halloween last night

Nice to hear of people enjoying themselves without annoying others.
We had nothing and no-one here :o)

Hi Ladybug47.... I did not get many but the one's that did call had some great outfits,all had an older adult with them.Like you the Halloweener's only call if they can see Halloween decoration's.I have plenty of loose change and a couple of bag's of sweet's for them.

We had no callers but that is usually the pattern. On speaking to our daughter this morning she tells me they had a lot of children and there were many houses decorated in their neighbourhood (hers included).

All 4 of her children got dressed up and along with a neighbour they went about enjoying the fun of it all and now she has the unenviable task of rationing sweets! lol

I am always relieved when the night passes...past experiences of nasty events in the lead-up to Hallowe'en never are far from my mind...although it doesn't seem there has been any vandalism or bad pranks in our area, thankfully.

I really don't agree with it. It is an American import designed to suit commercial interests, and instead of being a religious event, All Souls Day, it has become in many instances, a nuisance and more.
It is meant to be about the dead - we all have some in our family, and remembering them, not going on about ghouls.
Surely bonfire night should be enough.... yes we know what that is related, but it was 550 years ago. Also carol singing is fine, and not threatening.
It is sad that some people are nervous of retaliation if they don't join in by giving a few sweets to some children, although thankfully that seems to be in the minority.

Well done you, I did not decorate but a neighbour did and the shrieks of excitement were a delight to hear, we seemed only to have young ones with I`m pleased to say an adult hovering at the gate.

I don't get any callers where I live now, but I used to in my last place - by the bucketful, usually I'd run out of sweets and would offer satsumas instead. Which they didn't want, understandably, lol! Never had any trouble with any of them, but I do recall some carol singers being very annoyed because I had no cash - older kids, they were.

its true mad everything seems to be americanized,was just comenting today that i have not seen a "penny for the guy" for years,are we loseing that too

Well Ladybug....I'm one of those who hates "penny for the guy"....it is one custom I wouldn't mind seeing die out. When we had our shop the kids were a real nuisance sitting outside, accosting customers for money (following them into the shop even to ask for their change), swearing, making a mess, being abusive.....and they would come earlier each year (usually starting in the half-term just ended).

To me, the practice is more like begging. I have only seen one child in our high street participating in the practice so far this year. I do enjoy the bonfire and family get-together for all the children that we used to have when all my hubby's siblings would get together (kids/grandkids)...a lot of fun...potatoes in the fire, marshmallows on a stick and grandma's bonfire toffee :)

i miss that too,your right not to miss the guy,thats why i gave up on halloween,the aggressiveness of it all,i always felt sorry for the older generation,who wants a 15yr old banging on your door demanding money its bloody scary.

Actually, Hallowe'en has it's roots in England, Ireland and Scotland as well as parts of Europe. It's not an American phenomen or import for commercial interests. Its just something that progressed in the Americas while largely dying out in England.

"Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of souling, when poor folk would go door to door on Hallowmas, receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day. It originated in Ireland and Britain, although similar practices for the souls of the dead were found as far south as Italy. Shakespeare mentions the practice in his comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona, when Speed accuses his master of "puling like a beggar at Hallowmas." The custom of wearing costumes and masks at Halloween goes back to Celtic traditions of attempting to copy the evil spirits or placate them, in Scotland for instance where the dead were impersonated by young men with masked, veiled or blackened faces, dressed in white."

So interesting, Gilli! I've been blaming our 'cousins across the pond' for years for their supposedly imported mischief as, when I was a child, we did absolutely nothing about Hallowe'en except tell fibs next day at school about seeing witches on broomsticks! But I do wish it would go away! :o\

Gilli, although Halloween did originate in the British Isles and Europe, it bore no resemblance to what has happened to it since the Americans re-modelled it into a "spending opportunity" which is foisted onto people who don't want to "deprive" their children.
Once commerce rules, things do get spoilt, ie football.
I sound like such an old grump, but I love to see children genuinely enjoying themselves and playing, without the choreography of commercialisation.

Hmm, not sure you can blame 'the Americans' really Mad - that sort of implies the UK somehow never has occasions which are purely commercial and foisted upon us by companies anxious to make a buck. We're just as good at that here as they are over there, I mean, look at St. Valentine's Day - this was meant to be purely for sending cards to someone you liked the look of 'romantically', so they'd guess who it was from, but now you get Valentine cards for children from their parents, for goodness' sake, very peculiar. And as for the Maypole, well, that had a much seamier meaning originally, all from this side of the pond. And Christmas, well you could hardly accuse the folks over the pond for making that the feast of mammon it is today, we've managed that one all on our own...

I agree Bamboo. I don't think it is just "the Americans" who are to blame for the commercialization of various holidays. It's the big companies internationally that are all the same. Any chance to "make a buck" and they exploit it.
Around here, trick or treating is not as popular as it once was. The incidents of "crazies" hiding razor blades in apples, spiking gummies with LSD and putting needles in chocolate bars etc has spurred a lot of parents to only allow their children to visit houses where the owners are known to them. There are now a lot of community parties instead which are put on at schools or community halls. The children have a great time bobbing for apples and playing other games and receive treats that are known to be safe.

wow gilli,did not know about that,does it actualy happen,the thing is we never get to see any of this on our news,as you prob wouldnt get any of our news either,its always portrayed as sort of perfect at your halloweens,suppose it doesnt matter where you are in the world you always want to protect your kiddies from crazies or donnets as i call them,chris

These kinds of scares were around when I was a child living in Vancouver, B.C. That was mainly the reason why my parents never encouraged me to participate in trick-or-treat. I agree with Gilli that planned events in schools and community centres are provide a much safer and happy environment for the children.

I do agree Bamboo, we certainly do have plenty of commercial exploitation of our own, we certainly don't want to copy anyone else's though. Yes I know it is really awful the way St.Valentines day has been exploited, even Valentine cards for animals! We (people) are so gullible to follow those trends like a flock of sheep.
Gilli, how awful for those things to happen, and I do agree that a lot of events are better done as community or organised events, shared safely and enjoyed.

These incidents do still happen unfortunately. I think it was last Hallowe'en that needles were found in the chocolate. The LSD on the gummy bears was something that happened last spring....A child and his MOTHER spiked the sweets and the kid took them to school...Can you believe it?...Not a Hallowe'en incident but the same could happen at this time of year. No, our Hallowe'ens are far from perfect. No one in their right mind lets the kids eat the candy before it's been checked over and never let them eat unwrapped or homemade goodies.

There you go.....this morning on the news they said that a woman found a razor blade in a hallowe'en chocolate bar in Delta (near Vancouver). It was one of those replacable blades from an exacto knife (not sure what they are called in the UK).

Yes, I read that on the Vancouver Sun website..thought about posting the link, but didn't....makes your point brilliantly, Gilli.

I think it's called a stanley knife here, Gilli.

Hmmm....What we always called a Stanley knife is more of a box cutter. This is more like a scalpel....A craft knife for doing intricate cutting.

Warning I saw recently about apple bobbing - high risk of eye infections, apparently...

Oh I think I know the kind of craft knife you are on about now, Gilli. They are probably just called craft knives here...simples! lol

Really Bamboo? Hmm....seems everything is bad for your health these days! :o)

LOL Whist.

Yes, does seem that way, Gilli - though of course, life is high risk, and most people WON'T get an eye infection from the water...

I decorate most every year but get nobody. I wind up eating all the candy myself. Here children and their parents do "trunk or treat" at the churches - people bring carloads of candy. I suppose it's safer but this is also the Bible Belt and Halloween is considered the "Devil's Holiday." Going door to door for treats is frowned upon. Only heathens like myself celebrate Halloween in Georgia.

Seems counter intuitive, Laurum - if its the Devil's Holiday, must be safe to go out cos he's away sunning himself on a beach or ski-ing...

LOL Lauram....Well, why not have Hallowe'en all to yourself? Good for you....don't eat too much candy. When I lived down in Abbotsford it was considered the Bible belt of British Columbia. The same was true of Hallowe'en being considered to be celebrating the Devil. We had trick or treaters but not as many as anywhere else.

I was a member of a conservative/fundamentalist church for quite a few years and they preached against hallowe-en too. I was talking to our daughter at hallowe-en and she had bought some decs for the house, carved pumpkins and took the children trick-or-treating in their immediate neighbourhood. She said all through the fun of the evening and the lead-up to it, all she could think was "what would my old pastor say to me?"....it's amazing how we can give the devil so much credit and concentrate on the evil.

Give me the goodness of people any day! Gilli, we had relations in Abbotsford and the Mennonites as I remember them were a very strict sect. I wonder if there is still a concentration of them in the Mission/Abbotsford/Huntington area as there was all those years ago? The relations had a dairy farm just a short distance from the US/Canada border point at Huntington.

by the way, Gilli, I visited British Columbia some years ago and I cried when I had to get on that plane and leave! It's a paradise.

You can always come and visit again Lauram. You're only down in Georgia....no ocean to cross!! LOL
BC is a wonderful area of the world for sure.
Whist...There are still a lot of Mennonites in the Abbotsford area. Some of them are more strict than others. My ex-brother in law married a Mennonite girl from Deroche outside of Mission. Her family had a dairy farm too. There are several big Mennonite churches in Abbotsford and I know they do an awful lot of good work for the community.