Trick-or-treat

Trick or Treat, also known as Guising, is an activity for children on Hallowe'en, in which they are dressed up in costumes, often of supposedly malevolent supernatural beings such as ghosts, demons, or witches, and proceed from house to house, asking for treats such as sweets with the question, "Trick or treat?" with the implied threat that, if their demands are not met, they will perform a trick on the occupants".

The activity is popular in the United States and Canada, and due to culture importation in recent years has started to occur (though with considerably less enthusiasm than in the USA and Canada) in Australia and parts of Europe.

It originated in the British Isles, and is still popular in many parts of Scotland, England, and Ireland. In Scotland and the North of England, it is called guising because of the disguise or costume worn by the children. However there is a subtle difference from the way the practice has developed in the States. In Scotland, the children are only supposed to receive treats if they perform tricks for the households they go to. These tricks normally take the form of a simple joke, song or funny poem which the child has memorised before setting out. Occasionally a more talented child may do card tricks, play the mouth organ or something even more impressive, but most children will earn plenty of treats even with something very simple. However, guising is falling out of favour somewhat, being replaced in some parts of the country with the American form of trick-or-treating. In modern Ireland there is no "trick" involved, (neither the Scottish party trick nor the American jocular threat), just "treats" -- in the form of apples or nuts given out to the children. However, in 19th and early 20th century Ireland it was often much more exuberant - for example, slates were placed over the chimney-pots of houses filling the rooms with smoke and field gates were lifted off their hinges and hung from high tree branches.

In Celtic mythology, it was believed that on Hallowe'en (or Samhain, as it was called) the spiritual world was at its strongest point of the year. It was commonly believed that supernatural beings, usually malevolent, walked free on Earth for this night. People would wear masks and disguises, in an attempt to disguise themselves as spirits so they could travel unharmed and to scare away other beings from attacking them. In some countries, such as the United States, the superstition has been lost, and as such people often wear less traditional costumes, including commercialized trademarked characters such as Barbie and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Trick-or-treating, and Hallowe'en in general, experiences lulls and peaks in popularity. Its climax was probably in the 1940s with huge parades of disguised "spirits" of all ages, and trick-or-treating that lasted for four or more days in some places. While trick-or-treating is as popular in Britain and in Ireland as ever it was, in recent years it has diminished in the United States as a result of bad publicity. One popular urban legend is the story of razor blades or needles being pushed into apples before being handed out to children. There have been scares relating to LSD-laced gum or temporary tattoos, and many stories about poisoned candy. Many dentist's offices, either seeking publicity or out of genuine concern, offer free x-rays of halloween candy to check for foreign objects. While many of these stories have some basis in fact, it is often unrelated to trick-or-treating, happened once several decades ago, or sometimes is just completely fictitious.

In 2001 in the United States, this traditional fear was amplified by the anthrax attacks, and many communities offered various anti-anthrax services ranging from simple inspection to irradiation of the candy.

Some cities, citing public safety, have banned trick-or-treating outright. Reasons given often have to do with a supposed rise in kidnapping attempts during Hallowe'en, or because of a glut of "tricks" or vandalism. Occasionally a city will make a public proclamation that they as a community oppose trick-or-treating for health or religious reasons. Few cities have banned it for more than a few years without it being at least unofficially reinstated. In 2001 in the United States, trick-or-treating was much less popular than it had been in previous years, with many communities asking parents to restrict their children's activities if not banning it altogether.

For many children, trick-or-treating makes Hallowe'en the most beloved of holidays, even more than Christmas. Regardless of the financial state of the parents, the child can be assured of plenty of sweets, limited only by the distance they can walk, but with the rise of scooters, even this limit has begun to fade.