Trick-or-treating began in the U.K., Ireland, and France.
Trick-or-treating has been a beloved Halloween tradition in North America for nearly a century, but it actually began in what is now the U.K., Ireland, and northern France.
According to the History Channel, Halloween originated as a 2,000-year-old pre-Christian Celtic pagan festival, in which “villagers disguised themselves in costumes made of animal skins to drive away phantom visitors.”
Centuries later, people began dressing as ghosts, demons, and other devilish creatures and performed antics in exchange for food and drink. “This custom, known as mumming, dates back to the Middle Ages and is thought to be a predecessor of trick-or-treating,” the History Channel notes.
