[skippy]

i've noticed a steep decline in trick or treaters in the last few years. last year i got none. (then again it was halloween right after 9/11 in nyc...) this year, i hear the door bell, and there's a hoard of tikes at the door. i went through an entire bag of candy in a matter of seconds... strangely, it seems that i saw a lot more people are out on the streets this halloween than in recent years.

 

[Magicthyse]

I've hidden the only sweets I have in the house for this week as my "ohtheyresosweetwehavetogivethemsomething" GF will undoubtedly hand over the hand-baked scottish chocolate chip biscuits or the belgian chocolates to the tykes and next year they'll lay siege to my house.

Noone is having my biscuits, you hear? Noone!!!! Eheheheheheheheheheheheheheheh!!!!! (manic laughter, strokes dramatic pose)

 

[HappymaN]

We don't do Halloween over here... What is it all about anyway? What are you guys celebrating?

 

[gaineso]

I know there were a lot more last year than this year. Just about ran out of candy last year.

This year, SO and I are lookin' at maybe having to buy new clothes if we eat what's left. There just weren'y many


The neighborhood is fairly new, started about 6 or 7 years ago and is about a year from build-out. There are a bunch of kids. Don't know.

 

[mbriant]

Quote:

We don't do Halloween over here... What is it all about anyway? What are you guys celebrating?

Don't quote me on this, but I believe Halloween has it's roots in Celtic religion. It was originally some sort of harvest celebration that morphed into "Hallowed Eve".....something to do with keeping evil pacified and at bay. I'm not exactly sure how the costume thing grew out of it.

In Canada's most eastern province, Newfoundland, they apparently celebrate in a similar yet different fashion. Adults dress in disguise and visit neighbours for drink and food. They stay and party at each home until their identity is discovered, then move on to the next home. It has it's own name, but it too I forget.

Modern Halloween however consists of children dressing in costumes, often scary costumes like witches, ghosts, skeletons, monsters etc. and going door to door receiving candies from neighbours. Throwing eggs and minor vandalism are also associated with it.

It's weird, but kids get a kick out of it.

 

[Budgie]

Yup, Halloween is several festivals from different cultures kinda morphed into one evening. It is pretty weird, as holidays go.

 

[mbriant]

These sites give a historical background of Halloween.

http://www.tartans.com/halloween.html

http://wilstar.com/holidays/hallown.htm

It appears that the Irish brought the custom to North America during their mass, potato famine migration. The province of Newfoundland was primarily settled by Irish fishermen, and today's distinctive "Newfie" accent, is very close to Gaelic or Irish. Therefore, the Newfoundland version of Halloween or "Souling" is likely closest to the original.

Souling


A soul, a soul, a soul-cake.
Please, good missus, a soul-cake.
An apple, a pear, a plum or a cherry,
Or any good thing to make us merry ...

On 2 November, All Souls Day, men dressed in disguise, (Guisers) and also children, would walk from village to village begging for 'soul cakes', made out of square pieces of bread with currants or sometimes oatcakes. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could expedite a soul's passage to heaven.

It has been suggested that in pre-Christian times, soul cakes were baked in order to chose a sacrificial victim to ensure good crops. One soul cake was blackened on the fire and the person who chose that one was ritually killed.

The practice of souling crossed over to the USA and Canada, where it has been cited as one of the precursors of Halloween.

 

[Tuberoller]

In my hood where the average price of a house is approaching a million bucks most of these yuppie scum are D.I.N.K.S. (Double Income No KidS) and there are very few children around.When they see my kids they almost seem shocked.My 8 year old son went out with a few friends near his school and he said most of the people there didn't even have candy.I do think that is a bad thing.I love kids and can't imagine not have a bunch a screamin' little monsters running around.Most of the people in my area are so strapped trying to pay for these houses and buy new SUVs, they just can't afford kids or the time it takes to bring them up right.We had a huge bowl of candy as well and my wife says that fewer than ten kids came by.This whole lack of families in our area deal has been the subject of great debate.The people who don't have kids are much less tolerant and friendly towards those who do and vice versa.

 

[LobsterSan]

tuberoller: damn the yuppies. i hate 'em. though i fear i will become one for a period of about 5 years. i wouldn't live in a neighborhood community though -- i'd wanna be thriving in the midst of the action.



While I didn't get any kiddie-monsters last night, I'm glad that some people did. I only saw one group of kids out last night (and they looked a bit older, some not even costumed... guess they were more out for tricking... ehh... hehe, not in *that* way :/ )

Interesting history of halloween stuff. it is kind of a strange tradition that we have... in modern times i doubt it would have just simply arisen. i feel like the general social clime tends away from supernatural stuff, and leans more towards a scientific rationalistic approach to things. thanks mbriant.

 

[Audio Redneck]

Quote:

Originally posted by mbriant It appears that the Irish brought the custom to North America during their mass migration because of the potato famine. The province of Newfoundland was primarily settled by Irish fishermen, and today's distinctive "Newfie" accent, is very close to Gaelic or Irish. Therefore, the Newfoundland version of Halloween or "Souling" is likely closest to the original. Souling A soul, a soul, a soul-cake. Please, good missus, a soul-cake. An apple, a pear, a plum or a cherry, Or any good thing to make us merry ...

I love being of Scotch-Irish descent! I don't drink enough to be considered a drinker (but too much to say I don't), but I feel we have contributed some of the best drinking songs and general "anybody can sing along" songs of any culture!

Tuberoller: as far as I'm concerned, owning an SUV should require a two kid minimum (grandkids can be counted)

Well, I was part of an organized event. My church has a Fall Festival each year and we figure we hosted about 500 kids (plus the accompaning adults for about 800 total) last night. FREE admission, 5 cops in plain clothes, free hot dogs-chili-n-cokes, 30min puppet show, 15+ game booths, horse back riding, MoonWalk, cake 'n cookie walks, coke toss, and each kid I saw walked away with about 2+ lbs of candy.

 

[Steven Vujovic]

I think the safety issue is the real culprit here, especially if you're out trick or treating after dark when more people are home to give out candy. Also, I can't remember having my candy x-rayed when I was a kid to see if it was safe to eat.

 

[andrzejpw]

I was out on halloween fencing, but my mom said we didnt' get too many kids. I remember, back in the day(um, yeah, that's 8 years ago?

) When I went out, and there would be hordes of us. This was in the inner city, btw. Now, I live in the suburbs, and it seems like there are less and less kids each year. :-/

 

[RickG]

Quote:

Originally posted by Steven Vujovic I think the safety issue is the real culprit here, especially if you're out trick or treating after dark when more people are home to give out candy. Also, I can't remember having my candy x-rayed when I was a kid to see if it was safe to eat.

Exactly, Steven.

 

[mbriant]

There's no doubt that some neighborhoods are rougher than they once were, but I've often wondered if the paranoia of today has been fuelled by the media.

Today's children are more coddled than children of my day. And according to my parents, I was more coddled than children of their day.

When I was a kid, nobody wore a helmet while bike riding. My first two years of organized hockey were spent without a helmet or a mouth guard ( and I have the caps to prove it ). Teachers would strap unruly kids at will whereas today they can be sued for verbal abuse.

Today there's an endless stream of cars picking up kids from school whereas I don't remember any of my classmates getting a ride to school.

I'm sure there were murderers, perverts, gangs and tough neighborhoods back then, but if you didn't actually experience any trouble, you'd rarely hear about it and therefore rarely think about it.

Now days the media is so fast and world-wide, and looking for sensational news that every incident, even in a town thousands of miles away, is put in front of us like it happened next door, making us all a little more afraid. I didn't hear of any bad halloween incidents occuring this year and yet people feel the need to X-ray candy. One incident of a razor bladed apple occuring in 1977, like an urban legend, still haunts people today.

Things are indeed scarier than they were in the 60's but I think much of the worry today comes from media induced paranoia and modern, more sensitive parents.

 

[RickG]

I wish it was just the media. Crime is way out of hand on the streets and it has been for years. I guess we could just continue to pretend...

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/cvictgen.htm