Customary Halloween Folklore

Gathering Candy

T. T.

Marietta, GA

10/23/2020

Informant Data:

T. T. was born in Marietta, GA where he has lived his entire life. He lives in a large neighborhood with his wife. He has one daughter who is 35 years old and she has one son who is his grandson. T. T.’s grandson spends a lot of time with his grandparents playing in the yard and watching TV with his grandpa. T. T. has lived in the neighborhood for 25 years and is well known by the neighbors.

Contextual Data:

T. T. lives in the first house in the neighborhood and has a large yard that he decorates with Halloween decorations. Every year he sets up skeletons and witches on his porch to scare the children. A Halloween tradition revolves around candy and sweet treats received from a bunch of different houses. The neighborhood the informant lives in participates in the customary Halloween folklore called Trick or Treating. Houses create a plan to have and distribute candy to the kids in the neighborhood. There are many ways to gather the candy and often age plays a large factor in how the candy is collected.

Text:

T. T. described the customary folklore of gathering candy as a tradition that is most popular with kids under 12 years old. The informant explained that young kids were most often seen using plastic bowls shaped as pumpkins to gather their candy while Trick or Treating. The informant also explained that older children were most often seen using pillowcases to gather their candy while Trick or Treating. Children use these containers to hold their candy while they go house to house. The informant explained that kids often gather candy with their friends and family members. After gathering the candy, the informant detailed hat the kids often dump it the candy and begin a sorting process. This is where trading of candy and sweets begins between friends and family members.

Seth Simmer

Dartmouth College

Russian 13

Fall 2020