Orange & Black Book Report CY2024
Department of Caramel, Nougat, and Fireballs
The following is the annual Orange and Black Book report for Candy Year 2024 (CY2024) ending October 31, 2024. The weather in the Middle Tennessee reporting region was raining and mild (low 70s).
In a reversal of recent Halloween trends, trick-or-treating (T-or-T) showed a mild rebound. T-o-Ters were up 37% from CY2023 which was an all-time low. Distributors put as little effort into their job as possible, spending more attention on the Joe Rogan/JD Vance interview than to candy distribution,
The Middle Tennessee station reports 21 T-o-Ters with a median age of 11 +/- 2.3 years, with four entry-level T-o-Ters. This leading indicator reverses the downward trend of last year, indicating a renewed interest in the holiday tradition. A new trend seems to be a high number of adult escorts, (in one case a 6:1 adult to T-or-Ter, placing into question the future ability of the next generation to take care of the current generation in their golden years.)
T-o-Ters were met with an ample supply of premium full-sized chocolate candy including Kit-Kat, Hershey Bars, Hershey with Almonds, and Reese Peanut butter cups, sourced from the Murfreesboro Big Box store (Costco). Distributors were disappointed at the lack of overflow chocolate, however their healthcare workers (including but not limited to dentists and primary care physicians) were delighted.
Another leading indicator, costumes, showed optimistic trends. Whereas in CY2023 there was barely a costume seen, this year nearly every T-or-Ter was adorned in a new costume which gave off the odor of fresh vinyl and other fossil-fuel based fibers. Costumes included Woody, princesses of various Disney movies, and martial-arts type characters. Two oversized inflatable costumes were also noted.
The first T-or-Ter arrived at 6:16 PM CDT, and the last group arrived at 7:40 PM CDT. Awkward conversations included the number of mosquitoes attracted by our porch light.
One distributor complained at 7:41 PM that she could not do quality control on the candy until 8:00 PM. The Distribution manager sighted the low inventory and low quality backup inventory. The manager set a hard-stop of lights out at 8:00 PM.
The lack of chocolate in the house is concerning as the depression-inducing presidential election is only five days away.