When is trick and treat night?

doubleglaze

Is tonight trick and treat night, or when is it?

ethernet

It's the last day, 31st, of October so you're safe yet!

burstbuckle

ethernet wrote: »

It's the last day, 31st, of October so you're safe yet!

Trick or treat?
When did we become America?

Frynge

doubleglaze wrote: »

Is tonight trick and treat night, or when is it?

Did you not have a childhood?

inisboffin

doubleglaze wrote: »

Is tonight trick and treat night, or when is it?

Trick or Treat replaced (for some!) 'help the Halloween party'/Púca night. That traditionally takes places on Halloween or Samhain (31st - Wednesday this year). It is also the old new years eve.

That being said, as with a lot of things, convenience rears its head so 'Halloween parties' etc are often held on the closest Saturday - tonight - as a lot of people don't work on Sunday.
We'll get some trick or treaters tonight but some Wednesday I'm sure.

biko

Was just chatting to some kids I know about this, apprently Wednesday is when they intend to trick or treating.
So now I know when to stock up on raisins, apples and healthy sweets lol

snubbleste

I shall erect my blackout curtains and disconnect the doorbell.

Fuinseog

doubleglaze wrote: »

Is tonight trick and treat night, or when is it?

we are not in america. its called halloweening.

Fuinseog

burstbuckle wrote: »

Trick or treat?
When did we become America?

when it became acceptable to say 'bathroom' when you mean toilet. i know people who pronounce the word 'route' the american way just becauase they work with computers.

BTW any kids who come to my door and just say 'trick or treat' can f off. if they want something they will recite a poem or sing a song.keep it traditional. why americanise an irish custom?

inisboffin

Fuinseog wrote: »

when it became acceptable to say 'bathroom' when you mean toilet. i know people who pronounce the word 'route' the american way just becauase they work with computers.

BTW any kids who come to my door and just say 'trick or treat' can f off. if they want something they will recite a poem or sing a song.keep it traditional. why americanise an irish custom?

We have lost our language haven't we? Though some are still trying to claim it back If not then let's f*ck toilet for leithras. or door for doras? Let's not be complacent if we exchange one cultural master for another.

Mrs OBumble

Fuinseog wrote: »

we are not in america. its called halloweening.

Ahh, I don't think so:

"Halloweening: The act of a women eating a butterfinger then blowing a male (boyfriend), then while chocolate and peanutbutter is still slathered ..."

ref: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Halloweening

Pandoras Twist

Fuinseog wrote: »

we are not in america. its called halloweening.

Fuinseog wrote: »

when it became acceptable to say 'bathroom' when you mean toilet. i know people who pronounce the word 'route' the american way just becauase they work with computers.

BTW any kids who come to my door and just say 'trick or treat' can f off. if they want something they will recite a poem or sing a song.keep it traditional. why americanise an irish custom?

I'm 25 and it's always been trick or treating to me and everyone else I know

inisboffin

It would be nice to revive the old tradition of getting a poem/song etc instead of a threat! Lol.

It's a great night on The Aran Islands. The dead are allowed to walk with the living in peace, so noone in costume speaks or can be recognised until after midnight. The kids are spooky and silent at the doors and many order their pints on a piece of paper in the pub, so as not to speak!

swiftman

inisboffin wrote: »

It would be nice to revive the old tradition of getting a poem/song etc instead of a threat! Lol.

It's a great night on The Aran Islands. The dead are allowed to walk with the living in peace, so noone in costume speaks or can be recognised until after midnight. The kids are spooky and silent at the doors and many order their pints on a piece of paper in the pub, so as not to speak!

everyone is wearing a mask and in the pub there given a straw with there pint so noboby knows who's sitting next to you, could be family, friends or your emeny sitting quitely next to you.
also if you visit houses, you walk in and sit on the couch, given cans and sweets, watching whatever the family are watching on tv, them having a one way conversation with you.
after awhile just leave, if you see them a few days later, say a smart comment to them and they will know it was you in there house.

ah how i love that place called home

coleria

Halloween is coming and the geese are getting fat,
please put a penny in the old man's hat,
if you havn't got a penny,
a hay penny will do,
havn't got a hay penny,
God Bless You!!:eek:

(by house 4)

Halloween is comin n da eese fa,
please put a ny n na na nana na,
naa naa nana nn na
God Bless You!!
Yay! more monkey nuts and an apple:pac:

confuseddotcom

Frynge wrote: »

Did you not have a childhood?

Trick 'r treating never took off in my local area and other neighbouring areas. It still doesn't take place at the moment. I wouldn't believe it's a big hit in Ireland at all. It has slightly gained some attention in the last few years though with "new-age" families. We did used to have Halloween Parties n' games though and Bonfires and stuff.

inisboffin

confuseddotcom wrote: »

Trick 'r treating never took off in my local area and other neighbouring areas. It still doesn't take place at the moment. I wouldn't believe it's a big hit in Ireland at all. It has slightly gained some attention in the last few years though with "new-age" families. We did used to have Halloween Parties n' games though and Bonfires and stuff.

Everyone I know did the door to door 'help the halloween party' when I was younger. My cousins on the other side of the country did it too. You were often asked to do something like a poem, or parade your costume. Still goes on with all the kids I know, only now they call it trick or treat instead of 'help the halloween party'. All the loot was then taken to a party and we had a bonfire.

biko

biko wrote: »

So now I know when to stock up on raisins, apples and healthy sweets lol

I hated houses like yours when doing the halloween rounds. Walking back down the path to go to the next house "wtf, an apple?!?!"

ahh the memories

inisboffin

Deleted User wrote: »

I hated houses like yours when doing the halloween rounds. Walking back down the path to go to the next house "wtf, an apple?!?!"

ahh the memories

Ha ha! Monkey nuts were better than apples, as long as they had a few coins in there.
Yep, we used to get money (the smart children knew they could exchange this in a building called a shop, at a later date for sweets. To us instant gratification lot, it came a begrudging second place)

fishy fishy

Fuinseog wrote: »

we are not in america. its called halloweening.

no, it's actually called "mumming".

and then people doing the Mumming are called "mummers"

fishy fishy

coleria wrote: »

Halloween is coming and the geese are getting fat,
please put a penny in the old man's hat,
if you havn't got a penny,
a hay penny will do,
havn't got a hay penny,
God Bless You!!:eek:

get up old man and shake your feathers
do not think that we are beggars
we only come once a year
and when we come we want our share.

(by house 4)

Halloween is comin n da eese fa,
please put a ny n na na nana na,
naa naa nana nn na
God Bless You!!
Yay! more monkey nuts and an apple:pac:

you missed a verse

inisboffin

fishy fishy wrote: »

you missed a verse

That second bit is in a whole different rhythm, I've never heard it either!:D
I suspect that everywhere adds their own little local bits to a lot of these chants.

I've heard of people calling them mummers on Oiche Shamhna alright, but it's a word I would associate more with St Stephens' day and the wren boys. Mummers is a broad term for folk actors and plays though, so you could get them at any time of the year.

Iwannahurl

fishy fishy wrote: »

you missed a verse

And it's "Christmas is coming..."

inisboffin

Iwannahurl wrote: »

And it's "Christmas is coming..."

Ha ha! It's been both apparently. And Halloween was sometimes referred to as 'The Irish Christmas' as we made such a big deal of it.

inisboffin

And this is interesting:

Hogmanay Guising


" A popular Scottish Hogmanay guising song was:

Rise up, guid wife, an' shake your feathers,
Dinna think that we are beggars:
We are bairns come out to play,
Get up and gie's our Hogmanay!"

Similar enough to the 'missing' Halloween one. People are always borrowing bits from one song to make another through, especially kids (think 'Jesus Christ, Superstar..he wears frilly...etc! lol! )

fishy fishy

well, I think we can all agree it's a lot more fun and interesting than plain old
"trick or treat".

how boring is that.

NegativeCreep

burstbuckle wrote: »

Trick or treat?
When did we become America?

I've called it that since I was tiny.
What do you call it?

UrbanSea

confuseddotcom wrote: »

Trick 'r treating never took off in my local area and other neighbouring areas. It still doesn't take place at the moment. I wouldn't believe it's a big hit in Ireland at all. It has slightly gained some attention in the last few years though with "new-age" families. We did used to have Halloween Parties n' games though and Bonfires and stuff.

Where did you live,Mars?

In all seriousness I thought everyone trick or treated. And it's not new-age families, even my parents did it when they were young.


And who doesn't call it trick or treating?

Fuinseog

UrbanSea wrote: »

Where did you live,Mars?

In all seriousness I thought everyone trick or treated. And it's not new-age families, even my parents did it when they were young.


And who doesn't call it trick or treating?

I guess it depends on how much you are in touch with local tradition or how much you are influenced by foreign popular culture. BTW is there a halloween parade in Galway tomorrow night?

Iwannahurl

NegativeCreep wrote: »

I've called it that since I was tiny.
What do you call it?

Of course, for many people it's "Holloween" apparently...

Stench Blossoms

I've always gone 'trick or treating'.

When times were tough I went out dressed in a black bag.

NegativeCreep

Iwannahurl wrote: »

Of course, for many people it's "Holloween" apparently...

Oh right yeah, I call it that too. But I think the OP knows what day halloween is on but was wondering what day the kids are going trick or treating considering it falls on a Wednesday this year and parents are in work :P

mathepac

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

... When times were tough I went out dressed in a black bag.

Ahhh - a bag for life.

swine

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Ahh, I don't think so:

"Halloweening: The act of a women eating a butterfinger then blowing a male (boyfriend), then while chocolate and peanutbutter is still slathered ..."

ref: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Halloweening

You know your argument has lost any clout when you start linking to UrbanDictionary.

_Whimsical_

I always did it as a child as did all of the children in my estate and my class in school. It's by no means a new americanisation thing.

I've noticed that in recent years the number of kids coming to our door has dropped from ten to maybe one. I think most parents are probably reluctant to allow their kids do it unaccompanied and children over 8 most likely don't want to go with parents and children under that are only able to walk to next door neighbours or very nearby houses.

I hope parents will be mindful and accompany their kids though. There have been years where I've seen small kids go to doors in houses by themselves where I wouldn't go myself because I know the people living there to be...unusual. It would be nice to think too that in a neighbourhood everyone will watch out for small kids if the parents don't have the sense to so on nights like this.

inisboffin

I think the basic tradition is not being disputed - it has been going on for an age. It is what it called that has gradually changed, along with the specifics of what you do to get a treat (ie threaten the householder with a trick vs offer a performance or a verse).
We seem to get less 'tricks' in Galway, but I know one pal in Dublin whose estate has plenty of 'egged and toiletpapered' houses when treats werent forthcoming.

Near us a couple of adults wait at the gates for the gang of kids, but most tend to know who lives where.

vicwatson

In town for few days anything going on tonight for children apart from goin around the houses in Galway City (we'll do that too) ?

Happy Halloween y'all !

fishy fishy

trick or treat is an absolute American thing. It was never heard of in Ireland until maybe the early 80's when it became cool to ape whatever the Americans were doing. Until then we stuck to our dressing up with coal on faces, black bags as costumes, pagan ghosts and bonfires. anyone who think "trick or treat" has always been around are just too young to realize any different. The world WAS here before you were born you know. :D

Fuinseog

there was a time they would knock on your door two weeks early but no one has come near me yet.

Stench Blossoms

fishy fishy wrote: »

trick or treat is an absolute American thing. It was never heard of in Ireland until maybe the early 80's when it became cool to ape whatever the Americans were doing. Until then we stuck to our dressing up with coal on faces, black bags as costumes, pagan ghosts and bonfires. anyone who think "trick or treat" has always been around are just too young to realize any different. The world WAS here before you were born you know. :D

Well since I was born in the 80's it's always been around for my lifetime. If I wasn't busy tonight I'd throw on the black bag and go trick or treating myself.

antoobrien

inisboffin wrote: »

ublin whose estate has plenty of 'egged and toiletpapered' houses when treats werent forthcoming.

That reminds me, I have to go to the local fruit wholesaler to get some tomatoes & apples to "give" back to these brats.

Miss Lockhart

My parents are in their late 60s and they used the term "Trick or Treat".

fishy fishy

Miss Lockhart wrote: »

My parents are in their late 60s and they used the term "Trick or Treat".

well since "trick or treat" was only "invented" in N. America in the 1950's I can only assume that your parents must have invented it, or they are American, or picked it up from Americans.

Trick or treat is a very new thing compared to Halloween. Halloween and going out "mumming" or singing door to door is a celtic pagan tradition which goes back as far as at least the 19 century.

Miss Lockhart

fishy fishy wrote: »

well since "trick or treat" was only "invented" in N. America in the 1950's I can only assume that your parents must have invented it, or they are American, or picked it up from Americans.

Trick or treat is a very new thing compared to Halloween. Halloween and going out "mumming" or singing door to door is a celtic pagan tradition which goes back as far as at least the 19 century.

Yes, I know the tradition is very old in Ireland. I know nothing of the origins of the phrase "trick or treat". I can only share my experiences - both my parents say they used the phrase in Ireland in the 50s. I sincerely doubt they invented it - they didn't know each other then and are not from the same area. Neither are American, nor do they have any American relatives.

fishy fishy

In North America, trick or treat has been a customary Halloween tradition since at least the early 1950s.

The tradition of going from door to door receiving food already existed in Great Britain and Ireland in the form of "souling", where children and poor people would sing and say prayers for the dead in return for cakes

While going from door to door in disguise has remained popular among Scots and Irish, the North American custom of saying "trick or treat" has recently become common.

above from wikipedia.

I think if your parents were using it in the 50's in ireland, people would have had no clue what they were on about.

Miss Lockhart

fishy fishy wrote: »

In North America, trick or treat has been a customary Halloween tradition since at least the early 1950s.

The tradition of going from door to door receiving food already existed in Great Britain and Ireland in the form of "souling", where children and poor people would sing and say prayers for the dead in return for cakes

While going from door to door in disguise has remained popular among Scots and Irish, the North American custom of saying "trick or treat" has recently become common.

above from wikipedia.

I think if your parents were using it in the 50's in ireland, people would have had no clue what they were on about.

Perhaps not, but that doesn't change the fact that that is what they remember doing.

Earlier you said that the phrase was only invented in the 50s. Your own link says there are references to it from the 20s and 30s. You are speaking like you are an authority on the subject but your facts don't stack up.

Like I said, I can only share my own experiences and those of my family. It might not suit your viewpoint but I can't help that.

biko

So, tonight's the night anyway. I've stocked up on sweets now (real sweets).
Hopefully no-one will call and it's mine!

Irishgoatman

I'm in my late 60's and I grew up in England. I have no recollection of doing anything for/on Halloween.
The only time we went door to door was the week before Christmas when we went carol singing. And we always did well for money that week.

antoobrien

Irishgoatman wrote: »

I'm in my late 60's and I grew up in England. I have no recollection of doing anything for/on Halloween.
The only time we went door to door was the week before Christmas when we went carol singing. And we always did well for money that week.

Don't they celebrate a gang of catholics nearly making a mess of parliment a few days after holloween?

For those without clue

or a or a sense of humour http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes

Fuinseog

antoobrien wrote: »

Don't they celebrate a gang of catholics nearly making a mess of parliment a few days after holloween?

For those without clue

or a or a sense of humour http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes

and the phrase is 'a penny for the guy'. I do not think the Brits celebrate even the Americanised halloween.

fishy fishy

Miss Lockhart wrote: »

Perhaps not, but that doesn't change the fact that that is what they remember doing.

Earlier you said that the phrase was only invented in the 50s. Your own link says there are references to it from the 20s and 30s. You are speaking like you are an authority on the subject but your facts don't stack up.

Like I said, I can only share my own experiences and those of my family. It might not suit your viewpoint but I can't help that.

i just think its a little mad that they were saying it in Ireland when it was unknown, and barely known in the USA at the time. :D Its a completely recent thing to Ireland. Go back to the 70's there was no such thing as trick or treat in Ireland - barely had face masks - just had to disguise yourself in an old coat and coal - monkey nuts, fruit and bonfires. We didn't know what trick or treat was. We didn't know what halloween candy was either - we got coppers. Would you ask your parents where they got trick or treat from - I really would be interested to know, since I have never heard of trick or treating in Ireland in the 1950's. Halloween wasn't a commercial entity in the 1950's - that didn't happen until recently. Trick or Treat, the masks, the outfits, costumes and halloween candy are all recent things.