Though the story is a cute, warm-fuzzy read, and a funny poke at "kid-math" I believe the Geek Dad missed the overall point.
What's really important about the Halloween candy bartering is that kids STILL know (as I did back when I was trick or treating) that the Peanut Butter cup (I would assume Reese's) is THE "golden goose," "the brass ring," "the platinum piece" of candy trading.
Look a little bit closer at the deals Johnny, Mikey and Frankie were making and you'll see that everyone was betting on that peanut butter cup.
6 pieces of chocolate... 14 pieces of candy corn... 4 gummi worms... those are some high-stakes. And all for the coveted [Reese's] Peanut Butter Cup.
I'll tell ya this: I agree with their pricing.
Tongue firmly planted in cheek he'd say "Yeah let's see what you got tonight. I need to go through it and make sure there's no poison."
What always wound up happening is he'd scan the table and pick up one of the Reese's single Peanut Butter Cups, open it and take a bite.
"Nope. No poison in this one."
Ahhhhhhh "Dad-Jokes."
Smarties, Tootsie rolls, Dum Dum pops, and more were all traded with reckless abandon. But the Reese's Peanut Butter cups... those were siphoned out and stacked to the side like $1000 dollar poker chips. When it came to trading for those... things got serious. Like Godfather serious.
Their "perceived Halloween value" isn't the only reason Reese's Peanut Butter cups remind me of Halloween most often. Just the wrapper itself is a Halloween treat: brown, black and orange. The colors of Fall. Halloween colors.
Ok, your turn: What was the tent-pole candy in your Halloween candy bartering?
The gold standard?
The opposite of a Charlie Brown "I got a rock?"
Sound off in the comments below.
10 comments:
I have to agree the peanut butter cups were the top prize. We tried giving them out to trick or treaters but truth be told we eat them long before any costume feet hit our steps.
I would have to say, for me, it was definitely Butterfinger bars. Them or Baby Ruths.
Obviously, the full size candy bars went for the highest premium. Didn't matter what they were. There could be a Zagnut that would be withheld until a proper sized pile of SweetTarts and Lemonheads and such would be offered up. NEXT were the Reese's cups.
If you were lucky enough to be the kid that got the FULL SIZE REESE'S CUP PACKAGE (2!!!), you either didn't tell anyone, or prepared to use the crane kick to fend off anyone who had heard about your fortune.
Then, obviously, were the fun size candy bars. I was partial to the Butterfinger or 3 Musketeers, while my friends were all about the Snickers, so we'd have a lot of fair trading there.
Then came the fruity stuff like the aforementioned SweetTarts or Spree or an errant Starburst. Those were nickel slots as far as we were all concerned. Well, as far as my friends were concerned. I loved all that crap, but I had to keep a poker face during trading lest the stakes be raised.
I really should have written up a blog post about this, as it appears there was much to the candy barter system that I had forgotten
I always felt the small mystery "bag" of sweets... you know the "grab bag" that usually only had two caramels and a Hershey miniature. Those for some reason with the badly drawn skeleton or witch were the GOLD standard. Sense you never knew WHAT could in it?? Maybe a toy, maybe a lizard... who knew!! AWESOME!! Then came large size bars... then everything else!
Great post and oh so true! I can attest that the Reese's Cup is also the gold standard in my kid's All Hallow's Eve Candy exchange as well! They are horded and rationed like they were the last existing Reeses on the planet...ha!
YES! And here I was thinking that those were only my favorite candy! Luckily, I had friends with not so great taste in candy, so I was able to trade them for the good stuff. :)
Either Reeses, Kit-Kats or Charms Blow pops were the Halloween Holy Grail when I was a kid :)
Peanut butter cups were ALWAYS the last thing we traded, but upon their invention Airheads got more and more valuable.
Old Fashion: Oh sure, as an adult the Reese's don't last long if Treaters aren't there early.
Necropolis: Wow. BUTTERFINGERS! Yeah Butterfingers were my 2nd place. Holy crap I want a Butterfinger now.
Rev: King Size were definitely a legend we all believed in. You should still write that post about candy bartering. Sweep the leg.
Anonymous: The grab bag? Interesting. Although I loved the black, orange and white designs on the bag, I usually found them to be lacking in quality candy inside.
Wendy: Good to know the tradition continues with the next generation.
Justine: Yeah, every once in a while you could find a kid who had some strange affectation in black licorice or other candy you didn't like and could cash in.
Anonymous: Mmmmmm Sour Apple Blow-Pop. Another classic.
Josh: Interesting. Airheads. I've had 'em. And agree that they cause addictions in lab rats and myself. Maybe Airheads will have some staying power in the years ahead.
In my time Reeces were the gold standard of trick or treating treasure too! Along with Butterfingers, Kit Kats and Nerds! But me being the cunning kid I am, I would usually trade for tons of the good old reliable friend of boys everywhere! Bubble Gum! My favorite targets? Bubble Yum, Big League Chew and Bazooka!
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