Did Our Ancestors Trick or Treat?

Whether your neighborhood will be teeming with children asking for treats on Halloween night or not, it is likely most of us will be unable to resist those large packages of bite-sized candies lurking in every store. Is your downfall Reese’s peanut butter cups, Skittles, or sweet, sticky candy corn? Maybe Almond Joy minis or KitKat bars? Candy companies have super-sized Halloween during the past few decades and earned billions of dollars for their hard work. But where did the whole Halloween trick or treating idea come from? Did our ancestors walk door to door with little carved pumpkins asking for goodies from their neighbors? Let’s explore the origins of trick or treating.

If we go back a few thousand years to the Celtic ancestors of many northern French, Scots, and Irish, there was an autumn festival called Samhain, which most historians believe led to modern Halloween. Samhain was a celebration of the end of the harvest, the approach of winter, the darkest part of the year, and a way to honor the dead. Many believed that the spirits of those who were deceased returned to Earth that night, and one could acknowledge and appease those spirits by dressing in costume and handing out treats of cake or other sweets to those asking for them.

Fast forward a few hundred years when organized Christian religion began to replace pagan beliefs and Samhain and other early rituals were replaced by religious-themed holidays. Now the first of November became the “feasts of all Saints and Souls,” and the evening of October 31st was “All Hallows’ Eve.” Not lost, however, was the practice of recognizing the dead with special food. Small cakes, called “soul cakes,” often baked with spices, currants, and saffron, were handed out to beggars and later, children, sometimes dressed in costumes to honor the saints. The visitors promised to pray for the souls of the deceased in exchange for a treat, a practice that came to be known as souling. 

By the time Halloween reached the United States, it was simply a harvest celebration featuring homemade fall foods, like candied apples, nuts, and popcorn with hardly a candy in sight. Some Irish and Scottish families carried on with the old customs of souling and dressing in costume (guising), but, by the 1920s, some of the celebrations became overwhelmed by rowdy teens pulling pranks, and the Great Depression and the subsequent food rationing and seriousness of the world war put an end to the mayhem.

After World War II, when the suburbs were filled with children and people were eager to relax and enjoy their new-found peace and prosperity, Halloween began to morph into its present format. Even then, most treats were home-made baked goods or even coins or nuts. As people had less time to bake and the candy companies realized people would pay for treats they didn’t have to make themselves, the Halloween we know today was born. 

As with all other holidays, perhaps your family has Halloween traditions that are worth preserving and sharing. Do you have favorite trick-or-treat memories? Are there stories behind favorite costumes? Are there rituals tied to handing out treats to the neighborhood children? Do you have parties or get-togethers with friends during the afternoon or evening? What a perfect time to capture the memories for the future! Have a safe and delicious Halloween!

More Resources:

“How Trick-or-Treating Became a Halloween Tradition,” History.com, 3 October 2019 (updated 21 October 2020), https://www.history.com/news/halloween-trick-or-treating-origins

“Soul Cake,” children’s song performed by Sting in Durham Cathedral, 2009, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu8H5rA9HuA&t=195s

“Why Do We Eat Candy on Halloween? by Michele Debzak, Mental Floss, 15 October 2019, https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/602879/halloween-candy-history