Last year I caused a firestorm by advocating that we save trick-or-treat and not accept trunk-or-treat. I respond to the criticism I received in this post.
Trunk or treat is sooo fucking depressing to me. The best trick or treating I ever did in my life as a kid (and which made me adore Halloween entirely) was in rural Iowa, so I find the first two arguments asinine.
I think the best way to deal w Halloween's overall trick or treat decline is to have neighborhoods come together as one and agree to decorate. I thought about throwing a decoration party where I bring cider and treats to different houses at a designated time to chat with neighbors and help w decor if they need it. And my hope would be the neighbors embrace the tradition and it becomes it's own annual, spirited block party.
Ryan- This is such an interesting article with trunk-or-treat at the forefront. Admittedly, I had never heard of trunk-or-treat until I came to America. And once I did, it sort of made me wonder: why not just ring the doorbell, then? Which definitely echoes some of the points you made here. I personally prefer the neighborhood feeling of trick-or-treat, where for one day a year, kids are allowed to be kids and ring at the neighbors' doorbells. It feels like it's a much more natural thing to do.
Thanks! Great to hear from you. My international students are always infatuated with Halloween and trick-or-treat. Such a fun American culture I get to share with them! Glad you are enjoying it too.
Great points! I like classic trick-or-treat, and think it should be defended. I am a bit confused on the idea that trunk-or-treat is a new thing or a growing trend, however. I remember attending one trunk-or-treat as a kid in the early 2000s, and while I’m not exactly tapped in to Halloween trends, I haven’t seen much in term of trick-or-treat declining (at least in the neighborhoods I have lived in), or being replaced by trunk-or-treat.
I will say one thing in defense of trunk-or-treats, and that’s that they are excellent for small tight communities that are nonetheless geographically separated, and often serve as a supplement to neighborhood trick-or-treats. The ones that I have seen/supported are by Christian schools/churches, and military communities, both of which are often tight but geographically separated. The trunk-or-treats are also often not on Halloween, so there’s no conflict there
Sure, thanks for the comment. There are not very good numbers on the demise of trick-or-treat or the rise of trunk-or-treat. Certainly, we have enough media reports and good searches to see that places have been losing trick-or-treaters. Trunk-or-treat, too, has been around for a long time in some form. You are right, it is often churches. It’s fine enough, especially for very young kids, just not the same.
Perhaps I should write something more on helicopter parenting being a part of this. We do have good numbers on that. These cultural norms are certainly going to effect trick-or-treat. https://www.stevemagness.org/p/the-cost-of-safetyism
Trunk or treat is sooo fucking depressing to me. The best trick or treating I ever did in my life as a kid (and which made me adore Halloween entirely) was in rural Iowa, so I find the first two arguments asinine.
I think the best way to deal w Halloween's overall trick or treat decline is to have neighborhoods come together as one and agree to decorate. I thought about throwing a decoration party where I bring cider and treats to different houses at a designated time to chat with neighbors and help w decor if they need it. And my hope would be the neighbors embrace the tradition and it becomes it's own annual, spirited block party.
Yes agreed! Same experience in rural Oklahoma where im from.
I like that, and I have seen some neighborhoods do it well. Hopefully more will follow suit. It is such great memories for kids.
Ryan- This is such an interesting article with trunk-or-treat at the forefront. Admittedly, I had never heard of trunk-or-treat until I came to America. And once I did, it sort of made me wonder: why not just ring the doorbell, then? Which definitely echoes some of the points you made here. I personally prefer the neighborhood feeling of trick-or-treat, where for one day a year, kids are allowed to be kids and ring at the neighbors' doorbells. It feels like it's a much more natural thing to do.
Thanks! Great to hear from you. My international students are always infatuated with Halloween and trick-or-treat. Such a fun American culture I get to share with them! Glad you are enjoying it too.
My college town neighborhood is a destination neighborhood and we’re proud of it.
Trunk or treat is a supplement, rarely on Halloween itself, and targeted for pre-schoolers.
Nice! Yes there is a lot of civic pride in having a destination neighborhood. It’s often a lot of work! I used to live in one, too. So fun.
The follow up piece to this one was on those such neighborhoods https://www.collegetowns.org/p/where-have-all-the-trick-or-treaters?utm_source=publication-search
Great points! I like classic trick-or-treat, and think it should be defended. I am a bit confused on the idea that trunk-or-treat is a new thing or a growing trend, however. I remember attending one trunk-or-treat as a kid in the early 2000s, and while I’m not exactly tapped in to Halloween trends, I haven’t seen much in term of trick-or-treat declining (at least in the neighborhoods I have lived in), or being replaced by trunk-or-treat.
I will say one thing in defense of trunk-or-treats, and that’s that they are excellent for small tight communities that are nonetheless geographically separated, and often serve as a supplement to neighborhood trick-or-treats. The ones that I have seen/supported are by Christian schools/churches, and military communities, both of which are often tight but geographically separated. The trunk-or-treats are also often not on Halloween, so there’s no conflict there
Sure, thanks for the comment. There are not very good numbers on the demise of trick-or-treat or the rise of trunk-or-treat. Certainly, we have enough media reports and good searches to see that places have been losing trick-or-treaters. Trunk-or-treat, too, has been around for a long time in some form. You are right, it is often churches. It’s fine enough, especially for very young kids, just not the same.
Perhaps I should write something more on helicopter parenting being a part of this. We do have good numbers on that. These cultural norms are certainly going to effect trick-or-treat. https://www.stevemagness.org/p/the-cost-of-safetyism