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| Halloween. 10/31/2017 dwm photo |
Trick or Treat!
Happy Halloween!
The night before All Saints Day in the Christian tradition was time for a vigil for the saints, the deceased who died in Christ.
Trick or treating is a tradition born in Scotland and Ireland (according to its wikipedia page). People went house to house in costume, putting on performances or entertainment to earn food or money.
The 'trick' was the hammer to encourage giving as the entertainers weren't pursuing the payoff just for fun.
The practice made its way to North America in 1911 but it wasn't until the 1940s that kids going door to door really took root, with a pause during World War II when sugar was rationed. From that time into the 1980s and 90s, Halloween was seen as a day for children.
Over the last 10 or 20 years it has increasingly become an adult celebration with elaborated decorations of lights, inflatables, and parties.
I stopped going door to door around 12 years old. There was probably a trick or treat party I attended during high school or college but my involvement since has been limited to handing out candy to the little ones during the approved hours of the municipality where we live. We don't get many kids ringing our door bell these days, so we purchase candy we're happy to eat.
Happy Halloween.
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