Trick or Treat back in the day

[Django]

Well, when the Christian church was trying to convert northern Europe, they had trouble dealing with the pagans and their ingrained folkways. To get around it, missionaries co-opted the pagan holidays into the Christian calendar.

Easter was placed on the spring equinox festival of the pagan goddess Ostara/Eostre whose sacred animal was the rabbit and colored eggs were laid on her altar as a spring fertility symbol.

Halloween was the evening before All Saints Day and replaced a pagan harvest festival called Samhain. During Samhain, the wall between the living world and the spirit world was stretched thin allowing the spirits of the dead to visit the living world.

Yule was the Germanic celebration of the winter solstice and the return of the sun ending the darkness of dark winter. The evergreen tree was the symbol of the continuation of life. To be sure the sun was returning, the festival went on through twelve days. Every family placed a "sun wheel" [[wreath) on their door which was burned on the last of the twelve days of Yule.

Thank you Hermod, very cool knowledge.

[SWMAP]

Just a correction regarding Easter and Christmas: It is a natural coincidence that the Jews and the European pagans had Spring rites. But the date of Easter is actually set by the date of the Jewish Passover. The “Pascal celebration, Easter, comes from the word Passover. It had nothing to do with “co-opting pagan rites.”

The Christian Easter is historically tied intrinsically to the Jewish Passover as Jesus ate a Passover meal with his disciples and was arrested the same night. As his followers say that he was crucified, died, was buried and rose on the third day, Easter follows Passover very closely.
Passover is always in the spring in the northern hemisphere. Ehus Easter is in the Spring. In the Catholic Church, Easter is celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox. As to Christmas - I understand that the narrative that the Christian Church "co-opted" the pagan holiday of bonfires on the shortest day is now being discredited:
More recent studies have shown that many of the holiday’s modern trappings do reflect pagan customs borrowed much later, as Christianity expanded into northern and western Europe. The Christmas tree, for example, has been linked with late medieval druidic practices. This has only encouraged modern audiences to assume that the date, too, must be pagan.
There are problems with this popular theory, however, as many scholars recognize. Most significantly, the first mention of a date for Christmas [[c. 200) and the earliest celebrations that we know about [[c. 250–300) come in a period when Christians were not borrowing heavily from pagan traditions of such an obvious character.

Halloween: I do think the setting of the celebration of “All Saints Day” on November 1 was to place the “dying nature” and fear of death and death spirits long thought to be associated with late October in a hopeful Christian context for believers.

[sumas]

lighten up folks its about the candy. We lived in Gpp who discourages trick or treating and would go over to EEV with giveaways. Our kids always had a blast and folk there are generous. Our kids are grown and now with Mom gone we still donate candy to that community. My sister still lives there. The kids come in by car loads and it is no BFD.

I saw a news report that some community on the east coast is passing out arm bands so they only give to area children. What grinches.

I wish we got kids coming around. Even had special bags for kids we knew in past years but sadly they do the mall thing. So we do an ice cream social in the summer now.

[sumas]

Kind of unhappy with dismissive comments about Christians. Any idiot knows pagan ways were introduced into our customs as the church did its missionary work. I have a deep abiding respect for all religions and even including atheists. Believe or don't. Your choice.

My faith has sustained me through many problems.

For fun I'll invite all to Tottenfest which is fast approaching. Technically it is the German version of, the feast of the dead. People recently deceased are honored, then all loved ones that passed. Pagan in origin no doubt. Very comforting.

[Hermod]

Just a correction regarding Easter and Christmas: It is a natural coincidence that the Jews and the European pagans had Spring rites. But the date of Easter is actually set by the date of the Jewish Passover. The “Pascal celebration, Easter, comes from the word Passover. It had nothing to do with “co-opting pagan rites.”

The Christian Easter is historically tied intrinsically to the Jewish Passover as Jesus ate a Passover meal with his disciples and was arrested the same night. As his followers say that he was crucified, died, was buried and rose on the third day, Easter follows Passover very closely.
Passover is always in the spring in the northern hemisphere. Ehus Easter is in the Spring. In the Catholic Church, Easter is celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox.

The why to the Germans refer to the Easter Bunny as the Osterhaas? The festival of Ostara was the first full moon after the equinox. The Anglo-Saxons called the goddess Eostre [[Easter?).


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[punky1]

Back in the late 50s had a house on the street where the dads liked to congregate. The dads got a beer or a cocktail for their "treats". I hated getting root beer barrel candy.

[Django]

Well, when the Christian church was trying to convert northern Europe, they had trouble dealing with the pagans and their ingrained folkways. To get around it, missionaries co-opted the pagan holidays into the Christian calendar.
Easter was placed on the spring equinox festival of the pagan goddess Ostara/Eostre whose sacred animal was the rabbit and colored eggs were laid on her altar as a spring fertility symbol.

Halloween was the evening before All Saints Day and replaced a pagan harvest festival called Samhain. During Samhain, the wall between the living world and the spirit world was stretched thin allowing the spirits of the dead to visit the living world.

Yule was the Germanic celebration of the winter solstice and the return of the sun ending the darkness of dark winter. The evergreen tree was the symbol of the continuation of life. To be sure the sun was returning, the festival went on through twelve days. Every family placed a "sun wheel" [[wreath) on their door which was burned on the last of the twelve days of Yule.

Very cool, thanks.

[beachboy]

... I hated getting root beer barrel candy.

Not as bad as the %#@$ "red hots" -- little bags of super-
spicy candies that turned your fingers [[and wax fangs) all
red. So we would chew on them, then let the red ooze out
of the mouth corners ... freaked my Mom out the first time
I did that

[Ben]

Growing up in Detroit in the 50's was fun. I always got great stuff on Halloween. I lived on Buckingham Rd. in Morningside and my friends and I would do all of Buckingham into Grosse Pointe. I remember taking my own kids out trick-or-treating in the late 70's and 80's and have some good memories of that as well. I remember that my own house got a lot of trick-or-treaters when I lived in Harper Woods, but I get less now that I live in GPW. I feel like less people are having their kids do it. What really scares me about the whole holiday is "Devil's Night". I remember when I worked for GM in the 80's I remember staying late one Halloween [[My kids were staying at their grandparents) in 1984 or 1985 when I looked out of my office window and I saw the burning buildings. It was really a scary sight to see.

[turkeycall]

Mid to late 50s . . . trick or treat was something special at the house on the corner of Farmbrook and Chandler Park Drive. In order to receive the treat, you had to perform a trick, sing a song, tell a joke, . . . anything to get the young ones to let loose. I used to do the "Soupy Shuffle." But, the treat! A full-sized 5-cent Hershey Bar.

[Dfd]

Any last minute stories?

[sumas]

Sure thing for last minute stuff. Another chant was , "trick or treat, smell my feet, if you don't, I don't care, we'll pull down your underwear."

[Hermod]

In my younger years, I used to wear a mask when passing out goodies to the kiddies. When the kiddies would dwindle towards the end of the evening, I would wear my mask to my friends' houses and carry a shot glass and hold it up saying "trick or treat".

[Jimaz]

Only two T.O.T.s tonight. Two more than last year though.

[Marlon_JB2]

The kids are all being transported by vehicle to the liquor stores. They're not saying trick or treat, a lot of them do not have costumes and even more aren't saying Thank You. What happened to Halloween?

[sumas]

My husband and I would take turns, one stayed back to hand out candy, one took the kids out.

He liked it, folks would give him shots and beer AND candy for being a good Dad. Humph!

Sadly, no kids showed up here. I did have a small cache of candy. No doubt, they did the liquor store thing. Huge sarcasm there.

A neighbor did drop over and got homemade cookies and candy too.

We did have kids here for pumpkin carving. Old traditions die hard with me and the kids had a blast.

[KJ5]

The BP at Clay and 75 had signs up saying patrons had to take masks off 100% in the store or they would not receive service. Sign of the times, no doubt. Can't blame them, I guess. So much of the crime is committed by young people and it would be a perfect ruse.
As a Gen-Xer growing up in 12 Mile/I-94 area I had a blast on Halloween. I'd be out trick or treating shortly past 6 and would sometimes stay out til 9, 9:30. When my parents went in with my younger sister is when we'd really kick it into high gear, running from house to house to get the biggest possible haul of candy in that pillow case. [[Emptying it on that return trip home helped, too, as it made it look like we were empty handed, getting a late start.) Later in the night we'd run across the freeway bridge to the Roseville side, as it seemed like the porchlights would stay on later there. You were more likely to get jacked for your candy there, too, though it never happened to me. And staying out late meant you might get hooked up with whatever candy a house had left so they could turn off their light and be done with it.
There was worry about razor blades and stuff, but there was a house at the corner of my street that had a metal detector and they would scan kids' candy for them. Pretty cool of them.
I sure made out like a bandit back then. I remember still having candy at Christmas a couple of years. It's not like that out there any more. My mom says there's not nearly the amount of trick or treaters there used to be and it's all wrapped up by 7:30 or 8.

[Django]

My GF/EX-GF's sister is all Christian science and has become an anti Halloween advocate thinking its the devils holliday. She posted this on her FB page. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...etter/3312537/

Its about a woman who gives candy out to the skinny kids and gives letters to the fat kids for their parents telling them that they shouldn't let their fat kids eat candy.