Trick-or-treating
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Trick-or-treating is a custom for children on Halloween. Children proceed in costume from house to house, asking for treats such as candy, or sometimes money, with the question, “trick or treat?” The “trick” is a (usually idle) threat to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given.
In the United States and Canada, trick-or-treating is now one of the main traditions of Halloween and it has become socially expected that if one lives in a neighborhood with children one should purchase treats in preparation for trick-or-treaters. The National Confectioners Association reported in 2005 that 80 percent of adults in the United States planned to give out confectionery to trick-or-treaters, and that 93 percent of children planned to go trick-or-treating.
The tradition of going from door to door receiving food already existed in Britain and Ireland, in the form of souling, where children and poor people would sing and say prayers for the dead in return for cakes. Guising — children disguised in costumes going from door to door for food and coins — also predates trick or treat, and was traditional at Halloween in late 19th century Scotland and Ireland. While going from door to door has remained popular among Scots and Irish, the North American custom of saying “trick or treat” has recently become common. The activity is prevalent in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, Puerto Rico, and northwestern and central Mexico (where it is called calaverita, Spanish for “little skull”; instead of “trick or treat”, children ask ¿me da mi calaverita?, “can you give me my little skull?”). In the last twenty years, amid controversy, the custom has spread to other countries, such as Italy, Australia and New Zealand, possibly due to the ubiquity of American TV shows and movies in those countries.
Increased popularity
Almost all pre-1940 uses of the term “trick-or-treat” are from the western United States and Canada. Trick-or-treating spread from the western United States eastward, stalled by sugar rationing that began in April 1942 during World War II and did not end until June 1947.
Early national attention to trick-or-treating was given in October 1947 issues of the children’s magazines Jack and Jill and Children’s Activities,and by Halloween episodes of the network radio programs The Baby Snooks Show in 1946 and The Jack Benny Show and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet in 1948. The custom had become firmly established in popular culture by 1952, when Walt Disney portrayed it in the cartoon Trick or Treat, and Ozzie and Harriet were besieged by trick-or-treaters on an episode of their television show. In 1953 UNICEF first conducted a national campaign for children to raise funds for the charity while trick-or-treating.
Although some popular histories of Halloween have characterized trick-or-treating as an adult invention to rechannel Halloween activities away from vandalism, nothing in the historical record supports this theory. To the contrary, adults, as reported in newspapers from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s, typically saw it as a form of extortion, with reactions ranging from bemused indulgence to anger. Likewise, as portrayed on radio shows, children would have to explain what trick-or-treating was to puzzled adults, and not the other way around. Sometimes even the children protested: for Halloween 1948, members of the Madison Square Boys Club in New York City carried a parade banner that read “American Boys Don’t Beg.”
Local variants
In Scotland and Ireland, guising (children going from house to house in disguise) is traditional, and the North American jocular threat is not widely practiced, as the traditional gift (in the form of “apples or nuts for the Halloween party”, in more recent times chocolate) is given out to the children dressed up as ghosts and witches. Up until circa 1960 children used unusual clothing and face make-up for stunning effect,[citation needed] but with the growing commercialism, theme masks and theme outfits became more popular. In 19th and early 20th century Ireland the tricks were often a bit alarming— for example, slates were placed over the chimney-pots of houses filling the rooms with smoke and field gates were lifted off their hinges and hung from high tree branches.[citation needed]
Until the 1990s, Irish children said “Help the Halloween Party,” but some are now more inclined to use the North American “Trick or treat” phrase, due to the influence of American movies, and television.
In parts of Canada, children are more likely to say “Halloween apples” instead of “trick or treat.” This probably originated when the toffee apple was a popular type of candy. Apple-giving in much of Canada, however, has been taboo since the 1960s when stories (possibly apocryphal) appeared of razors hidden inside Halloween apples; parents began to check over their children’s “loot” for safety before allowing them to eat it. In Quebec, children also go door to door on Halloween. However, in French speaking neighbourhoods, instead of “Trick or treat?”, they will simply say “Halloween”, though in tradition it used to be La charité s’il-vous-plaît (“Charity, please”).
In some parts of Ohio, Iowa, Massachusetts and other states, the night designated for Trick-or-Treating is referred to as Beggars Night.
In Sweden children dress up as witches and go trick-or-treating on Maundy Thursday (the Thursday before Easter) while Danish children dress up in various attires and go trick-or-treating on Fastelavn (or the next day, Shrove Monday) and In Norway kids go trick-or-treating between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. The Easter witch tradition is done on Palm Sunday in Finland. In parts of Flanders and some parts of the Netherlands and most areas of Germany and Austria, children go to houses with home made beet lanterns or with paper lanterns (which can hold a candle or electronic light), singing songs about St. Martin on St. Martin’s Day (the 11th of November), in return for treats.[citation needed] In Northern Germany and Southern Denmark children dress up in costumes and go trick-or-treating on New Year’s Eve in a tradition called “Rummelpott” .
Children of the St. Louis, Missouri area are expected to perform a joke, usually a simple Halloween-themed pun or riddle, before receiving any candy; this “trick” earns the “treat”.
Children in Des Moines, Iowa also tell jokes or otherwise perform before receiving their treat. This originated as well-organized campaign to reduce Halloween mischief-making. Des Moines trick-or-treating is also unusual in that it is actually done the night before Halloween, known locally as “Beggars’ Night”.[
