Last Halloween my students (at a private liberal arts school) told me that it was considered embarrassing to wear the same costume to two separate parties. Many of them, then, had purchased two or more costumes for the week preceding the holiday. I remarked about how convenient that was for the economy, creating a need to spend money that helped our economic engine keep churning.
I thought of their stories when I came across this vintage ad for Halloween candy. It tells the viewer that a really cool house will offer trick-or-treaters more than one type of candy and allow them to take one of each. How excellent for the candy companies if offering only one piece of one kind of candy is considered below the bar.
Via Vintage Ads.
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Comments 9
Sbryant8081 — October 29, 2012
Talk about a bunch of rich assholes.
Meimi Nezu — October 29, 2012
Also, since they're "Just-for-Halloween" candies, they can only be used for the limited occasion. The candies can't be used as rewarding treats later because everybody will know that they're just leftover Halloween candy. Pretty much all holidays have become or were created as commercial opportunities, like cards for every occasion that can't be used on other days but don't say much.
Shreen — October 29, 2012
Some of those candies need to be in wrappers. :(
Food Links, 31.10.2012 | Tangerine and Cinnamon — October 31, 2012
[...] candy, and [...]
Paige — October 30, 2014
Hmm, seems like the candy companies were in cahoots with the dental industry back then... :-)
Bill R — October 31, 2014
Nice comeback on your part, but those students are embarrassingly spoiled. Some parents work hard at avoiding this phenomena, others let it play out as you describe. I blame the parents for being assholes. A lot of us boomers are wealthy; only some of us let it infect our families this way.
James Jordan — August 16, 2023
You make a good point about how the consumer culture creates a demand for more costumes and more candy, which benefits the economy but also contributes to waste and overconsumption.
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