Pondering The Possibilities: The Bat-Candy-Halloween Connection

Have you ever wondered how the bat-candy-halloween connection got started?

Well, I think I might have the answer.  Okay, it is pure speculation on my part, but the evidence seems pretty convincing me.

It is all because of fruit.

Does that sound far fetched?  Well, would you want to go up against one of these creatures every time you wanted a piece of fresh fruit?

Of course, back in the stone age, they weren’t our only competitors when it comes to enjoying fresh fruit.  There are millions of animals all over the world that crave the nutritionally packed goodness of fresh fruit — bees, bears, birds, bats, opossums, orangutans … and children.

As thinking adults seeking enlightenment from the stone age, it only made sense that we would eventually create an artificial replacement for fresh fruit that satisfied our sweet cravings, if not its nutritional benefits, but didn’t require all the scary encounters with other fruit loving animals.  After all, didn’t we have enough competition and struggle in our lives trying to get the meat and potatoes on the table.

Of course, the real brilliance was starting an annual holiday that not only promoted the new “sweet” to children (best to start them young) by giving it away for free, but also reminded everyone of what they would encounter— scary fanged creatures and other strange things that go bump in the night — if they wanted fresh fruit instead.

So that is my Bat-Candy-Halloween connection theory.

Trick?  Or treat?  You decide…

Or present your own theory!

If you want to learn more about bats, here is a great talk with Merlin Tuttle, the author of The Secret Lives of Bats, on Inquiring Minds (The discussion starts at about the 4:50mark)

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