Halloween is lost.

Well, I give up. We have lived here in what is a somewhat sketchy neighborhood for 5 years. 1st year, we had about 65 kids trick or treat us, the second year we had about 45, third year 38. Last year we had about 25. I bought 32 full size candy bars this year and not a single kid. I turned the light out at 7:05. Kinda early, but in past years we would only get a handful between 7-9:00 pm. Pretty sad.

Had a good halloween here. Kids everywhere! Any theories on where they all went?

Safer neighborhood? Well, more affluent neighborhoods, anyway. Alot of them hit the businesses, I suppose, but most of that seemed to happen over the weekend. Couldn't ask for nicer weather.

It’s been dwindling down by us as well. Very few kids running out in the country side like there used to be. I remember 30-40 kids out in the country for many years. Now maybe one

Slow here to. Giving handfuls of candy to get rid of it.

You have 32 full size candy bars to devour. We live in a small community, very few if any young children. About 2 years ago we had one visitor, I thought it was my oldest granddaughter, turns out we never did know who it was, lol. This year my youngest granddaughter was here, her little brother was sick so he was not along. They live over 20 miles from here so it is out of their way.

We haven't had a trick-or-treater for years. But mebbe this year will be different. Not dark yet and I bought some halloween candy.

Less here every year.

In today's world, look on the bright side . . . if ya don't hand out candy and sweets to kids, then ya can't be sued for contributing to the obesity and health issues of children . . . plus, look at all the money you'll save!

St Cloud Mn.
There is a common denominator.
I'm sure you have it figgered out by now?

showing up here. bout like every year

I've not had to kill anyone.... YET!

We have never had a trick or treater here. I bought candy the first couple of years and put the lights on, but none ever showed up. The closest neighbors are hundreds of yards away and the ones after 6/10ths of a mile. I know of only two familrs within a few miles who have kids of an age to trick or treat.

Keith

Back in the mid 70's..we all had a wintah car...and on Halloween...about 30 of us would be in 15 cars and throw eggs at each other's car...what stories. We only egged each other's car. We bought flats of eggs from Buckleys egg express...lol

this is the first year i didn't sit out there

I have not had many kids in the last few years and was too busy today to even deal with it.

I can't even eat the candy.

seriously about 4 years ago having handed out 4 pieces of candy I gave the rest to a drunk guy carrying 4 pizzas as he walked by.

I can even see the kids but they all seem to turn a couple hundred yards before they get to me and it isn't like I live down some dead end street.

several years I even had a nice fire going in the front yard to warm up art , we had snow on the ground several years

just so slow in my neighborhood, the neighbors would come over and we would talk around the fire then when they saw kids coming they would walk back across the street had out a few pieces of candy then walk back until more kids made their way to our street.

Definitely less kiddos out this year, we've been going to the same neighborhood for the last 5 or 6 years and there has always been a line at every house. Now this year only a group or two on each block. Still a lot of kids but less than half the norm and much younger ones, not many teens at all used to be they'd trick or treat till they were out of high-school now it's mostly little kids with parents, only saw one group of older boys on bikes really working the streets.

GCP those are the houses we look for when a group dosen't hit a house or skips a dead end our group of boys runs, they say dead ends are the best as nobody else wants to go down and the people load em up a single lit house is almost as good lol

7 kid's total here, gotta agree.
We're been here 23 years, and seen it just decline.

I remember going to nurseing home as a kid, and getting lots of candy.
Plus it made them happy.

Store's, and bank's gave.

Today at work some of the gals dressed up.

Good riddance! Even when I was a kid, early, mid 60's, some A holes thought it funny to put straight pins and razor blades in the candy.

Don't despair.
I think neighbors time out. When I first moved where Iam now. There was never what I considered a lot of kids came to our house on Halloween. I live on the end of a street kinda in goofy location. The neighborhood was turning over and there were lots young families like ours was then. So while we didn't have lots of trick or treaters. We had kids around the same age as ours. As kids got older the number dropped. We have had years with not one kid. This year we had 10 kids tonight. That's not a lot. It's the start though of the neighborhood turning over again. House are sell as us old fart time out.
There is also more safe place for kids to go now two.
Just the way the world turns.

Mac

I had a record year this year!! I have been in my house for 21 years and I had 2 trick or treaters tonight. They were the first ones I have ever had. They were my bosses kids.

Now imagine going to all that trouble and not even getting one trick or treater!

Where I grew up in the 80's you could count on a few hundred kids on Halloween night. I heard from someone who lives there now that they expect less than a dozen

If you look at the statistics, there are more white people dying a year than are being born, so if you live in a white neighborhood you will likely continue to see less and less trick or treaters.

https://theconversation.com/childre...ajority-of-kids-in-many-us-states-128499

"Between 2010 and 2018, the number of white children fell by 2.8 million, or 7.1%. In contrast, nonwhite children grew by 6.1%.

In 2018, the last year for which data are currently available, the proportion of people in the U.S. under 18 years of age was just barely more white than nonwhite.

However, children under 11 were more nonwhite than white."

Keith

I had the same number that I always have, ZERO. It could have something to do with all the lights out and hiding in the garage though. I don't like uninvited guests.

You live in Little Mogadishu what do you expect? I don't go to St cloud unless I have to.

Nobody comes out here but we load up the kids (we're down to one trick or treater in the family) and go to town with friends. Halloween is alive and well in the Sooner State.

My SIL had 430 by 7 pm.

We never get any because we live further out of town.

Our town did a business T-or-T downtown and they had a great turn out. Then couple that with a bunch of trunk or treat events the kids really don't need to go door to door.

We go to the town square and Trunk or Treat. Since we are not curmudgeons, we enjoy seeing all the kids in their cute costumes. $75 in candy is ok by me to enjoy the evening out treating the town's kids.

More kids are going to church or business functions like Trunk or Treat. Law enforcement around herehas been encouraging this as there are fewer kids out after dark (safer) and less trouble makers out tricking.

This is exactly what killed Halloween. Everyone running their sissified kids to some church or town square in broad daylight to be given candy by approved candy donors.

Those kids don't even know how much they're missing. They're happy because they get candy but they have no idea how much more fun they would be having running around in the dark, seeing hundreds of hand carved Jack O'Lanterns all lit up, daring each other to go knock on the door of the house all the kids are scared to go to, getting the daylights scared out of them at certain creepily decorated homes, and looking up at the moon to check for witches.

As a kid, the creepy magic of Halloween was second only to the warm magic of Christmas. I sure feel sorry for kids today.

LOL. They still go house to house but our house is off the beaten path so we go where the kids are.

Wasn't referring to you specifically Jayme, just that trunk or treat nonsense in general. My mom lives in populated area in a rural town just swarming with kids and gets zero trick or treaters. They all get driven to the trunk or treat events at the churches around here.

I see.

Before we were married, I used to go to girlfriend/fiancé’s house. She would wear a costume and give out candy to a couple hundred kids. Later I would help her remove her costume.
In 40 some years of living in a rural area, not one trick or treater.

Wow! Look at you go with all your statistics and crap!

I live out in the country and the kids all go into the nearest village to trick or treat, it's six or seven miles away. Two families of kids did show up from two local farms. One family has seven and the other two.

I have never had any trick or treaters. But ever since I moved out on my own I have lived in the country. No kids want to walk 1/4 mile between houses.

We used to take the kids to our grandparents neiborhoods. Nice up scale homes in great areas but since we moved to the farm we have taking them to the state park. This year they spent the evening at the church trunk or treat. I would have been there handing out candy but had to work.

My wife sent me a picture of the boys loot for the evening. I have never seen so much full size good candy. Quite a tall pile. I have no idea why she let them get so much. They will have candy for the next 8 months.

The Mrs. and I spent the evening at a Trunk or Treat put together with the 4 local churches in our smaller rural community of Northern Michigan. 400 attendees from a town of 1900 is quite a gathering and many look forward to it each year.

The cars and trucks and farm wagons were all exquisitely decorated and the event included hay wagon rides through the woods, bonfires, and all manner of fellowship for kids and adults alike. It was fun to gather so much of this town together, pray together as we did for this community of hundreds, and display, if only a few moments, what unity can look like for everyone - adults, children and grandchildren alike in attendance.

Me, I ate about 15 brats and 8 bags of popcorn.

Besides, the door to door candy thing isn't even 100 years old.... basically started with the marketing gurus of the 1950's... so times change.
And I don't miss my truck getting egged EVERY YEAR and witnessing such a waste of fine toilet paper like we had growing up.

Blessings,
Mark

"waste of fine toilet paper". Lol

I had a terrific turnout in the suburb out west of Mpls Keck…
All smiles, cute kids, innocent fun, nice to see in todays messed up environment. Well worth the sugar.

Some years there were next to zero here, lately the area has turned over with younger parents. Time marches on.

Osky

We live in the country and only our Grandkids come here.Where my older boy lives,,they have a big field just outside of town.About thirty or fourty of the folks Drive their Trucks out in the field and they do a "Truck Or Treat" for the kids.Kids go truck to truck getting candy,,and they can run around the field playing.They did it Sunday during the day so its safe for the kids.

9.1 billion in candy sales went somewhere Angela.

Yep and in another 20 -30 years that will be those kids good old days. We adults moan about the loss of what we knew as great fun. Just like our parents before us did. Saturday I noticed there was a Trick or Trunk in the church parking lot down the street. Little one dressed up running around the lot and church yard. Even if the world goes belly up like so many people think it will. That day in the parking lot might be some person good old days.

Mac

Our trunk-er-treat churchs and YMCA had over 1000 kids. Nearly every kid in 50 mile. At home we have dropped by about 70 %

I know yow to fix that.......

Friend of a friend just got sucker punched 2 days ago in st cloud and had his jaw broke in 3 places. St clouds not what it used to be.

I think you're at least half right about this - probably more. I sure loved Halloween when I was a kid. What an exciting party! It was risky and scary and maybe a little dangerous and thrilling.

Still, I guess Halloween is about second to Christmas when it comes to sales for retailers - so overall I think Halloween is bigger than ever. But nowadays I think it's less about kids trick-or-treating and more about adults getting drunk and women dressing like (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman). Maybe the grown kids of yesteryear who got the thrill of wearing scary costumes and carving pumpkins are still trying to recreate the thrills and risky behavior of their childhood.

I didn't check, but I heard Charlie Brown's "Great Pumpkin" special wasn't on TV last night. Too bad. Traditions like that used to unite us as a nation and culture.

They have been slowly trying to divide us for a long time. One is by fading out traditions & holidays. Time for a new "they"

Haven't had a t or t'r in over 40 years, most parents and kids go to the heavily built up neighborhoods, much more efficient , lol

Wife still buys candy, just in case, but it's stuff that we'll eat. Though at the price of candy now it's almost cheaper to hand out dollar bills!

My mom had over 600 at her house last night. Upper michigan

We had about 30 kids. A little more than last year, considerably more than the last 5, but way less than 25 yrs ago when my kids were little. In our case I'd definitely say it is the neighborhood turnover scenario. Recently there are lots of older neighbors passing and young families moving in. At 60 we are one of the older couples now, but, as Sam Elliot said in We Were Soldiers, "Any of you sumbitches calls me grandpa, ill kill ya". Lol just kidding of course, but I always liked the line, and Elliott delivered it perfectly. Arrowsmith

I was so disappointed last night on my way home. Only one kid on the road. I told my wife it looked like we were under an air raid, almost a total blackout. All the houses that were welcoming when my kids were young, and even the ones with decorations out, were all dark. Kids can't have fun if the adults don't participate.

We have lived in the same small unincorporated village for 46 years and the decline is almost straight down since the early 1980s. Not uncommon in the late 70s to have over 100 kids in the 3 hour time frame. The last 5 years we have averagd about 8 kids. Every town or village has slightly different time frames so they can hit up a lot of places and parents are driving them to almost all the places. The bigger towns the kids can stop at a lot of houses in say a half mile of streets, where as here they would only have a quarter of that number or less. I guess they or their parents are getting more efficient about the return on their time and effort. Also gone are most families with several kids in the family.

Bryce

I believe that is the answer to Trapper Keck's question about the lack of trick or treaters.

I was at a meeting last night. I brought up the very same question. I was told by several ladies that now there is Trunk or Treat. I asked what is that? Parents get together with their cars parked and fill their trunks with candy. The kids in their costumes go from car to car filling their bags with goodies. In one lady's town she said there were close to 70 cars. I live near a town of about 1400 population. I learned that there were 18 cars in that little town.

It's considered a safer option for the kids is what I was told.

Yep

Pine City had a lot of kids

Yeah, to trunk or treat events!

On a bright note, I am down to 26 full-size candy bars today.

Im gaining weight just looking at a bowl of candy left from Halloween.Kit Kats and Peanut Butter Cups mostly.I LUV both of those and can see myself breaking down soon.Wish me luck.

We always bluy candies we like so we can chow down on the left overs!

Bryce

Pace yourself.

Osky

Most kids at least here tend to go to newer neighborhoods where there's more kids.
Last year I maybe had 2 dz kids come to my home.
This year we took the kids to their grandma's neighborhood and a couple neighborhoods by our house. Kids everywhere elaborate displays etc....

Here's just my son's haul


Here's a display at 1 house

Which are fun events put together as fellowship in the church on display for their communities.
A multigenerational family event start to finish when planned accordingly.
We had loads of grandparents and parents with kids and grandkids attend and most went on the hay wagon rides together, which is old school.
Healthy old school!

Blessings!
Mark