Are you are celebrating Halloween? I sure hope the weather cooperates so everyone can have a pleasant, fun time trick or treating. It might be raining here this evening, so I don’t know if many kids will stop by.
But I’m ready.
Because I ran out of treats last year, I bought a lot more for this Halloween.
Kiddos better come as I don’t need all that candy for myself.
I’d eat the Snickers and KitKat bars, but the candy corn would have to go to someone else. Did you know the candy was once called Chicken Feed? I actually remember when it was and know why. Can you guess? You have three tries before I tell you.
Go!
In the meantime, here’s another interesting fact about the holiday that answers the question as to why we pass out candy and other goodies.
The more modern holiday has it’s roots back in the first century when the ancient Celts celebrated the start of the Celtic new year with a festival. Samhainon took place on October 31; a time when the wall between the spirit plane and the living world was thought to be at its weakest.
People carried treats in their pockets, or bags, as a form of protection against unfriendly spirits. They believed that danger could be avoided by bribing any ghouls who happened to be lurking nearby.
Whether ghouls can be bribed to behave is a matter for debate, but historically, getting candy on Halloween has kept many a young prankster in line.
Pranks then and now
When I was a kid, soaping windows was a common prank, as was decorating a house with toilet paper streamers. Some kids tossed eggs at a house, but eggs were dear at our house so my mother didn’t allow that practice.
Years ago in rural areas, kids tipped over outhouses, and sometimes a gullible little brother was talked into going to Farmer Bill’s pasture to tip over his cows. Poor kid didn’t know that it’s a myth that cows sleep standing up. If Farmer Bill’s cows were ready for a nap, they were probably already lying down.
Thankfully, the tricky aspect of “trick or treat” has pretty much gone away.
According to an article in The Smithsonian by Lesley Bannatyne, Halloween in early 19th-century America was a night for pranks, tricks, illusions, and anarchy. It was all in good fun, mostly, but then, over time, it wasn’t. By the turn of the 20th century, holiday mischief was seen less as a right of passage for kids and more as vandalism and cruelty. That’s when communities started promoting, parades, parties, and neighborhood trick and treating, minus the trick.
Decorating for Halloween
Some people go all out and it’s fun to see the ghosts and pumpkins adorning neighborhood yards. Mine is minimal. Just Prissy my pumpkin girl waiting on the bench to say hello to kids tonight.
However other people take the decorating to extreme as illustrated in this fun essay from my friend Slim Randles about one of the guys who gather at the Mule Barn Truck Stop to swap stories.
Enjoy!
To look at Herb Collins, you wouldn’t think he was like that. A nicer, kinder guy you never met. But for one evening each year … one little slice of time … he’s downright diabolical.
Every small town has one, of course. There is always that one person who takes Halloween to its extremes of horror and fantasy.
We have Herb.
Everyone knows about his penchant for decoration. Ever since he retired, his yard and house has celebrated every holiday from Christmas to Amelia Earhart’s wedding anniversary with great festoonation and an increase in the electrical bill from all the lights.
However, on Halloween, Herb goes plumb nuts.
It’s a good thing heart trouble is rare for the age group who go trick or treating, because Herb’s yard is a veritable booby trap of pouncing ghosts, swooping bats that swing out of the trees, loud sound effects as witches pop straight out of the lawn in front of children, and porch-side demons that shriek and leap just as the kid reaches what he considers is the safety of Herb’s front porch.
It’s a running of the gauntlet that only the bravest of the brave attempt.
Herb says he hasn’t had a four-year-old make it to the front door yet. But for the older kids, this is an annual challenge.
One by one they leave the safety of the sidewalk to do a broken-field run, often with screaming, until they hit the safety of the doorbell. Once that doorbell rings, they know, it’s all over but the candy.
Ah, the candy!
As if to make up for all the screaming and terror, Herb gives out dollar candy bars. Some kids have been known to carry them around for several days to show off before eating them.
“It gives the little guys something to shoot for,” Herb says, laughing. “And the big guys get a different dose of demons every year so they aren’t sure what to expect.”
And Herb?
“I just have a lot of fun.”
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Brought to you by Slim’s book The Fly Fisherman’s Bucket List that features 120 “reel” great places to fish in America before you kick it.
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That’s all from me for today, folks. I wish everyone a fun, safe Halloween and may your treat bag have lots of goodies.
By the way, if you give up about why Candy Corn used to be called Chicken Feed, here’s the answer. There was a time when people were well aware that chickens were fed corn as a staple in their diet, and this candy looks a lot like kernels of corn with a bit of embellishment.