Trick-or-treating has been around for over a hundred years in the United States and other countries. While no one knows exactly where it started, parts of it can be traced back to ancient Celtic festivals, early Catholic holidays, and traditions from Europe. Halloween originally came from the Celtic festival Samhain, which was celebrated on October 31 more than 2,000 years ago. During Samhain, people believed the line between the living and the dead became thin, allowing spirits to return to the world. To protect themselves, people left out food and drinks and made offerings to keep bad spirits away. Over time, these beliefs mixed with religious traditions and slowly became what we now know as Halloween.
By the early 11th century, the Catholic Church created All Souls’ Day on November 2 to honor the dead. This led to a tradition called “souling,” where poor people went door to door offering prayers for dead family members in exchange for “soul cakes.” Eventually, children took over this tradition and began going door to door asking for food or money. In places like Scotland and Ireland, kids did something similar but wore costumes and offered entertainment like singing or reciting poems. Although these customs existed for a long time, trick-or-treating did not become popular in the United States until the 1920s and 1930s.
The phrase “trick or treat” first appeared in newspapers in the early 1920s. A 1923 article even mentioned that “treats, not tricks” were common that year. In the United States, the phrase was first recorded in 1928. During World War II, trick-or-treating slowed down because sugar was rationed, but it came back strong in the mid-1900s. Neighborhoods made it easy for kids to go house to house, and packaged candy made things simpler for homeowners.
Today, Halloween is much more lighthearted than it was in the past. Most kids don’t actually plan on playing a trick if they don’t get candy, and “trick or treat” is mostly just something fun to say. If a house doesn’t want to participate, people can simply turn off their porch light. Even though trick-or-treating started with some serious beliefs, it has turned into a fun tradition that many people still enjoy.
