Surely you've seen in many American movies and series that on the eve of All Saints' Day there is a tradition of dressing up and going door-to-door through the neighborhood collecting sweets and candies. This custom that seems something new is very old as Halloween itself . Join us to discover what the expression really means TRICK OR TREATMENT and what is the origin of this tradition .
TRICK OR TREATING
As we already explained in the post "The true story of Halloween" , The origin of this festival goes back to a Celtic celebration called Samhain . It celebrated the arrival of dark weather, the shortest days of the year, once the harvest was over. At that time, for them, the world of the living and that of the dead was somehow connected and the deceased could somehow reach the present. The Celts began in that celebration to dress as demons, spirits and deceased with the illusion that if they happened to meet one, seeing them in disguise would think that he was one of them and they would not be attacked. Disguising himself was a defense mechanism.
With the arrival of the Catholic Church the feast of Samhain It was replaced by the All Hallows Day and the eve was called "All Hallows Evening" which was eventually shortened and derived in Halloween .
During the Middle Ages, children and adults with few economic resources dressed like demons, deceased or spirits and went door to door offering themselves to pray prayers or sing chants to appease the beings of the hereafter in exchange for food . Later what was given to these people, usually children, was the so-called "soul cake" or "soul cake". If they were not welcome in the house, they used to threaten their inhabitants with future misfortunes. That is where the idea of that exchange came from: if you do not give me food or sweets to pray for the souls of the deceased, you will receive a "fright" because misfortune will reach you. In some parts of Europe, people in disguise did not offer to pray, but represented the deceased themselves and by giving them food or sweets it was believed that the souls of the dead were appeased.
The first reference to the expression TRICK OR TREATMENT is in the "Alberta Canada Herald" of November 4, 1927 in which he talks about the fun of Halloween and the children who at the doors of the houses spit at their residents "trick or treat", that is to say "joke or sweets ", so that these, fun, give them trinkets. The term "Trick or Treat" was really popularized from a Unicef campaign of the year 1950 . As a way to help children who were still affected by World War II, Unicef created some boxes of trinkets that were purchased by adults to deliver to children. With this system millions of dollars have been collected for children every year.
The Trick or treat tradition arrived in the USA and Canada by the hand of the European emigrants, but it was practically forgotten for a long time, until at the beginning of the 20th century it was reborn and popularized. It continued to be celebrated except for a small slip during the Second World War when the lack of sugar practically prevented the celebration. Nowadays it is one of the biggest traditional festivals of the USA and Canada.
Do you celebrate Halloween? Did you know what the origin of the expression TRICK or TREATMENT , "TRICK OR TREAT" that has arrived from the USA UU and Canada? And if taking advantage of the fact that it is Halloween you want to be a little scared, we invite you to read the post: 5 murders happened on Halloween. Chilling!