Why do we need Trick or Treat Halloween Candy Bags?
Posted By: Shane Montgomery Times Read: 1844
Yes, of course it's because you don't want to get your pillowcase dirty, but set aside your OCD for a moment and let's travel back in time to see why we even need to be collecting candy.
Didn't your parents tell you not to take candy from strangers right before marching you up to some stranger's house and pretty much demanding candy? So confusing!
So let's roll the clock back about 2,000 years.
Jesus was becoming the most popular historical figure of all time and the birth of Christianity was underway. The Roman Empire was the largest in the world, and right here close to Mixed Tees headquarters, tar pits were trapping animals, perfectly preserving their bones, and apparently southern California was mostly wetland. Boy, how time changes things.
And in a quiet area of Ireland, the UK and northern France, a people called the Celts were starting the holiday we now call Halloween.
The Celts believed that on the night of October 31, the dead returned to Earth. This day was known as the celebration of Samhain. People would light bonfires and offer sacrifices to the dead. Some villagers would even disguise themselves in animal skins and other costumes to drive away phantom visitors.
Huge banquet tables were prepared and food was left out to appease unwelcome spirits. Over the course of a few centuries, people began dressing as ghosts, demons or other creatures and performing tricks in exchange for food and drink. Ahh yes, you're starting to see it now. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Maybe you've heard of the term "mumming" or "mummery"? Yes, this is presumed to be an instance of trick-or-treating.
Now let's roll forward to the 9th century. Christianity had spread into Celtic populations and there was a blending and even replacing of older pagan rites. November 2nd was designated "All Souls" Day by the church in an effort to honor the dead. The celebrations all across England resembled those earlier October 31st Celtic rituals and included bonfires and masquerades.
Poor people would visit the houses of the wealthy and receive "soul" cakes in exchange for a promise to pray for the souls of the homeowner's dead relatives.
This practice was known as "souling," and later children took up this practice and went door to door asking for gifts. At this time in Scotland and Ireland, young people took up a tradition called "guising," where they would dress up in costume and, instead of praying for the dead, they would perform a sort of "trick" before collecting their treat - usually fruit, nuts, or coins. Oh yes, folks, the story unfolds!
In the 1840s during Ireland's potato famine, large numbers of new immigrants came to America and revived the Old World traditions of souling and guising.
By the 1920s, rowdy young people had turned to pranks as their Halloween activity of choice, creating damages in excess of $100,000 in major cities.
When the Great Depression hit, it only made the problem worse. Halloween mischief became vandalism, physical assaults, and acts of violence. It is believed that this led to the adoption of organized community-based trick or treating traditions in the 1930s.
But the trick or treating came to an abrupt end with the start of World War II, when children could not trick or treat because of sugar rationing.
Kids couldn't be held down for long. In the 1950s, newly built suburbs led way to the return of the Halloween custom of trick or treating. Sugar rationing was over and new dental offices were probably shooting up everywhere.
No one knows precisely when and where the phrase "trick or treat" was first used, but the custom had been firmly established by 1951 when trick or treating was depicted in the Peanuts comic strip.
Then, in 1952, Disney produced a cartoon called "Trick or Treat" featuring Donald Duck and his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie.
Halloween, which actually comes from the shortening of "All Hallow's Evening," grew as a national holiday with the help of marketing.
In 1952, UNICEF conducted its first national campaign for children to raise funds while trick-or treating and the rest is history.
Halloween survived the poisonings and razor bladed apples of the 1960s and 70s. The 1980s introduced us to the horror of Michael on Halloween night. And through the 1990s Halloween mazes, Screams in the Dark, and yard decorations exploded.
And now 2000 years after its inception, Halloween is more popular than ever. Just take a look at Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights. The park is transformed for a whole month dedicated to the season. Knott's Scary Farm has been operating annually for 30 years and now Magic Mountain and Disneyland have created their own scare parks.
According to a 2011 Harris Neilsen survey, Halloween was voted the 3rd most popular holiday behind Christmas and Thanksgiving. Now in 2015, maybe it's time to do that poll again. Halloween is out of control and there is a lot of fun to be had for almost everyone.
Communities that want to avoid wandering door to door taking candy from strangers dressed up as ghouls and goblins have adopted a "Trunk or Treat" annual event for kids to safely celebrate with a church or school.
So our history of the Trick or Treat bag is complete. What? We didn't even talk about the trick or treat bag? Well, let's see...
From 1976 to 1987 my mom's pillowcases needed a good washing come Nov. 1. I suppose the Celts may have used a sheep bladder lining to put their goodies in. Ninth century folks would have used woven baskets or maybe leather purses. The Irish immigrants of the 1800s might have used potato sacks or even their hats. Hats were very popular back then. By the mid 1900s it was grocery sacks, napkins turned into sacks (knapsacks), and probably even flour bags with drawstrings. Now, in the age AFTER mom's pillowcase, you even have ready-made candy bags like THESE.
But whatever you carry your candy in, remember no matter how heavy the sack, the fun will be in eating it! I'd like to thank History.com for all their wonderful info on the history of Halloween and the help they provided on this article. Let's hear your thoughts and suggestions below. If you've been kind enough to read all the way down here, take 25% off your purchase by using the coupon code HALLOWEEN when you check out.
Here our our "Lazy Halloween Costumes," as well as our trick or treat bags and other cool halloween stuff: www.mixedtees.com/halloween
