Is it just me? Halloween content

Halloween and trick or treat weren’t really
a thing when I was a kid. Early 80’s in my bit of West Yorkshire. We knew Halloween existed and that was about it. Mischief night and penny for the guy were the done things. Mischief night would have some of you miserable bastards dying of impotent rage if it was still a thing.

Loving the poster taking life advice from Alan Partridge, a character created to be creepy, and Johnny Vegas, a comedy character. Keep up the good work.

The local rule is to only knock on houses with a pumpkin out the front.

That's been our street's rule although this year it wasn't very well observed, probably kids from a new housing estate which has appeared at the end of the street and not on our street's WA group, which lays down the rules...

Not having kids, I had absolutely no idea it was Halloween until a bunch knocked on the door....

Living on a street governed by WhatsApp sounds awful. A street with rules and WhatsApp sounds even worse. Is this genuinely a thing? I can’t imagine anything more ****ing bizarre. I’m close friends with a fair few neighbours but street rules is one step away from that American lawn standards bollocks.

It's not street rules, everyone down here 'knows' that the houses with decorations are the ones with sweets. It's urban lore as opposed to a set of rules.

Where do you suppose the Americans got it from in the first place?<br />TV?<br /><br />

Did you miss the bit about it coming from Gaelic tradition? And did you cover the Clearances in your history lessons? How about huge St Patrick’s Day celebrations in Chicago and New York?

I’m not in the slightest bit interested in the goings on, and never have been. Joey was all over putting various decorations out, and bowls of sweets, but I was usually at work when the kids came round.

FFWD to now, and I was out last night, so no idea if many people were about. It wasn’t a particularly pleasant evening, so there may not have been as many as usual.

Loving the poster taking life advice from Alan Partridge

He was right about Kate Bush though.

It’s not street rules, everyone down here ‘knows’ that the houses with decorations are the ones with sweets. It’s urban lore as opposed to a set of rules.

There’s a WhatsApp group and street rules up there ^

Urban lore 😂 this thread just keeps on giving.

Did you miss the bit about it coming from Gaelic tradition?

I was talking about society/culture generally in response to "we're becoming more American" rather than about Halloween specifically. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

I guess the point was really, "so what?" We're becoming more American, more Indian, more Polish, more French... Our alphabet is Latin, our numbers are Arabic. Meanwhile, other countries are becoming more British.

This is what has always happened when people move around and today we've gone from migration to wars to television and Hollywood influence to being able to mingle at the speed of thought.

Because, you're absolutely right. It's what we do, and we're really good at it.

And did you cover the Clearances in your history lessons?

Nope. First I've heard that term.

How about huge St Patrick’s Day celebrations in Chicago and New York?

Chicago I was a few weeks off.

Not having kids, I had absolutely no idea it was Halloween until a bunch knocked on the door….

Yeah I mean it’s not Christmas so happens on the same date every year. 

People have WhatsApp groups for their streets and lay down rules? Are these rules shared with other streets so they are aware of them?

Not WhatsApp rules, but a sensible post on our village FB page from an incomer just checking that Halloween decs outside meant that kids could call, no decs meant do not disturb.

Seems to have become standard system all over. Doesn’t stop some older kids being dicks, of course. We were all young and dumb once.

Mischief night would have some of you miserable bastards dying of impotent rage if it was still a thing.

Jumping through hedges, burning newspapers up the drainpipes. We nicked the school gates one year. Those were the days.

Penny for the guy won’t work any more – so few coins in circulation in a cashless society

What, no card reader?

Jumping through hedges, burning newspapers up the drainpipes. We nicked the school gates one year. Those were the days.

That would be a quite night for us. 

so what?

I reckon we can do better than adopting all the look at me parts of American culture.

As a kid in the late 70s/early 80s, all we did was either duck apple/bob apple - and maybe carve a few pumpkins and put candles in them. Early teens was dressing up as ghouls, wizards/ witches......

But, the real occasion was Guy Fawkes Night - that was a far bigger deal.....

Now, the modern US version of Hallowe'en has taken over thanks to our cousins across the pond....They're all over social media, etc dressing up in fancy dress that has no relation to Hallowe'en.

Funnily enough, none of them bother with 5th November.....And you don't see as much here in the UK. I can't remember the last time I saw a 'penny for the Guy'.

I can't recall when costumes migrated from ghouls to generic but I have photos from a party in 1977 where I was dressed as a matador and there was a mix of other fun costumes scattered amongst the ghosts and vampires. I'm not sure what "social media" was influencing me back then.

Yeah there’s always been fancy dress not just spooky related at Halloween. Can’t remember pumpkins in the 70’s though just suedes. 

Turnips.

But that's a whole new thread 🙂

Suedes. 😀

When I was a kid in Glasgow Guising consisted of going round the neighbours with a little act you had. Sing a song, tell a joke or something similar and you were rewarded with sweets.  Trick or treat is to me a relatively recent thing and anyone trying it on me would get short shrift. fortunately living in a flat it just doesn't happen - indeed round here its just not a thing because everyone lives in flats

Yes I am Victor Meldrew.

Yeah there’s always been fancy dress not just spooky related at Halloween.

Yep, fancy dress parties used to be a big thing. So was Morris Dancing. I have no idea why.

Suedes.<br /><br />

Yeah, coming round here with their 2Tone Tonic trousers, Ben Shermans and Crombies! <br />Oops, sorry, that’s Suedeheads, my mistake! 😉

Being a Christian personally I don’t celebrate Halloween

As a person of no faith living in a country whose calendar is dominated by Christian festivals and holidays two things strike me;

1- If you're concerned by the crass, tasteless, thoughtless way people choose to observe Halloween you should probably examine the way people have started treating your Messiah's birthday.

2- Does anyone really 'celebrate' Halloween? There's some rowdy stupidity on a school night, plying kids with sugar and letting them watch scary films in the dark, but for most people it's not an actual celebration just a novelty... A bit like Easter 😉

Being a Christian personally I don’t celebrate Halloween

But you do celebrate the pagan midwinter and spring festivals which were co opted by christinity

Holly and ivy?  Pagan symbols of the everlasting life thru the winter  Easter bunny and eggs?  Even worse - pagan fertility symbols

for most people it’s not an actual celebration just a novelty merchandising opportunity

FTFY

Another kid of the 70's and 80's from Central Scotland who went Guising. Halloween is when all the witches and goblins are out looking to snatch their victims from the streets, so any bairns that were brave enough to go out after dark had to do so disguised as a witch or goblin etc. We also had to perform a song, dance or joke before we got any treats and I still demand the same of the kids who turn up at my door.

We had about 100 or so kids, most of them escorted by parents, at our door over a couple of hours on Halloween. A couple of times we had a queue forming down our path and back onto the street. I had a tiny wee lass singing me a Ukrainian nursery rhyme, a few kids busting some excellent dance floor moves and a variety of truly woeful jokes. I'm 53, have no kids of my own, but still love Halloween. It's utterly brilliant seeing how well behaved and polite the majority of the kids are.

What do you call a cow with no legs?..Ground Beef!

Why did the skeleton refuse to jump down the chimney?...He didn't have the guts!!!

What do you call Bees who've died and turned into ghosts?.....BooBees!!!!!

Oh lordy, my sides are still aching.

Yeah, coming round here with their 2Tone

Oh bloody hell. I don’t care I spotted someone else making the same spelling mistake. Good job I can laugh my dyslexia off.