Long, long ago, in a land far, far away, October 30Th was known to all in the area as "Cabbage Night". Children of all ages, good ones and bad ones, big ones and little ones, received a pass, so to speak, to TP, chalk, egg, onion, flour, apply shaving cream and get all wild and crazy in the neighborhood.
We would wait until dark and let loose on our own houses and those we knew expected it and didn't care. Stores stopped selling eggs to minors in the days leading up to the main event. Pumpkins were brought inside for the evening, so they wouldn't be smashed in the street, (there were always trouble makers.)
The next morning, Halloween, one could see the damage...the entire town decked out in toilet paper, dried shaving cream sprayed on trees, cars and houses and anything that would stand still, contra ban eggs dripping down the aluminum siding of many houses and chalk outlines of the kids that did the deeds. This was the perfect backdrop for trick or treating, which by the way, began immediately after school or if it was a weekend, as soon as breakfast was over and continued until late in the evening.
I have to say it was a blast...and I NEVER saw a cabbage on Cabbage Night.