The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/candy/)
For many, Oct. 31 is a time to delight in the classic indulgence in Halloween candy. But while these treats can be immediately rewarding, it is also important to recognize the nutritional and psychological implications of the holiday centered around an overload of sweets.
I’d like to consider myself a seasoned trick-or-treater, maybe even a master of the craft. For as long as I can remember, I would spend my childhood Halloween evenings bargaining and trading candy with my fellow sweet treat connoisseurs, attempting to optimize my selection. I’d say I’ve been through the trick-or-treating rounds enough to know what is good, and what is horribly bad.
In my neighborhood, the best houses gave us big candy bars or goody bags, and the worst, nothing at all, or equally as abhorrent, sliced apples. But I’ve certainly been hearing some recent horror stories about childhood trick-or-treating and found it time to finally create the nightmare list of treats. Our ranking begins somewhat mildly, with fruit.
Halloween season is fully upon us, which means it’s the time of year to stuff our faces with candy and feel no remorse. In our childhood days of trick-or-treating, we all had our favorite candies that we would trade anything for and others that we would gladly give away for free. But which candies are objectively the best? I’ll use the following four metrics to score many of our favorite chocolate based candies (sorry chocolate haters). This will be scored from one to five with five being the best.
Normally around this time of year, Americans would be gearing up for a night of chaperoning younger siblings around town, eating excessive amounts of chocolate and buying out the clearance candy from CVS on November 1st. I don’t really have to point out why things are a bit different this year.
The night of October 31, 2020 will be one filled with college students sitting pathetically in their rooms, accompanied only by a pile of empty candy wrappers and too much free time. As such, take a moment with me to remember better times: Look at how Halloween developed into the modern holiday we know and love, and catch a glimpse into what it may be like in years to come.
Between all of the holidays taking place around October 31 — El día de muertos, Halloween, All Souls Day — it can get confusing to trace down where one holiday ends and the other begins. Though all three of these holidays have interconnected roots, most scholars agree that Halloween’s past is connected to a combination of ancient Celtic and Christian traditions.
More than 2,000 years ago, when the Celts lived in modern day Ireland, the feast of Samhain (pronounced sow-win) marked the end of the harvest season as the community began preparations for the coming winter months. The symbolic “death” of a season and the reaping of crops prompted feasts and celebration, but also indicated that the space between the dead and the living was thinner than ever.
Spooky season is officially upon us. It seems that out of nowhere the pumpkin spice lattes are being sipped, and fall foliage is blanketing campus. With Oct. 31 just around the corner, now is the time to start coordinating the perfect Tiger King inspired Joe exotic costume, or maybe keep things simple by repping your favorite team’s jersey. Tentatively, we purchase our costumes with one question in mind: Are Halloween festivities going to fall victim to the pandemic as we have seen with other holidays this year?
Valentine’s Day is pretty cool because it’s ranked second, behind only Halloween, among days when you can stuff your face with candy without being judged. And trust me, Valentine’s Day is MUCH better because you don’t have to wander aimlessly from house to house like a beggar collecting candy from your neighbors. You don’t even have to get dressed up in a promiscuous costume (although some of you may decide to — that’s none of my business).
Answer the questions, calculate your score, then see what your favorite treat says about you!