A Quiet Halloween;

[Angela M...]

Well it seems to be a quiet Halloween this year and although we live in a quiet residential area with four grade schools and one high school nearby it has been a pretty quiet night. We usually get between 65 to 80 kids Trick or Treating but last year it dropped a little to about 55 and this year so far it is about 35. There are a few children living on our street but they were the first to arrive and then it was dead until about 7:30. The next wave of about 15 children came about 8:00 and now the street is dead. Sometimes the older kids show up at 9 in small groups of 2 or 3 so I will leave the floodlights on so they can see up the walk and steps. OK it's 8:40 and 2 girls aged about 11 showed up with mother in tow so I gave them extra because the costumes were good. No boys dressed as girls this year and very few girls dressed as girls either. Halloween is not like it was 20 years ago and I think there are many house parties now to keep kids safe. The local Boys & Girls club had one yesterday and the Children's Safety Village did one on Saturday, giving out treats and prizes for best costume and teaching kids to watch for Bad candy and road safety issues also. The local shopping mall also does Halloween hand outs on Saturday as well. Perhaps the cold weather slowed some kids down a bit also. In my day we would walk  8 to 10 blocks minimum and fill pillow cases with treats like home made fudge and candy apples and popcorn balls as well as cookies, brownies and cupcakes too. Of course there was the usual Halloween candy in twist wrappers that was just awful and we would give that away first to parents or unsuspecting kids at school.

[Betty]

It's a fading tradition. Hardly anybody goes door to door for several blocks anymore. Most just go to a few houses nearby or where they know the people well these days. Many just have or go to Halloween parties for the kids, & skip the streets altogether.

Also once your kids grow up & move out, you become an unknown & Halloween risk factor in the neighborhood, because you no longer have kids that hang out or go to school with their kids. Parents & the kids are more likely to skip over houses where they don't have kids anymore.

Too many crazy people on the streets around Halloween, & jerks putting junk in kids trick or treat backs, or in their candy.

Yep, every year is a little quieter around here too. I live in a back upper corner of a huge mansion converted into 16 apartments, so I don't see any of it anyway, but I could hear them going door to door & on the streets. This year I didn't hear any kids, & last year just a few.

Kids crossdressing for Halloween continues to decline too. It used to be, to crossdress, was just another fun costume. But these days most kids are exposed to transgender issues at a younger age. 10 or 20 years ago, most kids didn't even know what transgender was until they're well into their teens. Now it's on the news, talked about in school, & on TV. Transgender kids even have their own TV shows or Youtube channels now.

20 years ago, even though the internet was around for years, google & Youtube didn't exist yet. Trans issues were only allowed on TV late at night after kids were in bed, or on pay-TV premium channels.

So now, most kids who would crossdress, just as a fun costume for kicks, are afraid of being called trans, so won't crossdress. Even those who are crossdressers, may be closeted about it because of fear of what their parents, & peers would say or what would happen in school if someone found out.

In most schools, kids will still be harassed, bullied, & beaten just for being suspected of being gay or trans. They'll even beat kids up for being the smallest guy in class, weak, handicapped, or for getting better than average grades.

In modern times, there are still many parents, teachers, & kids that have intense hatred for transgender people or gays. A trans or gay person in modern times may have to keep it a secret in some communities & families. Life could be unbearable for many if the people around them found out or suspected they were gay or trans.

I read all to often in the news that some parents say that they would rather their kid be dead than trans or gay (and these people will be voting in elections)!

So kids don't crossdress as much for fun anymore, because everybody will call them trans or gay.

[andyg0404]

Hi,

There certainly wasn't a lot out there when I searched Google but I found a few things. I didn't check to see how many of them are current.

Andy G.
http://www.her.ie/life/dublin-boy-no-halloween-costume-school-dresses-sister/317832

http://melandboys.blogspot.com/2012_10_01_archive.html

http://o-scientist.blogspot.com/2012/11/scenes-from-halloween.html

http://www.cafemom.com/group/107447/forums/read/17255879/Post_your_last_years_Halloween_pics

http://metro.co.uk/2016/10/31/parents-accused-of-child-abuse-for-letting-son-dress-as-hillary-clinton-6225682/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGsE_3xgu-4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxnh4Zf3QQc

[PetticoatOne]

Sometimes I think I live in a charmed area.
Here, a suburb of Portland, Maine, it seemed to be a typical Halloween.

In recent years, I setup on the front lawn with friends and hand out treats.

This year one very good friend joined me and, dressed as "little girls" (as usual), we had our customary good time.
I wore a baby dress with big, fluffy petticoats. My friend was Tinker Belle.

There were some lulls in the Trick-or-Treat action, but there were lots of kids roving for candy.. maybe 100?
Hard to say how many. I gave up trying to count a few years ago, and sometimes the kids came in crowds making it impossible to take the time to pay attention to who was wearing what.

The parents seemed to be enjoying our pit fire. We caution-tape-off a portion of the yard for a fire pit... well, it was in the 30's F!
Parents leaned over the tape toward the fire to warm their hands and voiced appreciation for the warmth..
One Father commented, "The caution tape is a good idea. You always treat us well and we would hate to see anyone cause you trouble because their child burned a hand. Happy Halloween!"

Another fun Halloween.

As I said.. perhaps this is a charmed area but I spend a LOT of time in fluffy dresses: shopping, attending appointments, showing my visitors around, etc.
Even traveling, sometimes by plane, I am very rarely hassled by anyone. I can't recall a time, at the moment, when I heard a bad comment.
Smiles, "hello"'s, "that's a very pretty dress!", "can I take your picture?", "Can I get a picture with you?": these are the usual reactions.
Perhaps it's because we present as "little girls" and aren't taking ourselves seriously. Hard to say.


But Halloween remains fun here and perhaps is the best night of theyear. 

[Angela M...]

Oh PetticoatOne, how jealous am I. Sure wish I could dress up and hand out candy in our area but there are some in my area that would cause trouble for sure. I love the Maine area but have not been out that way for years.