Treat or Tricked?

Photo Credit: Christina Rausch

Whatever happened to the Halloween that I knew and loved?  As a kid Halloween was the holiday that I’m most looked forward to, more than any other in our calendar year. This was the opportunity to dress up as your favorite hero, favorite villain or maybe just a sheet with 2 holes in it and call yourself a ghost or maybe some boxes with knobs drawn on them which made you a robot!

I so looked forward to this holiday because once you were dressed up as your favorite character, you were free to roam the neighborhood and beg for treats. Now don’t get me wrong, Christmas was a great holiday, opening presents and drinking eggnog (which in later life was laced with rum) but it simply did not have the adventurous spirit of trick or treating!  It must also be noted that I grew up in the 1970’s and realize that a lot has changed.

Now, I am not going to get into the PC arguments that have become prevalent in the media, we have enough talking heads for that.  But there are some things that have taken the fun out of Halloween: (A) the peer pressure to buy the most expensive costume, (B) fewer kids participate in the traditional Halloween festivities, (C) The home cooked creative treats have been replaced by corporate candy, (D) You must hire an FX team to decorate your yard for Halloween to outdo the neighbors.

Costumes used to be cheap or easy to make (I mentioned this earlier), the dime store (really dating myself here) used to carry every hero, celeb or villain for less than a dollar.  These costumes simply draped over your body and came with a plastic mask that had a rubber band on it—–easy peasy!  Those costumes, however, did not come without a certain amount of risk.  They were highly flammable, and you never got near an open flame which generally included your mother, father and uncle Joe, all of whom constantly had a lit Marlboro in their mouth. Today, you must spend tons of money on costumes as peer pressure drives you to have the best one.

In the last few decades we have seen Halloween take on a different look.  Whether it is distrust or just out-and-out fear, Halloween has seen its trick or treat numbers diminish.  This change is not totally unjustified, events such as razor blades or pills inserted into candy brought about a whole new level of trepidation regarding this holiday.  So now, “trick or treating” is done in a church parking lot out of the trunk of a car (trunk or treating).

Treats have changed as well, gone are the days of dear old Mrs. Smith, who always had homemade brownies, popcorn balls or Carmel apples to give out.  Today, we have a handful of corporations who control the treat world!  Of course, there was packaged candy in my day, but it was some much more creative, like the straws with flavored powder or the syrup filled edible wax.  Now, there are candy bars cut into small pieces and re-wrapped, you don’t even get a whole candy bar any more for cripes sake!

Then there is the situation with Halloween decorations, I remember when we were kids, there were pumpkins on the front porch with a candle in them.  That, coupled with the front porch light being lit, meant the place was open for business!  Today, there are homes that have more techno crap in them than a Hollywood FX set.  When did my neighbors become “Tim the Tool-Man Taylor”, each one striving to outshine the other?  From the robotic werewolf and vampires to flying gargoyles, cool for sure, but seriously folks, get a life!

So, what does all of this have to do with a grumpy customer?  Well, I believe this holiday, more than any other used to be the one you could do on the cheap.  Christmas was an easy mark for commercialism because of the redefinition of the meaning of gifts.  Halloween was the only holiday where you could fill your pillow case and imagination with a seemingly endless supply of goodies.  Today, like everything else, Halloween is owned by corporations and pop culture.  Happy Halloween everybody!

Talk to Ya Later!

The Grumpy Old Fart Customer @ 2018 All Rights Reserved