Halloween Trunk or Treating

Trick-or-treating is a custom for children on Halloween. Children proceed in costume from house to house, asking for treats such as candy, or sometimes money, with the question, "Trick or treat?" The "trick" is an idle threat to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property, such as eggs and flour being thrown at householders' windows if no treat is given.

In the United States and Canada, trick-or-treating is now one of the main traditions of Halloween and it has become socially expected that if one lives in a neighborhood with children one should purchase treats in preparation for trick-or-treaters. The National Confectioners Association reported in 2005 that 80 percent of adults in the United States planned to give out confectionery to trick-or-treaters,Trick-or-treaters can expect Mom or Dad's favorites in their bags this year, National Confectioners Association, 2005. and that 93 percent of children planned to go trick-or-treating.Fun Facts: Halloween, National Confectioners Association, 2004. The tradition of going from door to door receiving food already existed in Britain and Ireland, in the form of souling, where children and poor people would sing and say prayers for the dead in return for cakes. Guising ? children disguised in costumes going from door to door for food and coins ? also predates Trick or treat, and was traditional at Halloween in late 19th century Scotland and Ireland. While going from door to door has remained popular among Scots and Irish, the North American custom of saying "trick or treat" has become common. The activity is done in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, Puerto Rico, and northwestern and central Mexico (where it is called calaverita, spanish for "little skull"; instead of "trick or treat", children ask ¿me da mi calaverita?, "can you give me my little skull?"). In the last twenty years, amid controversy, the custom has spread to other countries, such as Italy, Australia and New Zealand, possibly due to the ubiquity of U.S. American TV shows and movies in those countries.