Hallowe'en as I knew it back in the day is gone, thank God. Vandalism was big, including arson and road blockades, and minor damage (soaped windows, TP'd trees) was ubiquitous. I don't miss it.

One of the major changes since then is the massive involvement of adults. In 1960, the sole role for a parent was as provider of the treats -- typically limited to apples, peanuts, home-made cookies and fudge, and the occasional handful of molasses toffees or penny candy. The only decorations were pumpkin jack-o'-lanterns -- no lawn displays of plastic headstones and blow-up ghouls.

Now the decorations appear around Thanksgiving (second weekend in October for non-Canadians) and seem mostly to be sourced from Wal-Mart. Trick-or-treating begins around supper-time (six o'clock-ish) and is over by full dark. There are no teenagers helling around; all the activity is dressed-up tinies with their parents, and slightly older kids roving in packs. The biggest I saw this year was about 12 and toting an ambitiously large bin liner.