How Trick-or-Treating Became Part of Halloween Tradition

Despite its origins in pagan and Christian tradition, the modern American Halloween is often a purely secular celebration centered on candy and costumes. But in fact, one of the most frivolous aspects of the holiday has a serious religious past. Medieval Christian tradition held that on Hallowtide, the eve of All Saints’ Day, the poor went to the homes of the wealthy and offered to pray for the recently departed in that household.