Huh, this comment leads me to look at Halloween through the inadequate equilibria lens.
Holidays vary in how much they’re a community affair, vs family affair. Many (most?) of them at least aspire somewhat to be a community affair, but in a way that gracefully scales down when you only are doing it with your immediate family or friends. There are Thanksgiving Parades and Midnight Christmas vigils, but the holidays still basically work if you decide to do the unilaterally.
Not so with Halloween – it specifically depends on a particular kind of neighborhood, with a two sided marketplace between children and host-families.
Huh, this comment leads me to look at Halloween through the inadequate equilibria lens.
Holidays vary in how much they’re a community affair, vs family affair. Many (most?) of them at least aspire somewhat to be a community affair, but in a way that gracefully scales down when you only are doing it with your immediate family or friends. There are Thanksgiving Parades and Midnight Christmas vigils, but the holidays still basically work if you decide to do the unilaterally.
Not so with Halloween – it specifically depends on a particular kind of neighborhood, with a two sided marketplace between children and host-families.