My favorite thing about Halloween when I was little was the candy….ok, my
first favorite thing was the costume, but my hands down second favorite thing
was the candy. My dad and I plotted and schemed and did dry runs through
neighborhoods to see how we could maximize our sugar gathering potential. One
year I came away with three pillowcases full, it was marvelous. There was
nothing as satisfying as sorting it all out at the end of the night and
divvying it up. The popcorn balls, apples, raisins and stickers all got shoved
to the side and then I got down to the good stuff. My parents never exacted a
candy tax; and even if they had I thought it was only fair to share, and by
share I meant that I kept the good stuff and gave them the left overs. No, I
wasn’t that bad, I gave them some of the good stuff too.
It actually worked out really well. For the most part, the stuff I kept
they didn’t like and the stuff I gave away was their favorites. I can’t remember
what my favorites were; probably the mini candy bars and the Reese’s, maybe the
Dots oh and Tootsie Rolls, definitely Tootsie Rolls. I got to eat a few pieces that
night and then it all went in a bowl that was put on top of the refrigerator. After
that I got one piece after dinner each night or as a treat at other times, at
least that was their understanding of the system, I never let on that I devised
a method of reaching the bowl and helping myself and I never took enough to
raise suspicions. I think I would have gotten in more trouble telling them how
I got the candy than the actual eating of the candy. Most years it lasted
almost until the following Halloween.
Now that I am an adult I miss trick-or-treating. I miss the strategy
sessions and the mission impossible type feats of getting to the candy bowl.
Being able to buy my own bag in the store doesn’t have the same appeal and
walking to the cashier and yelling trick or treat just gets me weird looks. I
liked having to “work” for it by going around the neighborhood. It somehow
tasted better that way, more satisfying.
Now that I’m on the purchasing end of the spectrum I can observe the holiday
from a different perspective and get mad at the unseasonably early marketing
ploys. It was late July when the first Halloween candy aisle got put up at my
local store. That is way too early. Even August is way too early. There is no
reason Halloween candy can’t come out in October. But of course that messes with
their marketing. You buy the candy in July/August, you eat the candy in July/August
and then you have to buy more in September…..which leads to eating in September
which makes for another grocery run in October. I get it, but I hate rushing
things. Like now, Halloween is still four days away and we haven’t even gotten
to Thanksgiving and they are selling Christmas candy and trees. Sigh.
But we can’t end a candy post on a sour note, so here is some trivia for
you to munch on. On average according to the all wise and knowledgeable
internet, Americans spend about $44 on candy each year or 2.1 billion on candy
total. Imagine what would happen if we all kicked in our candy money for one
year, think of the national bills we could pay. Treat indeed. The top five
candies are candy corn, Snickers, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Kit-Kats and
m&m’s, which sounds about right to me.
So what is your favorite candy? What are the most trick-or-treaters you’ve
ever had? Do you prefer giving candy or getting it?
No comments:
Post a Comment