn and a “Halloween” pencil. Kids love it and we get repeats. We’re generous to a fault as bribery to keep them from skate boarding on our property and playing in the ravine next to our house or as an apology for when we yell at them for doing so…
My favorite treat was a full sized Payday bar from an old lady in the neighborhood. Sometimes we’d change costumes and go back to get another one before the night was over but she usually turned the lights out early and we knew better than to ring the bell if the house was dark.
posted by T-belle on 10-26-2007 at 7:13 pm
Nobody comes to our house, despite the Jack-o-Lantern. It’s on a hill, and the houses are kinda far apart. Still, I buy candy. One year, I bought a big bag of Snickers bars. My dog ate every bit of it, wrappers and all! He somehow lived for several years afterward.
posted by Miss Cellania on 10-26-2007 at 11:17 pm
At 48 Im just a big kid I dress in costume decorate with inviting fall traditionals (pumpkins, haystacks & corn stalks) but my huge front lawn is covered w/ gouls and headstones w/ bodyparts coming out of the ground.
We love when cars slow down to look at our displays. On halloween we get every trick-or-treater in the area (we live in a rural area and I hope the gas prices wont deterr the parents) but year after year they come in droves. This year I am an old crone witch I sit on a chair in front of my house w/ a like-dummy sitting next to me When possible I stay absolutely still and then move just at the right time to give them that thrill. I do take it easy on the little ones. I go through approx. $100 worth of goodies and its worth every dime to see their faces…long live halloween!
posted by sandy gioia on 10-27-2007 at 7:23 am
Miss Celania, it was probably the wrappers that protected the dog. One year we were dogsitting a Shih Tzu in our home just before Halloween, and the smell of the little Almond Joys drove him right round the bend. I kept moving them to where I thought he couldn’t reach them, and then I’d find one in his bed, where he cherished it like a teddy bear.
So on the morning of November 1, I’m walking the doglet and he takes a poop that contains a whole candy bar still in its intact wrapper. I thanked him for disposing of it before I was to return him to his owner later that day.
And to answer Higgins’ other question: This year and last year, fun-size $100,000 Bars. Must give chocolate.
posted by kittymama on 10-27-2007 at 9:03 am
Did I grow up in the only place on EARTH that requires kids to tell jokes to get candy??
posted by becky on 10-27-2007 at 1:00 pm
I never get trick-or-treaters in my neighborhood, but one year I was visiting my parents on Halloween, and remembered that they get oodles of ‘em.
I dressed as the Tooth Fairy and sat myself on the stoop with a giant bowl of candy. (;
I got one group of teenagers in plainclothes, holding out pillowcases. They stared at me, and I stared back. They shook their pillowcases, and I smiled. One looked at the candy and at me, and I smiled. Another tried to reach for the candy, and I said, “Ah, can I help you gentlemen?”
Mr. Grabby said, “Can we have some candy?”
I replied that there was something I’d need to hear, first.
“Please, can we have some candy???” was the response.
I acknowledged that it was good to hear young men using their please and thank-yous, but as it was Halloween, there were some special words that I needed to hear.
They all looked at me, as if to ask, “You aren’t really going to make us say it, are you, lady?”
I just smiled.
Around this time, a queue had started forming at the base of the driveway, watching this little exchange. Suddenly, a wee tiny fairy princess burst through the gaggle of adolescents, and held out a plastic pumpkin and exclaimed, “Twikotweet!!!”
I gave her two handfuls of candy!
The boys looked at me, and I looked at them… and then they finally mumbled, “Trickortreat….”
I gave them each a Dum-Dum.
They turned and started to cut across the lawn. I yelled, “Don’t cut across the lawn - there’s a sinkhole in the middle from the sewer work!”
They cut across it, anyway, and one of them tripped and fell into the sinkhole.
All the parents at the end of the driveway laughed at them.
posted by Mel on 10-27-2007 at 1:41 pm
Jason! said: “I’m seriously considering doing what one of my friends did… he got so sick of trick or treaters that one year he handed out chick pamplets on the evils of halloween to every kid that came to his door.”
Last year, two middle-aged women came to my door, grabbed fistfuls of candy from my bowl and then handed me that same Chick tract on how Halloween is evil. As they walked away, I shouted after them that they certainly weren’t shy about stuffing themselves with the Devil’s candy while prostelytizing.
posted by bibli0phile on 10-28-2007 at 9:45 am
THANK YOU, BECKY (#64)!! I have read every single post, all of which are great by the way, but until yours have not read a single thing about having kids do a “trick” or tell a joke to get candy!! Throughout my many years of T.O.T.-ing, I was almost always asked for a “trick” and I came prepared, usually with a lame joke about Dracula or ghosts or something. When I crossed over from T.O.T.-er to candy-hander-outer, I expected the same; I would hear “Trick or treat?” from some adorable kid, and would say, “Well, what’s your trick?”. I was shocked to find out that at least 50% of the time, if not more, the kid had NO IDEA what I was talking about! They would look at me with a blank expression, not knowing what to do! I would give them a small handful of candy anyways, but would shoot the parent/guardian a semi-dirty look, as if to say, “For shame! Don’t you know that a trick/joke is part of the deal of this holiday?” I will say that some kids are still hip to this notion, and come prepared with some adorable jokes. And then, we have the plain-clothes teens….sigh….if they don’t have a joke or SOMETHING to impress me, they’ll get maybe one lousy treat, but only as anti-egging insurance….
posted by Erin S. on 10-28-2007 at 2:44 pm
it’s sad to hear how negative everyone is about older trick-or-treaters. if teenagers wear a good costume and say “trick-or-treat” and are enthusiastic, what’s wrong with them trick-or-treating? i went out every year until i graduated high school and never, not even once got hassled for being too old. i love halloween. it’s my favourite holiday. not all teenagers are lazy slackers looking for free candy.
posted by oldblackhen on 10-28-2007 at 5:07 pm
I live in a somewhat rural area and we have a long driveway, so if we do get any trick-or-treaters (most is one a year, and always kids we know), they generally will get the entire bag because we know we won’t see any more. Also, the local tavern is a great place for kids to get lots of candy.
posted by Katie B. on 10-28-2007 at 6:19 pm
We normal give a few pieces per kid, or let them choose a few. We also seem to get way more candy than the number of kids that visit. By the time 9:00 rolls around we’re normal ready to settle into a movie. The last kid that comes gets whatever is left. Even if it’s half of what we bought! The most interesting things that I got were: A full size candy bar, a pencil, and a 12oz. soda of my choosing. They seemed to have about 30 cases of soda!
posted by Emily on 10-28-2007 at 6:55 pm
I have a very meticulous manner of handing out candy that I have dubbed the “Judge Dredd Method”. It is named such because, when it comes to halloween candy, I AM THE LAW!
You get three kinds of candy:
Larger candies like Snickers, Reeces Cups, Skittles
Mid sized candies like small Nestle Crunch bars and little Twix
and small, abysmal candies like generic bubble gum or diabetic sugar-free lollipops with those ring-shaped sticks.
Then what you do is you decide who has good, mediocre or terrible/non-existant costumes or bad attitudes.
For example:
a little kid dressed like a spider - that’s fine, you get a good candy
a 10 year old dressed up in a generic villain-from-scream costume - you get a smaller-sized twix.
a 17 year old dressed in their street clothes frowning at you to give them candy - enjoy your diabetic lollipop.
posted by Christian on 10-29-2007 at 7:39 am
I live in a neiborhood with few children but their are some around. This year we will be giving out cans of soda again probably pepsi. We like this because it makes the children work a little and maybe burn a few calories. Then they may be more deserving of the sugars they desire. I do this for another reason, I alway visited a home in my parents neihborhood that still does this and I always thought that it was funny. Plus you get oten get thirsty out walking around.
posted by Aric on 10-29-2007 at 10:51 am
Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. The first few years after we bought our house, I sat by the door with a bowl of candy desperately waiting for kids to arrive. I felt like Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin, as no kids came.
Unfortunately I was one of only two houses that faced a busy street in between two seperate subdivisions that the kids rarely came out of. So I started decorating my house and adding 1500 wats of halogen lights shining up into the tres like a search light to attract them from a distance.
Finally I got a group of kids and their parents who had seen the lights and decided to investigate. Wheeeee!
I handed each kid a huge 3/4 pound candy bar and told them to remember me and to to tell anyone they saw on the streets about me. It worked and I got a couple more groups that year.
Nowdays the front of my house is a big cemetary full of tombstones and crosses. I still use the halogen lights, and a couple big giant propane powered torches to lure the kids in, and a sign goes out in front of my house that says - don’t miss us on Halloween.
That gets my 12-15 wandering kids each year + the kids of friends and relatives who know I still I sit by the door with my stack of giant candy bars, hoping more kids show up.
Fernando
posted by Fernando on 10-29-2007 at 11:27 am
In St. Louis, trick or treaters are supposed to tell a joke before getting treats. This really confused me when I first moved her. Why are these kids telling me a joke… Glad I didn’t have to work for my candy when I was a kid.
I think Trick or Treating has an age limit, unless a teen is chaperoning younger siblings. Chaperones deserve extra candy.
posted by Stephanie on 10-31-2007 at 1:01 pm
We give out goody bags b/c of greedy adults. I don’t mind adults or teens trick or treating, but a few years ago, a greedy grandmother (I’m not kidding) burnt me with her cigarette shoving her hand in the bowl. She took half the bowl and her grandkids only got a piece each. So we started making goody bags with candy, rings, and toys. Now, I can give out a bag to everyone (no age limit) and not have to worry about cigarettes or rude adults. I do have 2 different types of bags, though. Good bags for kids and adults with costumes and lousy candy for adults and teens that just grabbed a Walmart bag and came up to my door in street clothes. We had 40 people, mostly kids this year.
posted by Stacy on 11-2-2007 at 3:55 pm
Long before “Pirates of the Carribbean” came out, we would decorate the house as a pirate ship, dress up as pirates, and hand out “treasure” - bead necklaces, toy rings, gold-foil wrapped chocolate coins, toy cars, whistles, etc.
One year, a group of 10-12 year olds came by and you’d have thought we were giving out real treasure from their reactions. As they left, one of the younger boys hung back, and (once his friends were out of earshot) shyly asked if he could have a ring for his girlfriend. Delightful!
posted by Desert Grrl on 11-6-2007 at 9:02 am