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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Halloween



Trick-or-Treating Candy Vessels of Choice…

It’s that time of the year again: Halloween, when a child’s dreams of unlimited candy come true. A time when most parents’ nightmares involve trying to keep said child from devouring their great cache of candy all in one sitting. Last but not least, it’s a time when dentists across the country realize their daydream of acquiring a new sports car is merely a few dozen filled cavities away from becoming reality.


When I was a kid out trolling for the cornucopia of sweets, it was still safe to head out with a group of your friends prepared to beg for sugar until your pillow case became too full to carry. You had to make sure you confiscated your Momma’s best pillow case—none of the lower-numbered thread count stuff would cut it for a full night of chasing the candy dream. The weight of the treats could rip holes in a low quality vessel, or you could fall – doing equal damage to a subpar pillowcase.
And anyone with a half a brain knew you never, ever used a paper grocery bag to collect your goods. The flimsy brown sack would rip before hitting the half-full stage. I can’t tell you how many kids I saw on Halloween crying over spilled candy. Their only option was to fill their pockets, scoop as much as they could carry in their arms, and run home defeated. I speak from experience on this issue! The smart munchkins never looked back. Who wanted to see the vultures scooping up their hard-earned treats and dumping them in their sturdy pillow cases? Not to mention the total annihilation of a flimsy brown bag in the sad event of rain. At least in the rain no one would notice the tears streaming down your face.

Nowadays, Trick-or-Treating goblins can collect their cavity-provoking morsels in nice little plastic pumpkins (also flawed in my opinion). If one were to truly fill the cute little candy carrier to the brim, odds are the little black handles would break under the weight.




As a seasoned pro, my candy catcher of choice in these modern times is one of the nice canvas bags. I’m sure they’re patterned after the reliable pillow case bags of days gone by. They are available with spooky Halloween scenes, or swathed in cutesy pumpkins. Of course, design preferences should be left up to the Trick-or-Treaters. A canvas catch-all is sturdy and available in almost any size. My pick would be the ultimate, supersized bag with expandable sides for maximum carrying capacity.


I vowed at an early age to make my dentist a happy man. I believe he still putts around town in his cute little sports car.




For a chance to win your FREE “The Eyes Die Last” canvas tote, post a message in the comments section below telling me your favorite candy vessel for Trick-or-Treating!


Stay safe and enjoy your Halloween! 


6 comments:

  1. I seem to remember that I had a different plastic bag every year - not a grocery store bag (those were still mostly paper in the '80s), but the kind you can sometimes buy at libraries to put your books in. These bags were usually orange plastic and had some kind of Halloween design. I can't remember if stores used to give them away or if we bought them when we bought our costumes or if I ordered them from Scholastic book orders or what. It's been 25+ years since my last trick-or-treat.

    Thanks for a fun post!

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    1. Erin,
      I remember those bags. They stretched with the weight of the candy. Would never have worked for hard core candy collecting! Fun! Thanks for commenting!

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  2. I remember taking a brown paper bag and drawing Halloween characters on it and that was my trick or treat bag.

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  3. Gayle,
    I tried brown bags...never worked too well for me. I preferred them for my Thanksgiving Indian outfit projects. Thanks for stopping by. Have a good Halloween!

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  4. Plastic bags might work if you double or triple them. You want them to hold lots of candy! Thanks for stopping by.

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