We gave out Hershey bars this year..they call them "fun size". I call them microscopic in comparison to the full sized candy bars I lusted after during my days as a trick or treater.
You have got to know that my parents rarely, if ever, bought us candy during the year. Halloween was the one time of year where you could gorf yourself...and gorf I did.
Once I got past the "fun" of Halloween as little kid , I realized that the trick or treating had to be taken very seriously. Route planning and asset utilization were key. First rule: go with no more than one other person...alone was even better. Any group larger than two slowed you down. Secondly, you had to carefully choose what streets you would hit. A neighborhood like the one I live in now was a terrible choice, as the houses are way too far apart.
Hollywood Avenue was about the most perfect place to go . On one side of the street there were duplexes.
The strategy was to ring both doorbells at once. Any delay in answering was met by me moving on to the next house. Time was your biggest enemy. The take on Hollywood Avenue was so prolific, that we would switch masks and go to each house again.
You needed the right bag too. The best one we had was a green canvas bag with handles, that stood up to the weight and the weather. Bullies could not rip it apart either. We would plan our route so that as the bag filled, we would go home to empty out the bag, swallow supper whole, and quench our thirst.
My mother was part of the business that night too.You would empty your bag onto the kitchen table where the night's loot would be segregated into bowls by distinct categories: chocolate, lolly pops, licorice, gum, coins, non chocolate crap like Mike and Ike's, candy corn,small wrapped candies, and "other". Candy corn was put back into those little bags you got and given out to whoever came to our house, as we all hated it. All candy collected by my younger brother was pooled.
You can't believe how much candy I would collect...the bowls had to be supplemented with backup bowls.
One year, I came home close to like 8:30, really tired, ready to call it a night, but my older brother severely coaxed me into going down one more street. I remember people's snarky comments about how late it was...I mean no one else was out there when we finished at 9 PM.
The days that followed could only be described as an orgy of candy eating. By Thanksgiving, it was all gone!
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I know I am in the minority on this one. But consider all the positives:
After all, there are maybe 5 songs about Thanksgiving, and I'll bet you can't sing more than one of them . (if you're lucky!)
