Tara > wrote in message >. ..
> On Wed, 06 Oct 2004 12:11:35 GMT, baker > wrote:
> >It's amazing what a difference a half century can make. Back in the mid-
> >fifties, before razor blades or needles or poison in apples and candy,
> >many houses offered trick or treaters fruit or homemade confections. My
> >mother used to make caramel apples rolled in nuts, or popcorn balls, or
> >bags of caramel corn. Neighbors used to offer homemade fudge and
> >homemade taffy. One elderly lady, who lived far down the street, used to
> >decorate her basement like a witch's shack and wear a witch costume. She
> >would invite several kids in at a time to bob for apples, and served us
> >witch's punch and cookies. In our neighborhood we were encouraged to
> >"perform" to win a treat, recite a short verse or sing a halloween song.
> >We went up and down the street on our own, just after dark, no fear from
> >possible molesters or the like, just goblins. Our costumes were usually
> >homemade, too, and often quite elaborate. Masks were often the only
> >purchased item we wore. Halloween was a lot of fun!
>
> Not even a half century. This was my Halloween experience, too, in
> the mid seventies to early eighties. The Tylenol scare changed all
> that in my neighborhood and school.
>
> Tara

The Tylenol scare, like the stranger abduction scare, is a case of
hysteria causing a whole culture to change. As in your experience with
the parents who wouldn't accept home made treats from friends,
people's hysterical fears have caused them to respond in ways that are
irrational. The odds of razor blades or drugs etc. are small, much
smaller than the odds of getting hit by a car while crossing the
street. The odds of a kid getting abducted on the way to school are
also quite small, but now no middle class kid walks farther than a
couple of blocks to school anymore. Parents feel they have to drive.
(And suburban walking has gotten unsafe, because of few sidewalks,
enormous highways, aggressive drivers, not necessarily evil
abductors). Meanwhile kids get more and more obese and unfit, and
everybody wrings their hands. It was those milk cartons in the 80s,
with the missing kids. People began to believe they were more unsafe
than they really are.

Although we live in Oakland, California, with its tough reputation, we
know all our neighbors and feel very comfortable here. If one of them
gave us a homemade treat we would definitely eat it. But I won't
bother giving them out - the large part of kids who come to our door
are from surrounding blocks, and we usually don't know them. We'll do
purchased candy like everybody else.

Leila