Trick or Treat, Des Moines style

Des Moines is bizarre when it comes to Halloween. I've grown up with the traditions but to anyone else the customs are strange. It has been this way since the late 1930s. Last night was the night that kids go trick or treating. It is known as Beggar's Night. Since the late 30s kids in Des Moines have always gone out dressed up on the night before Halloween. Even with this holiday falling on a Friday, the tradition held. 

Apparently this was started by the head of the Parks and Recreation board in 1938. The city was dealing with terrible vandalism. Kids were being too rowdy for the staid Des Moines residents. So they made the rule that trick or treating would be done before. This actually worked, cutting vandalism significantly. And then the most bizarre tradition was added. The joke. 

Kids in Des Moines are required to tell a joke to the homeowners they trick or treat. Normally these are the terrible jokes you find on bubble gum packs or popsicle sticks. "Why did the man throw the clock out the window? He wanted to see time fly." I know I told some terrible ones over the years. I always had one joke memorized and told it at every single house. And it was a struggle to think of a joke at 7 but it was fun too. Now I love the tradition. I love that the kids stand at the door with their bags and tell silly jokes. And the adults laugh. Because it's kind. And some of them are actually pretty good. 

Since Jeff and I are in a townhouse, we don't get any trick or treaters coming to the house. We haven't had a single one in the three plus years we've lived here. So last night my little sister invited us over to celebrate the holiday. And I had a blast. Jeff couldn't go because of World of Warcraft stuff he had signed up for last week. I brought a bag of candy, some sharp knives, and a pumpkin. And Em spoiled me. 

I walked in to ham, apple, and brie crescent rolls. Mmmmm. They were wonderful and so easy to make. She had carved a small pie pumpkin earlier and made pumpkin soup. There were pumpkin seeds in the oven roasting. As we started carving, my older sister and her fiance came over. So the four of us carved four pumpkins, getting our hands gooey and harvesting seeds. I'll roast mine tonight. I made a very happy pumpkin, with a strange goofy grin. 

We drank hot chocolate and ate brownies. We got about 20 kids or so which is a pretty small number. My boss told me today that he had 80 kids at his house. We had a Morticia Adams, a Hillary, a Power Ranger, and a pug. Em answered the door most of the night. It was a lot of fun. Jeff still needs to carve his pumpkin tonight.