9. Trick Or Treating Is Actually A Form Of Ancient Begging
Trick Or Treating is a tradition that everyone is familiar with. What they may not be familiar with, is the origins of the tradition and why we do it at Halloween and at no other time of the year. Well, it used to be extremely common to go from door to door as part of a festival. Take carol singing, it's the same tradition but for a different festival. The homeless and poor would sing for gifts from wealthy homeowners at times of goodwill. The act used to be called mumming or guising, where people would don a disguise or a costume - usually made from straw - and go around the village asking for food or cakes. Occasionally, the whole town would wait at home and then follow the mummers around when they came to their door, eventually all congregating in a central square where the mummers would perform for the crowd. The other begging traditions that are most well known are souling - where European peasants would go door to door on Hallowmas (the first of November), asking for food and offering prayers for the deceased; and Thanksgiving begging in America, where children would go out asking for food door to door.
Trick Or Treating is a tradition that everyone is familiar with. What they may not be familiar with, is the origins of the tradition and why we do it at Halloween and at no other time of the year. Well, it used to be extremely common to go from door to door as part of a festival. Take carol singing, it's the same tradition but for a different festival. The homeless and poor would sing for gifts from wealthy homeowners at times of goodwill. The act used to be called mumming or guising, where people would don a disguise or a costume - usually made from straw - and go around the village asking for food or cakes. Occasionally, the whole town would wait at home and then follow the mummers around when they came to their door, eventually all congregating in a central square where the mummers would perform for the crowd. The other begging traditions that are most well known are souling - where European peasants would go door to door on Hallowmas (the first of November), asking for food and offering prayers for the deceased; and Thanksgiving begging in America, where children would go out asking for food door to door.