In no particular order….
- Pennies: Who gives out pennies (or any other extremely low denomination of coin) on Halloween night!? I wouldn’t complain if it was a dollar, but pennies just don’t go as far as they used to. First of all, it is NOT CANDY! Second of all, there are no “penny” candy shops left out there.
- Apples: That isn’t candy! That’s healthy stuff! It is true that there have been a couple of documented razorblade in the apple cases, and that is enough for me to stay away from them. Besides, this is the night for trick or treating, and if you hand out an apple, it is likely to end up in your flower garden or on your roof.
- Raisins: Nope….Uh-uh…Not going in my mouth on Halloween. Unless, of course, they are Raisinettes!
- Advice: “Look both ways before crossing the street,” should have already been beat into my head by my parents. That is not your job as the person who is giving me delicious treats!
- Canned Food: A can of Sugar Beets or Candied Yams might seem great to some people, but it is not something to give to a trick-or-treater. It is likely to end up through a car window.
- Stickers: Yeah, SpongeBob or Superman stickers are cool, but nobody wants them on Halloween. Now if you want to give a piece of candy and a sticker that’s fine, but don’t give just a sticker.
- Coupons: Even coupons for free stuff are no good. Free Wendy’s Frostys or free McDonald’s french fries are normally good, but a kid wants the instant satisfaction of candy. With a coupon you have to remember to take them in the car then convince your parents to stop by to get you something free. Most of the time the coupons expire before you can use them anyway. Say no to coupons.
- A Toothbrush: Yeah, yeah. We all know we should brush our teeth. We don’t need to get that message drilled into us by our neighbors.
- Little Bags of Microwave Popcorn: Anything that requires the use of a 1000 watt kitchen appliance shouldn’t be given to kids on Halloween.
- Homemade Anything: I don’t care if your cookies won blue ribbons at the county fair or your popcorn balls are the toast of the town, don’t put them in my Halloween bag. The parents won’t let us eat anything homemade anyway and your homemade treats will end up getting tossed in the trash anyway. Save your time and buy a big bag of candy at the local megamart.
I think there’s a penny candy shop in Pennsylvannia still.
October 31st, 2006 at 8:10 amLet me add: packets of Pepperidge Farm (or other mass-manufactured, prepackaged sugar cookies):
1) Children do not like plain sugar cookies (or at least I didn’t).
October 31st, 2006 at 10:57 am2) Children cannot properly appreciate Pepperidge Farm cookies, for the most part.
3) Those sugar cookies get HARD in the package, dammit!
tonks: Do they actually sell candy for 1 penny?!? Do I need to get a plane ticket? Tee hee.
October 31st, 2006 at 11:51 am[...] The definitive source for Halloween goodies is the Candy Addict blog. Their postings today are a trove of spooky goodness, including the Top 10 Worst Non-Candy Items to Get on Halloween, How Adult Can Get Candy While Trick-or-Treating Without Dressing Up, a review of Candy Corn-flavored soda and the Top 10 grossest candies for your Halloween party table (the worst candy? The “lick your scabs” candy bandages). [...]
October 31st, 2006 at 12:10 pmI haven’t done trick or treating since I was 12 my sister was 20 something :-)
But if I was I’d like raisons and Little Bags of Microwave Popcorn:
Little Bags of Microwave Popcorn are cool you put some good pikes of chocolate after it’s made and it becomes so yummy.
Raisins: I like them and I can melt choclolte on them mmmmmmmmmmmmm or put them in salads. Okay so I am weird.
I love candy corn and lickerish
October 31st, 2006 at 6:39 pmRobert I promise if I remember where it is and what it’s called I’ll tell you.
November 1st, 2006 at 1:32 pmyou can give me your email adress and plus your name and some questions about candy
February 11th, 2007 at 8:30 ami will give you my email to it is: p.hadia.mac1@hotmail.com
bye
February 11th, 2007 at 8:31 amTo anyone who’s looking for a penny candy store(and to the author, they do exist :D), there happens to be one in Littleton, New Hampshire. It is called Chutters, and it ALSO happens to have the world’s longest candy counter, it’s quite awesome if I do say so myself. Here’s a link to their website: http://www.chutters.com/history.html
October 21st, 2007 at 5:05 pmIntelligentLittlePopTart: But are those items actually sold for a penny? Most times I find ‘penny candy’ the amount is more than a penny.
Besides, if some kid gets a nickel in Nebraska, it’s not going to get them to New Hampshire…
October 31st, 2007 at 4:19 pmI would say the top worst non-candy trick or treat item would be a chick tract. http://www.chick.com/default.asp
October 31st, 2007 at 11:49 pmi actually smacked a person for giving me a toothbrush and advice.
November 25th, 2007 at 8:36 pmI hate tootsie-rolls. I never eat them and they just sit in my halloween bag growing old. Most of the time they’re hard, but even when they aren’t…I just don’t like them. I’m also getting sick of Hersheys bars. Be a little more original, please! Everyone gives those out.
January 12th, 2008 at 5:24 pmI also really hate it when these lazy curmudgeons give you melted candy that has been sitting next to the front door for hours
July 30th, 2008 at 2:47 pmYou are so right, I’m an 8 year old trick or treater and all I want is candy that doesn’t suck. I hate freakin pennies and throw the away all the time – but for Halloween they really suck. I throw all the change I get (don’t think a kid even wants a freakin quarter now a days) into the trash with those suck ass apples!!!!!!!
October 24th, 2008 at 8:22 amgosh;;
October 29th, 2008 at 10:46 amcandy corn should be one of them.
it doesn’t taste like candy or corn.
/:
May I add religious pamphlets?
October 31st, 2008 at 9:14 pmNot a good treat AND annoyingly uncomfortable.
I don’t like those little treat bags with the pencil and the other little cheap toys. Funny story, this Halloween we got these bags with cheap pencils, a paper airplane and an ad for gutter cleaning!!
November 1st, 2008 at 12:26 pmBest non-candy treat I’ve found is glow bracelets. You can get them 100/$7 if you shop around online(which is what you’d spend on two bags of candy anyway), kids go insane for them, added safety crossing street bonus… This year I literally had to have an extra person because of the trick or treater traffic and keeping kids from robbing me wholesale of half a dozen of them.
November 2nd, 2008 at 12:58 pmWe had someone give out glow bracelets to the kids this year as well. It was a very good idea and the kids loved them. The folks giving them out even activated them and put them together, which was very nice of them. If you’re not going to give out candy, I’d say glow bracelets/necklaces are a great second choice!
November 2nd, 2008 at 7:51 pmI can’t believe I’m the first to mention those vile peanut butter kisses! They were horrible back then, they’re still horrible today…why they still make them, I can’t imagine–does ANYONE like/eat these?
November 7th, 2008 at 7:25 pmi live in milford, connecticut and there is stil a penny candy shop down town it they have been in business for EVER!! and they have sky bars and other homemade stuff!!! its called Wandas Sugar Shack if you ever come to milford you should check it out its kind small tho
November 13th, 2008 at 8:43 pmI love the really old fashioned type of sweet shop, it’s a shame most are dying out.
November 16th, 2008 at 7:02 pmWith regrads to trick or treat, never give me fruit! lol
I disagree. You can hand your homemades off to me, that stuff is the shiz.
November 24th, 2008 at 12:14 ami love popcorn balls and pepermint wafers
December 9th, 2008 at 3:01 pmGee, Tom, I think the PB molasses kisses taste absolutely divine! (I’m in the minority) Send ‘em my way :-)
December 28th, 2008 at 10:59 pmsome of my faverit candy’s r dots,tootis pops, almost evry candy ecsept candy corn
January 3rd, 2009 at 11:49 pmThe good ol days.
January 9th, 2009 at 3:22 amgreat article! better than getting rocks or razor blades.
January 9th, 2009 at 3:24 amI LOVE CANDY!!!
January 12th, 2009 at 12:28 pmI LOVE CANDY!!!SO MUCH
January 12th, 2009 at 12:29 pmIn my younger days I ate my fair share of candy,now as an adult I love to possess it,to have it around for all to enjoy,halloween is a big deal to me:O)
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:36 pmThe worst is Good’n'Plenty. That candy shell-coated licorice? That stuff is nasty.
January 28th, 2009 at 9:22 pmYes the worst ones here are definately listed. The thought of apples, or toothbrushes….how did they come about. Popcorn is maybe not so bad but what’s halloween without the candy and all the fun that goes along.
Lynda
May 8th, 2009 at 12:18 pmI’m pretty sure the pennies hearken back to the “trick or treat for unicef” days. I’m not sure if unicef is still using children to do their fund-raising, but that’s where the pennies and other coins used to go when I was a kid, and usually people with pennies also still gave out candy.
June 12th, 2009 at 3:04 pmi enjoy mini bags of microwave pop corn!!! they are less cals and still all the good!!
July 28th, 2009 at 3:53 pmthere should be a rule for the kind of candy given out too. NO MORE CANDY CORN yuck. i hate it. Chocolate, lollipops, and sour stuff are awesome
August 23rd, 2009 at 12:17 pmdont forget cans of soda, once my dad said we could only stop at one house that halloween cuz we were travling and the guy gives me a fanta. really? my dad doesnt let me drink in the car so it got warm, eww @ ashley i might check out that store, i live near milford lol
August 31st, 2009 at 9:41 pmwho in the world whould want a toothbrush honestly!!!!
October 17th, 2009 at 12:33 pmOoh I liv in New Haven so I cld go there! Sweet ! Litereally.
November 14th, 2009 at 8:31 pmits so hard too get reece peanut butter cups these days for halloween…you always get those gross snicker’s (sorry i dont like peanuts in my chocolate!)
March 4th, 2010 at 2:36 am