Halloween is one of the most fun nights of the year, but modern-day trick-or-treating just isn’t what it used to be. There was a time when packs of kids disappeared into the neighborhood wearing homemade costumes. Kids would venture off on their own, with very little adult supervision. Nobody walked around in broad daylight; kids waited for dusk and stayed out well past dark. You simply hit as many houses as you possibly could and came home when your candy sack was full to the brim. With all the changes these days, there are plenty of things we miss about old-school Halloween nights.
The Novelty of Candy
Part of what made old-school trick-or-treating so exciting was that candy was a rare commodity. While candy is much more available to kids today, this wasn’t always the case back in the day. We’re not saying Halloween was the only time a kid could get their hands on sweets, but it was definitely one of the few special candy days. Decades ago, getting a giant pile of candy all in one night was a huge deal. Even if you weren’t into the costumes and general hubbub of Halloween, you were certainly down for the sugar overload. Kids could collect more candy in one evening than they’d see the entire rest of the year. You carefully sorted your haul, traded for your favorites, and rationed. Really disciplined children sometimes managed to make it last for weeks.
Using a Pillowcase for Your Candy
Plastic pumpkin buckets were cute, but serious trick-or-treaters knew they weren’t going to cut it. If you planned on really taking advantage of free candy (and who didn’t), a deep pillowcase was the way to go. It could hold an almost ridiculous amount of candy, and it was always comfortable to hold. There was also something incredibly satisfying about watching it get heavier as the night went on. Who needed personalized candy buckets or elaborate accessories when an everyday household item worked 10 times better? You just stole a pillowcase from the linen closet and headed out.
Basic Costumes
Store-bought Halloween costumes have existed for generations, but over time they have gotten more detailed, more specific, and more expensive. Cheap, basic costumes used to be everywhere, and most of them were even homemade. Piecing a costume together from basic items was part of the fun. Kids wore old sheets with eyeholes cut into them, their parents’ clothes, cardboard boxes, face paint, and whatever else could be transformed into something cool. Parents weren’t trying to create an “Instagram worthy” costume and they certainly weren’t spending an entire paycheck on one night. The costumes were weird, inexpensive, and occasionally stapled together.
Trick-or-Treating After Dark
There’s something spooky about wandering through a barely lit neighborhood at night but, in many places, trick-or-treating in actual darkness is now a thing of the past. In many neighborhoods today, kids make the rounds well before dusk while the sun is still shining brightly. Gone completely is the eerie atmosphere. Halloween used to really get going once night fell. Porch lights glowed, jack-o’-lanterns flickered, and every corner was a bit more mysterious. Even familiar streets felt slightly haunted in the dark. Let’s face it, Halloween was simply made to be enjoyed in the dark.
Running Around with a Pack of Neighborhood Kids
Old-school trick-or-treating felt like the entire neighborhood was handed to the children for one night. Instead of moms running the show, kids were largely in charge of this holiday. Groups of children ran from house to house, sometimes with parents walking far behind and sometimes with no adults at all. Parents may have been slightly concerned about child-snatching, but there wasn’t the modern-day expectation that an adult needed to go with them to every single house. As far as adults were concerned, kids would be alright if they stayed in a pack. There was always somebody who led the gang with incredible enthusiasm and insisted on walking three more blocks. Everyone dumped out their sacks and did a little trading afterwards. Trick or treating wasn’t a calm event organized by mom; it was one big, chaotic adventure.
Houses That Actually Tried to Scare You
Many suburban homeowners today are careful about not to be too spooky. No one wants to seriously frighten a child. But back in the day, plenty of people were perfectly happy to scare the living daylights out of whoever walked onto their porch, little ones included. These homeowners knew that spooks were half the fun. They went beyond handing out candy, focusing on fake cobwebs and rubber masks. They hid behind bushes, dressed like monsters, or sat really still on the porch with a huge bowl full of candy until an unsuspecting kid got too close. Some kids were all about these jump scares, while there were always the ones who wanted to skip certain houses. Occasionally, a house was scary enough that younger kids completely refused to approach it. No parents were complaining; it was simply part of the holiday.
The Legendary Candy Houses
Every neighborhood had rumors about one house that gave away the best candy. Sometimes it was some hard-to-find candy, but more often it was about size. These legendary houses weren’t handing out fun-size bars or ridiculously tiny packets of candy corn; they were offering full-size candy bars! Once word spread, kids would easily walk several blocks out of their way to find the good stuff. Being handed a full-size Snickers or Hershey bar was like winning the Halloween lottery. It was even better when you discovered this generous household yourself.
Staying Out Until Whenever
Old-school trick-or-treating wasn’t from the exact hours of 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. It really didn’t have an official ending time. You generally headed home because your pillowcase was full, your feet hurt, houses were turning off their porch lights, or your parents were finally calling for you. There was always someone trying to talk their buddies into covering one more street before calling it a night. Others even tried to hit especially good houses a second time, hoping they wouldn’t be remembered. Then came the best part: dumping your stash onto the living room floor and assessing your inventory. You then proceeded to eat more sugar than any human being needed. Halloween night only ended after you had gotten absolutely everything you could out of it.