I realize this may be a day late, but my internet was being derpy last night and I also didn't get to share this story with anybody yesterday so I would like to tell you all.
How did trick-or-treating come to be? People didn't just randomly decide, "hey, let's go spend a bunch of money on candy to give to the little children every year." Little known fact, teenagers actually began the tradition of trick-or-treating.
Way back in the day, teenagers used to get together on October 31st and go out and trash people's yards, literally. They would go let cattle loose, destroy fences, almost anything you can think of to ruin someone's lawn. Finally, somebody decided to bribe them with candy so they wouldn't wreck their yard. It was then that teenagers decided they would go up to the door first and say "trick or treat." Whether they had candy or not would decide the fate of their yard that night. One year, "the man" wanted to make it family friendly so they asked the stores to sell costumes for children to dress up in and participate. The teenagers eventually decided that trick-or-treating was "uncool" and stopped doing it. That, young boys and girls, is the story of the birth of trick-or-treating.
Actually... You're misinformed. Being of Pagan and Celtic heritage let me share with you what Wikipedia says:
"Trick-or-treating at Halloween may come from customs related to the Celtic festivals of Samhain and Calan Gaeaf (31 October–1 November), or from customs related to the Christian holy days of All Saints (1 November) and All Souls (2 November). Samhain was a time when fairies and spirits were said to be active, some of whom were harmful.[3] People took steps to allay or ward-off these harmful spirits and fairies, and wearing costumes may have been a way to disguise oneself from them. Guising or mumming was common at winter festivals in general, but was "particularly appropriate to a night upon which supernatural beings were said to be abroad".[4] Before the 20th century, guising at Samhain was done in parts of Ireland, Mann, the Scottish Highlands and islands, and Wales.[4] In Ireland, costumes were sometimes worn by those who went about before nightfall collecting for a Samhain feast.[4] On Samhain in parts of southern Ireland during the 19th century there was a Láir Bhán (white mare) procession. Someone covered in a white sheet and carrying a decorated horse skull (representing the Láir Bhán) would lead a group of youths, blowing on cow horns, from house to house. At each, they recited verses and those inside were expected to donate food and other gifts. The greater the donation, the greater the blessings that would be bestowed on them by the 'Muck Olla'. This is akin to the Mari Lwyd (grey mare) procession in Wales. Some have linked the custom with pagan goddesses of sovereignty, who were often associated with white horses.[5] In Scotland, young men would dress in white with masked, veiled or blackened faces.[6][7] This was common in the 16th century in the Scottish countryside and persisted into the 20th.[8] In Moray during the 18th century, boys called at each house in their village asking for fuel for the Samhain bonfire.[9] Trick-or-treating may thus have come from the custom of going door-to-door collecting food for Samhain feasts, fuel for Samhain bonfires and/or Samhain offerings for the spirits and fairies.
Others suggest that trick-or-treating comes from the late medieval practice of souling, when poor folk would go door to door on All Saints receiving soul cakes in return for prayers for dead souls in purgatory. It originated in Ireland and Britain,[1] although similar practices for the souls of the dead were found as far south as Italy.[10]Shakespeare mentions the practice in his comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593), when Speed accuses his master of "puling [whimpering or whining] like a beggar at Hallowmas [All Saints]".[11]"
By @Link123
CrymsonLiynn
