Want any Guisers?

[1reason]

Showing my age here!
31 October tradition which has changed since 70s/80s!
Who else remembers getting dressed up (accompanied by the carved out turnip lantern) and going to neighbours doors and asking if they wanted any guisers?
If they did, we used to go in and perform a party piece( sing,dance, tell jokes). We would then be given some treats or small change.
Neighbours could refuse with no comeback. Maximum age was about 10 then.
Happy days!

Yup. That’s still how it is here; you have to do a turn (joke, wee song) fur your sweets. And it’s guising. Actually where I’m from it’s Galoshins! 👻

Apart from pumpkins replacing turnips, it still happens like that here where i am in Glasgow

Yes that's how I remember Halloween OP when I lived in Glasgow.

Sadly no longer like that where I live in Ayrshire.
I'm afraid I'll be putting the blinds down and lying low tonight and just hope I don't have any bother.

I find Halloween and Bonfire night very stressful.

We still get guisers round here, but they keep blethering about something called 'Trick or treat!'

Humph!

I remember going to every street in the area ( we knew who made the best toffee and Tablet ) I’m Scottish 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 btw ,and I still hold it but nae weans come to our door now as they are all at Halloween parties but I always buy stuff just incase

No one here yet. I have sweeties ready and a lantern in the window - the bairns round here only visit houses with a decoration to signify that it's okay.

I can't be bothered this year either as we have plumbers in this week doing work and whole house is turned upside down. Also have lights out and blinds down early. Might do next year.

We're going to son's for dinner tonight. He lives up the country so will not be bothered by any kids up there and we'll miss any that may call at our house. Win win.

I didn't mind it when mine were young but not interested nowadays.

Trick or treat? What a load of American pish. Bring back Penny for the guy!

That's how it is here - minus the smell of burnt turnip, which I can't say I miss!

Nobody carves a neep now and they don’t come inside but we still get jokes and riddles in exchange for their treat.

I heard that too that only houses that have decorations up, in the 60,s we went to every house

I see a bit of activity outside, but no one coming our way - maybe because it's nearly all oldies (myself included) in this street.

The bairns and their parents are usually very thoughtful round here: they're told not to harass oldies.

I need to get rid of my sweeties...I don't have the willpower to resist eating them myself.

Mostly, the kids just tell a joke these days, but you still get the occasional poem or song. Mind you, they're not quite the same as the one that I remember from the '60s.

cough

Knock, knock, knock - we are the guiiiisers!
We're aa comin tae yer door...
If ye dinnae let us in, we will pan yer windaes in -
And ye'll never see the guisers any more!
Knock, knock!

Ah yes. Fife in the '60s - so genteel!

To be fair, we were only allowed to go to our pals' doors in those days. [ETA Some were allowed to go all around, but the wifies in our street were strict.]

A beep is torture to carve that’s one thing we never did ( then again it would be eaten for tea first ) 😂

I wasn't ever allowed to (council estate with well known paedophiles but no one seemed to bother about that in 1980's). Used to piss me off no end when my Mother was giving out money to my school bullies when they were chapping at the door.

Once the allocated budget was gone, we had to sit in the dark and ignore all the door knocking 😂.

Also pissed me off that Dad mumped and grumped and cursed his way through the turnip and wouldn't let me have a go.

This must be a new thing in some areas but we don't put any decorations out and still get kids calling. I usually buy a big of sweeties that we like in case nobody comes.

Kids nowadays don't know they're born with pumpkins. Nothing beats the agony of howking out a neepie lantern.

it’s very popular on my estate, and the kids are pretty good at only going to decorated houses (lots of houses go all out). We normally do, but it’s been a busy stressful week, no young children at home, and I don’t have the energy for answering the door for two hours, so we’ve opted out and going out for tea instead.

I've had three wee girls who each told a joke. I live in pensioners paradise so we tend not to get many. I have some bags made up and I expect my grandsons later

Yay! Five wee boys! That's the first sweets given out...and two wee girls as I was typing. All very polite.

Quite a few in my area - only to decorated houses though, and loads of folk have gone all out with the decorations.

Why didn't the skeleton go to the dance?
☠☠
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Because he had no body to go with!

Yup and I remember it well. Dooking for apples too. I almost drowned doing that too enthusiastically haha.

I took my four year old out guising tonight. I told him it was guising and why it was called that. And also used a pumpkin. He told two jokes and did a wee dance for his sweeties. Then back home for dinner.

I'm keeping the original tradition alive! Halloween (or samhaim) was originally a Scottish Irish festival. I hate that the Americans have resold it back to us. It was always guising, with turnips, proper home made costumes and you had to do a performance for a sweetie.

About drowning dooking for fruit then going out in your bin bag cape and mask that cuts the side of your face with the turnip you injured you’re wristband bent spine carving, collecting loose change and the odd monkey nut in exchange for a song or joke. Ah how times have changed 😆

I loved getting sweeties and money but the monkey nuts went straight in the bin

The best one tonight was the guiser in a dinosaur suit who got stuck on my stairs: "Wait! I can't turn round!"

I was getting ready to catch him, but he eventually managed.

I remember guishing as a small child in Glasgow in the '80s. We then moved to England and no one had ever heard of it 😆

We had loads and loads last night in the Glasgow area, probably a good 100 kids all in all. Aged 3-12 I’d guess and most in costumes, occasionally with an older sibling taking the wee ones around looking a bit sheepish but grateful for some sweets too.

what was nice is that there were many new jokes and riddles this year, not just same old knock knock. Very polite most of them - thanks yous and Happy Halloweens, and avoiding unlit houses. The amount of sweets they all had will keep the local dentists in business though!