For Non US citizens -- LET's DUMP Halloween

jimbo45

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Hi there
I'm not trying to be a kill joy but isn't time in Europe we stopped importing Halloween -- We've got plenty of our OWN festivals and these days on dark nights should you really be encouraging young kids to go banging on strangers doors with the stupid "Trick or Treat" -- My Dogs keep them away but really this isn't the sort of practice responsible parents should be letting their kids do.

In any case Halloween is actually an old English (Anglo saxon language - not "The English") corruption for "All Hallows Eve" (Hallows meaning Saintly or Saints ) which is the night before All Saints Day on Nov 1st which is a major European holiday in any case (I don't think Nov 1 is a holiday in the UK but a lot of European countries have it as a day off.

We've got plenty of our OWN festivals ranging from "Beer Day" in Iceland to "Tomato day" in Spain -- USA we don't need to import your Halloween junk - please take it home again.

Cheers
jimbo
 

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Jeez! Only one beer day, Jimbo

Hi there.

Beer Day ---Mar 1st -

- celebrated the lifting of the Beer restriction as recently as 1989 where you could only get 2% low alcohol beer -- of course ship loads of Danish beer were imported (semi-illegally of course bit I suppose suitable back handers were passed around) from Greenland -- Living in Denmark you must have sometimes wondered why the consumption of Beer in Greenland was so huge for a really TINY population !!! - Most of it was exported one way or another to Iceland where it was drunk in VOLUMES that would even make the Germans look like small time beer drinkers.

Don't even THINK of driving a car if you are ever over here on Mar 1 !!!!!.

Cheers
jimbo
 

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Lets not ruin the day for those who love it... along with all those GHOST movies, parties, with those awful costumes..
WitchBroomquote.jpg
 

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I have never been much of a fan of Halloween either. But it has become such a part of the culture, and the economy of many retailers, that it is likely to remain with us for a long time. For many people it rivals or even surpasses Christmas as their favorite day of the year.
 

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Shoot Jimbo, I *am* a US citizen and I agree with ya. The last thing I look forward to is a bunch of rug rats ringing the doorbell looking for handouts that will further fatten up the little turds and driving my dog nuts.

_jeff
 

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Hi there.

In the USA OK - if they want this stuff where it's been a tradition OK but what I am saying is that this day has NO historical basis OUTSIDE the USA and has only been pushed in the last few years as desperate retailers try and squeeze some money out of people in the longish period between the end of the Summer holidays and Christmas (another festival that is rapidly turning - if it hasn't already - into a painful commercial quagmire rather than a joyous Christian celebration - for those of that particular belief).

However Christmas has its tradition and place -- what I am against is the importation of a totally meaningless festival just because a few clever businesses think they can make some money out of it - and encouraging VERY YOUNG kids to do all sorts of things they shouldn't be doing at all especially alone in the dark cold winter nights in N. Europe totally outside the knowledge of their parents.

Cheers.

jimbo
 

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Well in England the kids come banging on the door, without their parents. They want cash, not an actual trick or treat, if you ignore them they egg your house.
 

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I remember celebrating Halloween when I was a kid in England the 1960s, so it's been a tradition here for over fifty years. We didn't knock on doors though.
 

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I loved Halloween as a kid and my kids enjoyed it as they grew up but I wholeheartedly agree with Jimbo that holiday traditions should not be imported from other countries. For instance, I hope the US never imports Beer Day as we already have entirely too many excuses for people to get drunk and be obnoxious.

The holiday I find to be totally irrelevant here in the US is Cinco de Mayo. Lots of people throw parties and such but have no idea what is significant about that day and many believe it is Mexican independence day (which it isn't). The day is only relevant in a particular Mexican state where a battle took place during the Mexican revolution.
 

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Hi there
Nothing in my post or the thread is meant to imply that it should stop being celebrated in the USA where it's a tradition -- my whole "Beef" here is that it's an un-necessary US import that we don't really need - and without the traditions of kids SENSIBLY doing their stuff the idea - especially in the colder regions of Northern Europe - the idea of young kids knocking on strangers doors at night - unsupervised - just doesn't cut it.

Even Iceland which is one of the SAFEST countries on Earth (as far as Crime stats go) still isn't immune from some predatory people - thank whatever deities you believe in the numbers are TINY - but the number is still greater than ZERO -- and in the UK it's far worse as a lot of people just don't have the parenting skills to handle this whole show.

No way do I want to stop people from having a good time -- there's enough misery around the planet at the moment - but this is ONE festival that IMO should be restricted to its homeland.

The stupidity of importing festivals could be imagined -- just say we had the "Bull Run"(Pamplona) down Wall street -- actually might make sense when the Stock Market is doing fine !!!-- or along Hollywood Blvd. !! during the mornings rush hour - for a whole week !!. Leave traditions where they belong in their HOST countries.

(I however do make possibly a UNIQUE exception - wherever I've been on the Planet - St Patricks day - "St Paddy's day" is always fun - so as we all know every rule has an exception - I'll think we'll grant the Irish no problems in exporting their festival !!!).

Cheers
jimbo
 

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Those mean kids who take to egging anything should be caught and made to wear a sign Saying"
" I Have NO RIGHT to egg anything much less someones home ", they have to clean up the mess they made at those homes.

Fun is one thing , after all the little ones are those who are supposed to get in the halloween spirit..
NOT anyone over the age of 12 years.

jimbo I do agree with you on your comment # 8 message.:thumb:
 
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I would think it is not a US export, but rather other countries Import, no? A Guy
 
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See this article for more information about Halloween:
Halloween - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Halloween did not originate in the US but was imported from Scotland and Ireland in the 19th century. You cannot assume that other European countries received it from the US, although in many cases I am sure that was the case.
 

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The United States was/is the melding pot of many nationalities, so therefore we have many holidays relating to many nationalities. Other things like food, clothing, and architecture.

Coming from a family of twelve children, we didn't have much. We weren't the poorest, but then again we weren't the richest. Treats were far few in between. A bowl of ice cream on Saturday night was a real treat. Our mother would save the heels from bread and make bread pudding. Another treat.

Dressing up in costumes and going out to trick or treat were fond childhood memories for us. It got us candy we wouldn't otherwise get.

Of course it was a different world back then. Much safer. At first we started hearing of sickos putting razor blades and apples. Other sick stuff as well. What kind of a sadist would do those things to helpless children?!! As parents we had to check all our childrens' bags. Churches started to offer parties so we decided to go that route. They had games to play and the children got their candy. Much safer.

Most towns around here now mandate a certain date and time that children can trick or treat. It's usually a day on the weekend before Halloween during daylight hours. Many parents accompany their children to do so. One may see some older children in groups, but never younger ones.

Happy Halloween to all that celebrate it. :)
 

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HappyHalloweenECLPt.jpg
 

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Hi there
I think it's FINE for USA - it's big over there.

There's nothing in the thread saying that USA should stop having this at all - I just don't think we need this in countries where this isn't a tradition - and these days especially where kids - especially young ones can go out unsupervised banging on people's doors quite late into the evening. I suspect in the USA the whole event is managed much better anyway..

Nothing in the thread was intended to imply that those IN the USA should abandon the day. Enjoy if you want to.

Cheers
jimbo
 

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The United States was/is the melding pot of many nationalities, so therefore we have many holidays relating to many nationalities. Other things like food, clothing, and architecture.

Coming from a family of twelve children, we didn't have much. We weren't the poorest, but then again we weren't the richest. Treats were far few in between. A bowl of ice cream on Saturday night was a real treat. Our mother would save the heels from bread and make bread pudding. Another treat.

Dressing up in costumes and going out to trick or treat were fond childhood memories for us. It got us candy we wouldn't otherwise get.

Of course it was a different world back then. Much safer. At first we started hearing of sickos putting razor blades and apples. Other sick stuff as well. What kind of a sadist would do those things to helpless children?!! As parents we had to check all our childrens' bags. Churches started to offer parties so we decided to go that route. They had games to play and the children got their candy. Much safer.

Most towns around here now mandate a certain date and time that children can trick or treat. It's usually a day on the weekend before Halloween during daylight hours. Many parents accompany their children to do so. One may see some older children in groups, but never younger ones.

Happy Halloween to all that celebrate it. :)

Yep, same here! Although the stories of people putting razors in candy, etc... were made up. The so called "things are getting worse" crowd tend to make these imaginary issues more important than they really are... My father and brother were cops were years before retiring and they both said they never saw a real case where candy was poisoned or made dangerous in those years or ever heard of a legitimate report. The reports that were made were fraudulent, made by sick people who just wanted attention...
 

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I've always wanted to reply "Oh great, I love to trick folks!", then "Wait here.", then return with an apple, and ask "Do you want the rosy half or the green half?" - but I sadly never have the props to hand.

The UK tradition for this time of year used to be "Penny for the Guy?" where kids would make an effigy of Guy Fawkes, and hawk it around in some wheeled contraption - pram, box cart, kiddie car, supermart trolley, etc., in order to beg for a few pennies for fireworks for November 5th - Bonfire Night - a celebration of the famous attempt to blow up King and Parliament (or was it the defeat of a terrorist plot that was celebrated - the jury is out on that one!)

It was a self-defeating exercise, where kids just got cold and fed up, and usually made too little for any real contribution to their bonfire party funds.

It has since become 'antisocial' to have small bonfire parties, and set fire to our neighbour's fences, or scare their pets with whizzbangs, so large community organized events began to take place, with one big fire and a large pyrotechnic display, so that everyone's cats and dogs can get the message that it isn't safe to go out after dark any more.

A few years ago I lived in the Borough of Hounslow, which is between Heathrow and London, where there is a large well mixed Asian community who would celebrate Diwali at about the same time. This consisted of about a week and a half of the loudest fireworks set off randomly in gardens from Southall to Brentford during the evenings, and the effect was akin to a WWI battlefield with a constant rumble of distant explosions punctuated by loud and near airbombs and crackers, and the aircraft swooping low on their flightpath to Heathrow as if they were going to join in the battle.
 

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