The Origin of the "Trick-or-Treating" Tradition

@ladyduck I find the whole thing bizarre. I try to be out on Hallowe'en night so that I'm not in to be pestered by children wanting stuff. What I really hate is fireworks.

I recall reading about this. Halloween is my favorite holiday. I feel good. I will be posting soon about some Halloween superstitions that I thought ere interesting. I hope you will as well.

I don’t think I know of any. I used to hand out candy when I lived with my parents, but once I moved they turned their porch light out, which signals there is no candy here!

I have no unusual Halloween traditions to share on this site.

No, I don't know of any unusual Halloween traditions. Thank you for sharing souling with us.

None I can think of, really. A lot of people do barbecues and drinking parties as they hand out candy. It can be a lot of fun.

I did not know about the souling. I thought Halloween was related to the old Celtic holiday Samhain.

There are things that cannot be done freely here, maybe some celebrate Halloween where they live. I can't think of any traditions, there are 5 kinds of religions here.

I knew about that.

There was no actual Halloween celebrating in Latvia when I lived there but at home we carved a pumpkin and jsut remembered spooky fun. They did do costumes at school and sometimes kids came but mostley no one was used to it, Of course, young adults caught on and filled the bars with Halloween mayhem,

Halloween is really big here and all the hoopla starts by the 1st of October. People now decorate their homes for Halloween like they do for Christmas. It was just a day for trick or treating when I was growing up but now it's become huge. Thankfully my town has limited the trick or treating to certain hours (6pm to 9pm) so there's no all day long with the bell ringing.

Unfortunately it’s become more and more popular here the last few years. Luckily we dont get bothered with trick or treating.

It is a good thing that Halloween is not a holiday here in the Philippines,yes people observed it but most of us during october- November we are going to the cemeteries to prepare for all souls day. And I've watched several videos in other social media platforms buying expensive Halloween decorations spending hundred or thousands of dollars just for the decorations.

I think I want to make some soul cakes. They sound delicious to me! Halloween traditions, no...in the US it seems to be how many decorations a person puts up, etc. and then of course some have Halloween parties, dress in costumes, and others just basically hand out candy on Halloween night. I always did the candy when the kids were at home still. When I moved last time, I moved to an area that really encourages the families with kids to use the ''Trunk or Treat'' events that are hosted. These are mostly done for safety. Plus, the kids can get their candy and treats, there are a lot of adults, and these are usually held either outside in a well-lit parking lot, like a church or another large area that's similar. They offer things for the kids to do, like cake walks, bounce houses, etc. so no one has very many, if any, Trick or Treaters here that come to their homes. It's sort of a rule that if you want to give out candy, leave your outside porch light on.

Souling - interesting term! I would love to try one of those "soul cakes" ! I can't really think of any unusual Halloween traditions, but certainly Halloween has changed since my childhood. Less are participating in trick or treating these days (either going or giving). So nice to see a post from you .

I do not, just that no one ever does tricks. It should just be just treats here in the states. I never seen one person go let me show you a trick.

That is very interesting. I never knew the origin of the modern trick-or-treat tradition we follow.

I don't know of any unusual here. It's the regular door-to-door, church "Harvest" parties, and trunk-or-treats. I didn't know about soul cakes. Such an interesting story.

Halloween has invaded our shores too over the last generation or so I guess. My BIL's neighbour has a huge redback spider on his roof and a blown-up giant thing on his verandah. I think he is Irish but he is really getting into the whole Halloween thing. I didn't know that about All Saints' Day. Thanks for the information.

The soul cakes sound delicious! My birthday is on All Saint's Day (Nov 1). I know two other traditional holidays that occur at the same time as Halloween and probably lend many traditions to it: Samhain, the Celtic Pagan celebration of fall and the harvest, and El Dia de Los Muertos, a Mexican folk tradition that honors the departed and is a reminder of our mortality. People dress up as skeletons and decorate sugar skulls, so maybe that's where the scary-but-fun costumes and candy came from.