Trick or Treat

In the days when I used to go trick or treating in Ridgewood, neighbors moved less often than they do now and we interacted with each other more. There existed a familiarity which our current insular brand of neighborliness does not afford us. When I finally stopped trick or treating in the 8th grade, it wasn't that I didn't like the free candy or walking around the neighborhood at night with my friends. It was more that I had come to the realization that I was just too old to be doing it. Funny thing was most all of my friends came to the same conclusion simultaneously.

Looking back on how our neighbors greeted us, and us them, it amazes me to recall how well we knew each of the houses. We had a good idea of what sort of reception we would receive and we would shout to one another in the street if someone was not home that evening. The best Halloween experiences were those like we received at the Gehrigs on Heights road. They used to invite trick or treaters into their home for hot apple cider. This stood in stark contrast to most every home we visited where the door was opened and we stayed on the front steps.

Nowadays Halloween is one of our biggest holidays in this country. The National Retail Federation published statistics to back up this assertion. They found that in the United States that 53.3% of consumers planned to buy a costume for Halloween 2005, spending $38.11 on average (up $10 from the year before). They were also expected to spend $4.96 billion in 2006, up significantly from just $3.3 billion the previous year. I remember we used to go out as hobos most of the time with our faces blackened with charcoal and our cloths old and ripped. These type of costumes didn't cost a thing and were quickly assembled immediately before going out. If we did buy something it was usually purchased at Woolworths in Ridgewood or from Ben's Five and Ten in Hohokus (pictured below).