Here's Why It's A Major No-No To Give Out Full-Size Candy Bars At Halloween

Have you bought your Halloween candy yet? It seems that Halloween candy is appearing earlier and earlier each year, only to be swiftly replaced at your local Target or Walmart by Christmas displays, so if you haven't gotten it yet, best of luck to you.

Long separated from its roots in pagan Celtic tradition, Halloween trick-or-treating spread throughout the U.S. after the Second World War. There was no more rationing, and candy was widely available. With the rise of densely packed suburban neighborhoods, kids could cruise from house to house more easily. Then marketing departments latched on, and Halloween went from simple homemade costumes and treats to mass-produced ones (via National Geographic).

Trick or treating and Halloween is the highlight of a kid's social calendar. Before the holiday, there are long-winded lunchtime conversations and debates about costumes. Doc McStuffins or Elsa? Darth Vader or Spider-Man? After the holiday, there are candy swaps and humble brags about who had the best haul. The most elusive and coveted item, though, is the full-size candy bar.

Full-size candy bars are the holy grail of a trick-or-treater's haul. As former trick-or-treaters will remember, watching one of those prizes fall into your pillowcase or jack-o'lantern pail was akin to euphoria. You either ate it that evening or saved it for very last, so long as your parents didn't get to it first.

But if you're thinking about splurging this year and being "that house," perhaps you should put the box of Hershey's bars back and grab the mixed bag of fun-size bars instead. According to CNN, you shouldn't hand out full-size candy bars on Halloween, mostly out of respect for your neighbors who are handing out fun-size bars. 

Can you resist the urge to one-up Mrs. Jones across the street? If you're still on the fence, ponder this. Handing out fun-size candy bars has its benefits, as it offers kids more variety, especially of the kinds of chocolate that are hard to find outside of October (per The Atlantic). Even Redditors prefer fun-size bars for this reason, with one user commenting, "there were things I never saw the rest of the year or had never seen before." 

Another reason to choose bite-size variety bags is that there are many kids with allergies and a wider choice is more allergy-friendly. On that note, if you're child does live with food allergies, you might want to search for houses with teal pumpkins this year.