Why is trick or treating called that

Candy companies began making a lot of money from people buying candy for the children in their neighborhoods each year. Trick or Treating has its origins in multiple cultures and parts in history. The well-known Halloween custom has had many contributing factors to its existence. The Fact Site requires you to enable Javascript to browse our website.

But why do they do this? Check out the history of this strange tradition below! In later centuries, people began dressing as ghosts, demons and other malevolent creatures, performing antics in exchange for food and drink. This custom, known as mumming, dates back to the Middle Ages and is thought to be an antecedent of trick-or-treating.

An early 20th-century postcard of children on Halloween. By the ninth century, Christianity had spread into Celtic lands, where it gradually blended with and supplanted older pagan rites. In A. Celebrations in England resembled Celtic commemorations of Samhain, complete with bonfires and masquerades.

Known as "souling," the practice was later taken up by children, who would go from door to door asking for gifts such as food, money and ale. In Scotland and Ireland, young people took part in a tradition called guising, dressing up in costume and accepting offerings from various households. An effigy of Guy Fawkes is burnt on Bonfire Night, Modern-day trick-or-treating also has elements akin to annual celebrations of Guy Fawkes Night also known as Bonfire Night.

On this night, which commemorates the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot in , British children wore masks and carry effigies while begging for pennies. Costumes were eventually accompanied by hijinks. Mischief makers would sing a rhyme, do a card trick or tell a story in exchange for a treat. If that treat wasn't presented, a "trick" could be played. For 19th century children, tricks included jamming hot cabbage into a keyhole to stink up a house or frightening passersby.

While the practice of begging for treats in some shape or form went by many names, Merriam-Webster reports that a newspaper in Saskatchewan, Canada first mentioned the words "treat" and "trick" together in print. A article indicated, "Hallowe'en passed off very quietly here. Trick-or-treating gained steam throughout the s, with endorsements by major candy companies. The custom also was showcased in popular comic strips. Edit Close.

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