Halloween Trick or Treating
Suppose there is somebody knocking at your door. It can be ghost, cartoon character, astronaut or witch. They are asking for gifts or sweets, then definitely it’s a Halloween day!! Before you want to offer some candies, most of the visitors shout like ‘Trick or Treat’! But why do they do that?
Children celebrate Halloween in United States and Canada. They dress up with frightened masks and costumes since late 1950’s. It is the eve of All Saints’ Day. It comes with the thought of ghosts and spirits, when they are ready to aboard. Halloween is a celebration on the night of October 31st.
What is the Trick-Or-Treating?
Trick or Treat is a Halloween custom for children in various countries. It happens between 5.30 pm to 9.30 pm on the day of Halloween. Children in costumes travel to different houses. They ask for treat which includes candy or gifts or other goodies. The costumes are traditionally based on frightening supernatural or folkloric beings. Trick or Treat is a phrase. Like, if the house owner will give a ‘treat’, then the kids will perform a ‘trick’ or mischief. Trick is a threat when the children don’t get any treat from the house owners.
The custom of going house to house is very popular in Scots and Irish. These days Trick or Treat is like a trend among the children in various places. The house owners those who wants to take part in this ritual, decorate their homes with lights and glitters. They offer children Spooky Halloween Gifts. They ask children to perform few tasks before getting the treat. Children performs recitation, plays some instruments or shows few magic tricks. Even without any performance, the residents offer the same to the children. In North America, this custom has become very common. The senior residents also take part in this tradition in a great manner.
History of Trick-Or-Treating
At first, Trick or treating was not a part of Halloween celebrations. People celebrate Halloween parties in the US a short time. Immigrants from Ireland, Scotland, and England were into these traditions of Trick or Treat. The children used to dress up and ‘guising’ all around for Unique Halloween Gifts. The tradition was ‘guising’ as the custom of wearing costumes, masks, or other forms of disguise. If the house owners refused to give anything, the children used to give them threat by drawing some pranks next day on their wall! When the immigrants came to USA, they brought their custom there too. Thus, each year All Hallow eve takes place and the children wear crude masks and go to houses to beg goodies. In 1920’s people were fond of only Halloween parties. But day by day, young trendsetter indulged themselves in some quirky stuff. To have more fun, they set a trend of ‘guising’. In the 50’s to 60’s, Trick or Treat gained popularity that it became a wholesome activity for the whole family.