When you were a child: Was it a tradition to get dressed up at Hallowe'en and go trick-or-treating?

Question

Did you make your own costumes or were they shop bought.

What treats did you get?

What tricks did you play?

Answer 1

It was indeed a tradition.

Costumes?

Store bought costumes were available, but we kind of felt sorry for the kids who ended up with them.They were cheesy looking things made of thin fabric, plastic, or even crepe paper, which disintegrated if it rained. In most households around here though,Moms and Dads and the kids would brainstorm and find some stuff around the house to make a costume.

ie;boxes painted and an empty ice cream tub (scrounged from the local variety store) painted silver, and you were a robot. or...Mom's old cocktail dress and a lace table cloth, a paper fan, and you become.a Spanish Senorita. If no ideas at all at home, the traditional bed sheet with eye holes for a ghost, or coming as a clown or hobo were common costumes.

Some Moms even had the time to sew up a costume. There were patterns for them available and sewing machines in most homes.



Treats?

There were candy apples(much sought after),even rumors of caramel apples(but I never obtained one), wrapped candies, peanuts, popcorn balls, apples, licorice(if you were lucky) and gum.

Tricks? Not many of those played. Did see a toilet papered tree once.

Answer 2

Trick-or-treat has only become popular here in the UK in the recent years, from America.



In Scotland, when I was young, we went 'guising'. Grown ups did not get involved but us children would get dressed up (always home made stuff with maybe a shop bought face mask). We would go round the neighbourhood, knocking on the doors and asking, ' Do you want any guisers?' If they said yes, you were invited into the house and you did a party piece - sing a song, a funny poem or some jokes. Then they gave you sweets or money. The money was usually only a penny, tuppence or thrupence (before decimalisation).



Some children also built a guy - supposed to be Guy Fawkes. This was something like a scarecrow stuffed with straw and wheeled about in a barrow and when you met anyone you asked, 'Penny for the guy?' and they gave you a penny.



I still think that was far better than this American nonsense where you just give sweets etc and they don't do anything for it.

Answer 3

We sure did and we made most of ours costumes, back then I was a ghost or a witch and as I got older did some really weird makeup on my face, The treat are about the same nowadays but I did get some homemade stuff like cookies and popcorn balls and brownies and sometimes some candy apples but that was a mess, we don't get those anymore dues people trying to poison or kill someone..I didn't play any tricks but I got tricks on me though..=)

Answer 4

No, in southern England back then (before World War Two), children knew nothing of Hallow e'en and anyway were too busy begging "pennies for the Guy." One made an effigy of Guy Fawkes, the first of the plotters to be caught in the 1605 plot to blow up the Palace of Westminster when the king there for the annual opening of Parliament. For the two weeks or so before November 5th, one paraded this effigy on a small cart or discarded perambulator around the streets, in the hope of being given enough money to buy fireworks. Then early in the evening of "Guy Fawkes' Day," one would like a fire of whatever inflammables one could beg, borrow, or steal, on some convenient waste ground, put the effigy on top of the pile, and dance around letting off fireworks until one's supply ran out. Often parents would participate, as much in the interests of safety as to join in the fun.

Over the years the popularity of this 400 year old celebration has declined, mostly through adult and governmental concern with health and safety, although many local town councils usually now organise celebrations in public parks, so ambulances and afire-enginee or two can be kept readily on hand. Enthusiasts formulticulturalismm do their best to play down the whole business: Guy Fawkes and his friends had wanted a Roman Catholic restoration, thinking that if only they could kill the king and all members of Parliament at one fell swoop, they could put a Catholic claimant on the throne and kill off all the Protestants. To celebrate the defeat of this attempt is now seen as being anti-Catholic.

Answer 5

Yes, it was a tradition.

Most of the kids in my neighborhood made their own costumes and they were mostly a white sheet with holes for the eyes, or charcoal to make one look like a pirate, or just a cowboy hat. About the only items available in the stores, as I recall, were cheap, thin plastic masks. Nothing like the selection of today.

Treats -- popcorn balls, homemade cookies, apples, tangerines, very little store bought candy except for the individually wrapped little caramel squares.

Tricks -- soaping up car windows for the most part. If we had any "lady finger" firecrackers left over from the Fourth of July we would set those off in someones yard.

Answer 6

Up north, like north of say, Anchorage, Alaska, and a bit to the west, it was common sense to dress warmly first.

Like in a warm arctic proof parka, over pants and skin boots plus a fur hat and mitts.Then it was bone"sun glasses" or a toy bow and arrow or spear for the boys and the best outer wear for the gals.



Some of the older kids carried real weapons and some other necessary stuff like lanterns or flashlights, metal (emergency) whistles, sticks and pots or pans to make noise with.

No street lights in the villages some 50 plus years ago. And polar bears possibly wandering about in the night wherever they may be.

In the dark. On the scariest night of the year.!

Answer 7

Yes it was tradition and we did go out on Halloween. We received a lot of candy of all kinds and some people would drop coins into the bag from a roll of quarters or nickles. As I recall, it was usually senior citizens who handed out coins in those days. My costumes were usually store bought and had the worst masks because they always broke. Once I made my own and went as a cowgirl.

Answer 8

No - no-one had ever heard of this "tradition" until it came over to the UK from America in the 80's and was seen in such series as "Roseanne" etc.



Hallowe'en was just a time for ghost stories and toffee apples to be eaten.

I find "trick or treat" terrible and if you do it tonight - please do not call on people who are really old and frail - stick to family households where they can take to rough with the smooth! And remember to choose your "tricks" carefully - because what might seem fun to you can be criminal in the eyes of the police.(As with the first answer here)

Answer 9

Halloween was unheard of when I was a child and it didn,t seem to take off much in later generations.It is only in the last decade or so,when Television,internet and so on have made such a big deal of it that companies have jumped on the bandwagon to make lots of money by hyping the whole thing up.

Answer 10

it was a tradition. don't remember any of the store bought costumes. went to grandpa and grandma's and showed them and then worked their neighborhood. they were affluent. we never played a trick.

35 years ago i took my little boy tricker treating in ashland oregon. it was a dark and rainy night. we stopped for cocoa when the beggin part was over and when we came out big boys had egged the street. it was a block part tradition and the police diverted traffic in Ashland from the highway and a good time was had by all. for years. that sadly is over because of the ruffians from nearby towns.

Answer 11

Like Lawrence, my childhood memories of late October revolve round Bonfire Night ( November 5th ), because preparations for it had to start weeks before. my gran made Guy Fawkes effigies every year that were so life- like, kids from streets away would come to admire them ! Some kids were so jealous, they would try to steal our bonfire wood, patiently collected, begged and found, for many weeks ..

My other gran was famous for her wonderful parkin cake and treacle toffee.

One year, I won an essay- writing competition in school for my Bonfire Night story

We saved up in the ' Fireworks Club' at our local shop to make sure of an enviable pyrotechnic display down our alley...

So, all I can say in answer to your question ... Halloween ? Where would we have found the time, LOL

Answer 12

3 yes, to #1 aned No, to #2 I got dressed up, each year as a gypsy, but no trick or treat..My beklieved it to be a pagan holiday and against the values they taught me [trick or treat] so I got dressed up and went to house parties only. Didn;'t do house tpo house until my kids.

Answer 13

Halloween was confusing as a child. My mother sometimes would let us go out and other times she wouldn't. She studied off and on with the Jehovah's Witnesses so it was either off or on.

We had both store bought customs and sometimes we made our own, I liked the homemade ones better, much more creative.

Answer 14

The solutions with regard to the British Christian customs of soul caking and guising are pretty good,.p.c.. considered one of them. i could merely decide for to show out which you're completely incorrect approximately Christmas customs. The yule tree is the Tree of existence from Genesis, the "old guy" replaced into initially Saint Nicholas, a Christian bishop, and the presents bear in mind his generosity to the undesirable. there is not any historic info that any of them have been ever linked with pre-Christian yuletide (iciness) feasts.

Answer 15

This American habit was not around when I was young.We had a party and dressed up as witches and warlocks,dunked for apples and tried to frighten the younger ones with ghost stories.

Answer 16

For me ( I'm 59 ), it's been so long ago that the memories are rather fuzzy. I am told, though I can't say I actually remember it, that I once fell off a porch, dumping my candy all over the place. What a klutz, huh ?

Answer 17

'Bigbossm'



I endorse everything you've written. I too am from Scotland (now NZ) and we did all the same things while out 'guising'. That was fifty odd years ago, but I guess that things have changed somewhat since then. It was so much fun back then.

Answer 18

There was no such thing in the 1930/40s

Answer 19

My parents always avoided pagan traditions.

Answer 20

Although our next but one neighbours used to celebrate this both my mum and nan where totally against it, they used to tell us kids it was devil worship, so we missed out on it.

Answer 21

You bet it was =)

Everybody got in on the act back then.

Answer 22

i made them with my family

i got mainly suckersand gumdrops

old fasioned tiolet paper trick but now its drive by paint ball we drive by peopole and shoot them whith paint balls so funny

HAPPY HOLOWEEN!!!