It'd be hard to make the case that my dad was a health food nut. Yes, we avoided sugar cereals. Yes, we tended to cook homemade dinners. Yes, we drank seltzer (often in glass bottles from from the seltzer guy) instead of soda (my friends still give me a hard time, but hey, we were in New York). One year, my dad even traded coffee for Postum. But the fridge was lined with a variety of No-Cal syrups for our seltzer, and my Dad's fondness for the sweets he grew up with - spearmint leaves, chocolate bridge mix, Joyva jelly rings - was legendary.
Halloween provided a special challenge each year. Could my dad happily distribute Kit Kats and Snickers bars to the neighbor kids without feeling guilty about the sugar, chemicals, and fat within? No. But what else could he do?
Two years stand out in my mind as especially memorable. They were both in the mid 1980s, both in a row. The first year, my dad decided to take a stand. Instead of candy bars, he handed out boxes of raisins (no, not Raisinettes, raisins). My brothers and I were appalled. Raisins on Halloween? We might as well have handed out dirty socks or old copies of the Atlantic Monthly! There was no way we were going to answer the door, but it didn't matter much. After the first few kids showed up, word got out quickly. We didn't have too many trick or treaters that year, and when we got a brick through the window a few weeks later, none of my brothers was surprised. So much for taking a stand.
The following year, my dad was down, but not defeated. If raisins didn't work, my father would attempt to buy the love of the neighborhood kids, one quarter at a time. Sure, they might spend the quarters on candy, but they might not. Maybe the kids would buy their own Postum or copies of the Atlantic Monthly instead! The Halloween of the Quarter, as I know it now, was a busy one. The doorbell rang for hours. We must have gone through $40 worth before we turned out the lights and called it a day. There were no bricks through our windows.
Which leads me to this year. At my house, we're going to be handing out candy. I won't necessarily feel great about it, but it'll be okay for now. Next year we'll try something different. But it won't be raisins.
This article was proudly submitted to Food Renegade's Fight Back Friday.
Comments
"We might as well have handed out dirty socks or old copies of the Atlantic Monthly!"
LOL!
Loved reading this post. I feel the same way about Halloween.
LOL! That was funny. The past two years I gave out Yummy Earth lollipops. The older kids are NEVER happy, but the little ones love it. It makes me feel *slightly* better.
As an adult, I can appreciate your dad's efforts but as a kid, I would've chucked those raisins in the bushes for taking too much space in the T or T bag (actually, I think unwanted candy was 're-treated'). Kudos to him for at least trying, although a brick through the window is a harsh trade-off.
I would love to hear if other people have come up with alternatives to candy treats.
LOL! That was funny. The past two years I gave out Yummy Earth lollipops. The older kids are NEVER happy, but the little ones love it. It makes me feel *slightly* better.
Thanks for your comments! It was such an embarrassment as a kid, but now it's one of those memories I'll keep and cherish forever. Food is like that, as is doing something unique or bizarre - like taking a stand. Don't you think?
Bring on the Yummy Earth lollipops! (And the cheese and aebelskivers - are you considering putting those in the bags? ;-))
HAHA. awesome. I remember bringing my little unicef box everywhere and getting pennies... i think we got candy too though.
since I grew up in a tiny village- there was no fear whatsoever of poisoned candy or apples- so we always got apples and other fruits.
My issue is the excessive packaging for halloween- it drives me insane. I really can't wait to be living somewhere other than an apartment building so we can get the cute little trick or treaters, but at the same time I know that finding a package-less treat to hand out will be challenging...
almost a horror story!
We think about that every year too. This year, my daughter actually suggested something healthy, or not candy, which I was very surprised about. For both kids, we have a candy buy-back program in place, and they profit mightily. It is a tough call - I think we are going to go with reasonably sized candies this year and put it in the column of "everything in moderation"
To EcoYogini:
Here's my (conspiracy) theory: There never were any actual incidents of razor blades in apples, poisons in cookies, etc. Those "stories" were circulated by the candy manufacturers to convince us to buy a "safer" alternative: individually wrapped candy. Crazy? Perhaps. But look how effective it was!
To Lee:
Great and funny post. Thank you for making me laugh this morning.
Thanks for the comments, friends. I remember before we had kids, we'd make a HUGE bag of treats for our closest friends. It never occurred to us - until we had our own kids - that this was an AWFUL idea. And that was long before we knew anything about fair trade! What's your worst Halloween candy or trick or treating story?
EcoYogini, I'm with you on all that packaging - all those tiny candies!
Gudrun, what do you give your kids in exchange for the candy?
Shari, I thought we agreed not to share our crazy theories. :-)
Happy Halloween,
Lee
How about organic lollipops made with real fruit juice and cane sugar, no artificial colors? You can buy them at Trader Joe's and they are DELISH!
couple years ago we filled a very fancy treasure chest looking box with potatoes and onions then presented it to children when they rang the door bell. With instructions that they could only have one! when they opened the lid - little sighs and sad droopy faces looked up at us asking "really?"
...no, not really - we had a big bowl of sugar bombs waiting in the wings. (one kid did beg to keep their potato - she thought it was hilarious and wanted to show her mom)
I used to work at a pre-school and instead of candy (those youngins did not need ANYMORE sugar) we gave out Halloween stickers/mini toys/balloons. The kids still really liked them and though it wasn't candy, it was certainly better than getting an apple or raisins in their minds :)
Thanks Kate! There's so much to think about! Organic, fair-trade, healthy ... to me, the important point is to give it a little bit of thought and do somehting you feel good about. Nice one. Same to you, Nicole, my kids seem to liek stickers just as much as candy and I feel a ot better about the food part that way.
As for you, Brett, that sounds hilarious. But without those sugar bombs, I'm guessing you'd have gotten that brick through the window - or an egg on your step, at least - too. :-)
Happy Halloween, friends!
Just had to come back to read the suggestions and other stories - so great! I love the organic fruit lollipops and stickers ideas . . . for next year. [Sheepish grin]
And to EcoYogini: I could never forget the UNICEF boxes!! My mom used to put string through it and hang it around our necks, and everyone seemed to have a bowl of pennies by the candy. By the end of the evening, we looked like Jacob Marley ghosts, with our UNICEF boxes of coins dragging around! 8-D
Lee, I'll consider putting out a plateful of freshly-made aebleskivers tonight - pumpkin-filled, of course!
As kids, we always did "Trick or treat for Unicef!" and were astounded that this wasn't the custom everywhere. As a grown-up, I have tried giving out Halloween pencils and gee-gaws. This year, I cringe at the thought of all the germs being passed hand to hand in candy bowls.
The past few years we've been giving out temporary tattoos. It seems like the kids like them pretty well. At least we haven't gotten a brick through the window.
Becky, I'm with you - aim low. :-) No bricks = successful Halloween. Hope you had a happy one!
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