On my way back from work the other day, I heard a brief radio ad for a Halloween event. I didn’t really pay much attention to it as I’m not much into this specific holiday. However, I did pause when I heard the phrase ‘Trunk or Treat’ as part of the announcement. ‘Trunk?‘ Before I could start pondering the meaning, I heard the word ‘tree,’ and – content to have the context – I focused on the road ahead of me again. Tree trunk. *shrug*
Once I got home, I checked my email and found one from the apartment complex where I live. The announcement was about an upcoming ‘Trunk or Treat’ event. OK, at that point, I was hooked and had to read on. It turns out that this time the event has nothing to do with trees and instead involves CAR trunks. The email invites all residents to dress up their (car) trunks and drive them to the leasing office, where a Halloween party will take place and treats will be exchanged.
It was my assumption that the trunk event started during the 2020 pandemic when parents would drive to their kids’ schools and teachers would toss some candy into the trunk so as to minimize contact. However, people report ‘trunk or treating’ decades ago. If you say so…
Car trunks, candy, and kids… hmmm… I wonder where your brain will take you. Mine took me the obvious route – nefarious people manipulating kids with candy to get in their car for nefarious reasons – an ancient tale. We all talk about how terrible the world is, yet, we choose to be ignorant at the weirdest of times. Surely no one would take advantage of people having fun!
Back in the day, people were worried about dangerous things being hidden inside Halloween candy. All year round, kids were told not to talk to strangers and not to get into their cars, especially when bribed with candy. These days, we tell kids to get candy from random people’s trunks? In what world is that a good idea?
I don’t really see anything positive in this scenario. You want to dress up – go ahead. You want to decorate your house/yard? Why not. Adorn your car, if that’s what you would like. We can have ALL of that, without unnecessarily inviting evil (paganism aside).
Shannon Sweeney’s pictures in her post from 2018 say it all. Yes, I am an adult and enjoy horror movies. I also am known to have fun every now and again, but the photos of their trunk give me the hibbie jibbies.
If you’re looking for some last-minute costume ideas, check out my post from two years ago. Still very much relevant.
- Are you celebrating Halloween this year?
- If you’re dressing up, what’s your costume?
- Have you heard of ‘trunk and treat?’
- What are your thoughts on ‘trunk and treat?’
Stay golden,
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One day at a time... 
Are you celebrating Halloween this year? Just passing out candy tonight.
If you’re dressing up, what’s your costume? Not dressing up this year.
Have you heard of ‘trunk and treat?’ Yup. It’s been around a long time, though I’ve never participated in one.
What are your thoughts on ‘trunk and treat?’ I think they are an interesting alternative to traditional trick-or-treating. If I were a kid, I’d be all about it—loads of candy gathered in a short amount of time!!
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What are your preferred candies for passing out? Are they the same you usually enjoy, or those you don’t?
Awww, I could see you going to a fun costume party. Hope it’s not just because of your burnout issue.
“loads of candy gathered in a short amount of time” I think that’s a great argument. And you don’t even have to do as much walking!
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I always make up little goodie bags that have a couple pieces of chocolate and a couple pieces of candy. I usually buy a giant bag of mixed chocolates and a giant bag of mixed candies. This year’s mixed mini chocolate bag included Reese’s peanut butter cups, Almond Joys, Whoppers, Kit Kats, Hershey’s Milk Chocolate, and Milk Duds. The mixed candy bag included Now & Laters, Chuckles, Gobstoppers, Lemonheads, and Lemonhead Pops. I don’t eat much sugar (I’m a salt freak), so I don’t pick candy based on my preference. My fave chocolates are Reese’s PBCs, Snickers, and 100 Grands. My fave candies are Gummy Savers, red licorice, and chewy caramels. What about you?
I’ve dressed up the past couple years to attend my firm’s Halloween party, but they didn’t have one this year. 🤷🏼♀️ If I’d had a party to attend this year, I’d have dressed up.
Another great argument is to not be stuck out in the elements. It was miserable this year: cold and pouring rain. Poor kiddos…
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I love Reese’s and Snickers, too! I go between waves of sweet and salty. I hate licorice, though.
Yuck! The weather definitely plays a big factor in the fun to be had.
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Only slightly better than “panel van or treat”.
As long as Day of the Dead lives on…
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Hahahah, right?!
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I enjoy Halloween, and we had a party on Saturday. I like handing out treats, but in my neck of the woods, it’s rainy 80% of the time. A Trunk or Treat under cover would likely be welcomed 😂
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Rain… hmmm… I used to have these head umbrellas as a kid. Did you? Freed up your hands. It reminds me that I should get one… Though they probably don’t look as fly on adults…
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I tried one once. It hurt my head. It’s probably because I bought a cheap one. Umbrellas in British Columbia is the way one identifies transplants and visitors. We talk about umbrellas, but we mostly don’t use ’em. Keeping them dry is a source of pride 😂
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Too funny! I don’t understand people who have an umbrella in hand as it’s raining and they choose not to ‘get it wet.’ But getting yourself wet is OK? What does that communicate? That your umbrella is more precious than your clothes/hair/ health? It’s annoying to have a wet umbrella in the car or house, but so is having yourself…
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November is such a steamy month for foyers.
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Is that their purpose? *mindblown*
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I’ve read about trunk or treating as safety – the parents are with the children in a car park rather than children knocking on strangers doors
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Well, you could say that the parents are/should/could be with the kids when going house to house, too.
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Trunk or treat has been in our area for at least 10 years. It is often done by churches, fire departments or even schools. It does make it easier for parents to take their kids to a smaller area rather than walking all over town. It also keeps kids out of the streets so is safer in that regard.
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I’m used to kids walking the streets with kids anyway. But I see how going to your church could be considered safer than just going through random neighborhoods especially as you don’t relly know your neighbors anymore…
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We have done “Trunk or Treat” at our church for several years now. After service and Sunday School, the kids put on their costumes and anyone who wants to participate goes out to the parking lot and opens their trunk to give out treats. I bring a “cauldron” to put my treats in and wear a witches hat, black dress, cape and mesh gloves. Some dress up, some don’t. We did it yesterday and had about 50 kids. I don’t get kids at my house, so I really enjoy it. Happy Halloween, Sam.
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And it serves as a good incentive for kids to go to church and stay the entire time. Two birds with one stone! Glad to hear that you enjoy this community building event.
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That was one of our goals. 😊
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I haven’t dressed up in a few years — though when I did, I was almost always a witch. Nowadays, I just hide while other people deal with the social aspect of the holiday. I do like seeing some of the more clever decorations, though.
Trunk or Treating I’d never heard of, and though I would think it might suck some of the joy out of things for a child, I’m not so sure a stranger’s car is any more dangerous than a stranger’s house.
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You’re too funny. But I hear ya. Having to sit at the door, open it every 2 minutes (you can’t really sit outside the whole evening if you live in a cold climate) never sounded like fun to me. And then the obligatory ‘who are you supposed to be?’ question… Or ‘I love your xyz costume.’
Well, I do remember hearing (not sure if fiction or not) stories about kids being pulled into strangers’ homes, etc. So, I guess there are issues everywhere…
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Oh, I don’t mind the idea in theory — practicing small talk on an army of children would probably be good for me. But social interaction of even such an innocuous sort has been increasingly intimidating to me. Speaking of hiding out, though, how was your Halloween?
Yeah… In retrospect, it’s amazing how trusting we were as kids…
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Halloween? I pretty much forgot about it until someone said ‘Happy Halloween’ in a work email. And then I forgot about it again. Lol
Very true!
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Lol!
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I’m not a fan of Halloween. I don’t object to little children asking for sweets. However, I don’t encourage this as it worries me that we are giving our children the wrong message re not taking sweets from strangers, let alone knocking on strange doors with the possibility of getting someone, even stranger opening the door. My main beef with Halloween is that, in the past, I’ve had bunches of teenagers dressed in half-hearted attempts at costumes and asking for money to buy their own sweets! Not falling for that one.
I’ve never heard of Trunk and Treat. We don’t have that over here in the UK. I agree with you about worrying if it’s safe for children to go near a stranger’s car boot, let alone take sweets from people they don’t know. I guess most children are accompanied by a parent. I hope that’s the case anyway.
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I think when it comes to Halloween it’s the craze in the USA vs the rest of the world (meh or non-existant).
I hear ya and agree. That’s the message that was communicated to me – get sweets at home instead.
Wow. Money? That’s bold!
Yes, I do, too. It’s just I know that in those ‘static’ (vs. walking house to house) situations, parents tend to group up and socialize as the kids run around. It doesn’t take much. But then, I see the bad everywhere…
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Wow, I’ve never heard of this practice out here but, nowadays, things like these aren’t as surprising when you know what humanity is capable of hahah
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Hahahahha the world is just weird, man…
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