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Although trick-or-treating did not gain popularity in the United States until the 1950s, the tradition has Celtic roots. October 31 is known as Samhain, a day when the dead returned to the earth. During Celtic celebrations of Samhain, many people wore disguises to ward off evil spirits. Groups of "guisers" performed plays in homes they visited. They were rewarded with treats of food.
The children would also carve out lanterns from a turnip (now we use pumpkins) to resemble a scary face. The children would go around the neighborhood, carrying their turnip lantern on a piece of string and knock on doors and say "please help the guisers." The kids would be required to sing a song, or say a poem or tell a joke for which they would receive sweets, fruit, nuts or money.
After they had been guising they would go home and put some nuts and fruit in a basin of water. With their hands behind their back, they would attempt to lift the fruit and nuts out of the water with their mouths. This was called "dookin", and sometimes called "dookin fer aiples" (now known as "bobbing for apples"). These traditions are still practiced today in Scotland although many children will now say "trick-or-treat" instead of "please help the guisers" since they see this on TV and in American movies. The children do not however play tricks on the neighbors, they still have to recite a verse or sing a song for their reward.
Another explanation for trick-or-treating is that it comes from "souling," a tradition in Ireland and Great Britain. While souling, the poor would go from home to home and pray for each family's dead, and the families gave them small cakes to eat.
Others believe the tradition of trick-or-treating is related most closely to old urban Thanksgiving traditions of costumes and pranks. This "ragamuffin" tradition was popular in urban areas like New York and Boston, and consisted of costumed children parading around the streets begging for coins or treats, and pulling pranks when they didn't get anything. Shopkeepers would often 'buy off' these pranksters, trading some sweet snack or bread loaf for security from soaped windows or pilfered shop signs. By the early 1900s these children would parade through the streets in their costumes, becoming an established holiday event, the 'ragamuffin parade.'
However, spectacle parades like the Macy's parade began to overrun these prankster traditions in the 1920s, and the Depression of the 1930s, all but rubbed the begging traditions out. Instead, Halloween became the new time for tricks and treats--and as the treats became scarce, the tricks became vandalism. Things got out of control in the 1930s, with several brawls and acts of violence associated with Halloween pranking. To counter this, homes started to offer parties for children, as an incentive to curb vandalism. Candy and treats were offered, in other words, literally to stop children from misbehaving on Halloween. After a slowdown in WWII (when sugar was severely rationed), the post-WWII baby boom led to the solidification of modern trick-or-treating. It was bolstered by the manufacturing spirit of the 1950s, which saw the first real bags of bite-sized candy treats readily available for eager trick-or-treaters.
What else can I help you with?
Who began trick or treating?
pagan
Where do the French people go for trick-or-treating?
To neighboors and locally, but Halloween and trick-or-treating are not very popluar in France. Halloween and the tradition of trick-or-treating are mostly American.
Where did the trick-or-treating tradition come from?
it came from England
What is tradition for dressing in costume for Halloween?
evil costumes
Where did the tradition trick or treat come from?
Trick or treating did not come from a tradition. It was made as a way to make Halloween more fun. It has no connection to the old holiday Samhain or any other Halloween tradition.
When did kids in England start to trick or treat?
how did the ~America tradition of trick or treating on halloween begin
When did trick-o-treating begin and why?
trick-o-treating began in early UK, Northern France, and present day Ireland. so about in the 1600's. it began because some of the adults wanted to give the younger children a chance to have fun and get some sweets.
When was trick or treating on Thanksgiving?
There is no trick or treat on Thanksgiving. Trick or treating is for halloween. You can try trick or treating on Thanksgiving, but you might look odd.
When did trick or treating start in the US?
Trick-or-treating in the U.S. began in the early 1900s as a way to divert young people from causing mischief on Halloween night. The practice became more widespread in the 1930s and 1940s, eventually becoming a beloved tradition for children to go door-to-door in costume asking for candy.
What percentage of children under age 12 go trick-or-treating?
about 85% of people go trick or treating
Why is halween celebrated?
People celebrate Halloween because it is an American tradition that every year on OOctober 31 kids and parents go out trick or treating at night. It's pretty much a tradition
When did trick or treating become a Halloween tradition?
Trick-or-treating is the Halloween tradition where children go door-to-door dressed in costumes and saying "trick-or-treat" as a request for candy. It is said that the tradition began in the Middle Ages and mimics medieval "souling", a day when the poor went door to door receiving food in exchange for prayers for the dead. It is said to have originated in Britain and Ireland.
