Trick or treating as we know it today is a blend of several ancient and modern influences.

In ancient Celtic times (Ireland somewhere around 800 B.C.) the children in Celtic society would walk door to door to collect firewood for a giant communal bonfire which was the main event of their Samhain celebration. Once the bonfire was burning, they would extinguish all the other fires in the village then relight every fire with a flame taken from the Samhain bonfire, as a symbol of their connection to on another.

In 9th century europe, a popular All Soul's Day practice was to make 'Soul Cakes', which were simply a bread dessert with a current topping. Much like our trick or treating today, people would walk from village to village offering prayers for the dead in return for gifts of food in a practice that was called 'Souling'. The prayers were said to help the person's relatives find their way out of purgatory and into heaven.

In other medieval times, in places such as Ireland and the British Isles, costumed adults and older teens would go from house to house demanding beer and food items in exchange for small performances.

In 1930's America, adults began looking for ways to control the increasingly dangerous and expensive vandalism which happened on Halloween, so they began giving out bribes to the kids to distract them from the mischief. The term 'trick or treat" finally appears in print around 1939.

With typically more than 85% of U.S. households handing out candy on Halloween night, All Hallows Eve is the number one holiday for candy sales according to the National Confectioners Association, beating out Christmas, Easter and Valentines Day.

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