Trick or Treat?

Where Did Trick-or-Treating Come From? In 2008, Americans spent an estimated $5.77 billion on Halloween costumes, decorations, candy, and pumpkins.

In fact, the National Retail Federation says that only five holidays beat Halloween for retail sales in the USA: the winter holidays (including Christmas and Hanukkah), Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Easter, and Father’s Day. Every Halloween, we wonder, how did this multibillion-dollar collection of candy by colorfully costumed kids get started? When did children start donning masks and threatening us with “tricks” if they didn’t get “treats”?

Spook-tacular History Some historians point straight to ancient Celtic traditions like Samhain, a fall festival that celebrated the harvest and honored the dead. They note that the ancient Celts dressed in animal pelt “costumes” during their Samhain celebrations, perhaps, they think, to fool evil spirits.

Other historians point to the Middle Ages, when many people in the British Isles went “guising,” dressing up as saints and devils for Hallowmas. The poor would also go “souling,” going door to door offering to exchange prayers for “soul cakes.” Could these traditions have come to America with the emigrating descendants of the Celts in the 19th century?

The Devil’s in the Details The problem is the link isn’t that direct. A review of early 20th-century American literature shows no mention of trick-or-treating. A 1907 article in St. Nicholas magazine makes many suggestions for a successful Halloween party, including games for telling the future and harvest games like bobbing for apples. The article even suggests making jack o’lanterns from hollowed pumpkins, gourds, and cucumbers! But the author mentions costumes only in passing: “The guests may be received by someone dressed as a witch, or garbed in a white sheet to represent a ghost.”

Images show the kids in dresses, jackets, and ties, not costumes—and not once was it suggested that children ask the neighbors for candy handouts. In 1919, The Book of Hallowe’en described tricks, but not treats. The book said mischievous spirits choose Halloween “for carrying off gates and other objects, and hiding them or putting them out of reach. . . . Bags filled with flour sprinkle the passers-by. Door-bells are rung and mysterious raps sounded on doors, things thrown into halls, and knobs stolen.” Halloween Postcard, Before Trick-or-Treating Source: Vintage Halloween Postcard Candy Boo-nanza So, when did our modern trick-or-treating begin?

The first mention comes in a 1927 newspaper article from Alberta, Canada: “The youthful tormentors were at back door and front demanding edible plunder by the word ‘trick or treat.’”

The first mentions in the USA were also in the Northwest—in Oregon and Montana—in 1934. From there it spread, but the practice was still not universally accepted. In the 1940s, people often referred to trick-or-treating as a “racket,” organized “begging,” and a “nightmare.” Some adults wanted the practice banned, but communities saw it as preferable to the tricks that were getting out of hand. By the 1950s, trick-or-treating was entrenched in American pop culture, appearing in cartoons, movies, and TV shows.

Today, a chief complaint of adults is the holiday’s vast commercialization. Still, children love dressing as princesses, pirates, and superheroes—and they love the candy. —Rebecca Bigelow