An early precursor to trick-or-treating is believed to be “souling,” the tradition of going door to door asking for “soul cakes,” a treat similar to biscuits, in exchange for prayers for the dead in purgatory. It was done the night before All Souls Day on November 1.
While Americans are thought to have created Halloween, it was fully a Northern European thing until the Irish brought it to the United States. It lingered in the U.S. for decades before it began to take hold again world wide post internet.
Trick or Treating is also not American.
An early precursor to trick-or-treating is believed to be “souling,” the tradition of going door to door asking for “soul cakes,” a treat similar to biscuits, in exchange for prayers for the dead in purgatory. It was done the night before All Souls Day on November 1.
While Americans are thought to have created Halloween, it was fully a Northern European thing until the Irish brought it to the United States. It lingered in the U.S. for decades before it began to take hold again world wide post internet.