![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.thisblogrules.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/Apple.jpg\" "\\"Apple\\"")
<\/a>If someone put this in your bag, you knew they were a Communist spy.<\/p><\/div>\n
As with most traditions, one wonders how such a timeless tradition got started in the first place. Well, it\u2019s a long and complicated story, so we\u2019ll give you the short version while making fun of it the whole time.<\/p>\n
The Early Days<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Trick or treating has its roots in the Middle Ages, in the form of souling. Souling involved the local poor people going door to door singing songs in exchange for a \u201csoul cake\u201d to celebrate All Saints Day (November 1) Each cake represented a soul being set free from Purgatory into Heaven, so it served a double purpose: ensuring your departed loved ones a place in God\u2019s Country by bribing him with cake, and shutting up those pesky poor people for awhile by filling their mouths with that same cake.<\/p>\n \u201cRemember dear, if you don\u2019t make these properly, we\u2019ll be mauled to death by the peasantry, and then we\u2019ll have to answer to Grandma who didn\u2019t get picked for the All Afterlife Team because of us.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n Evolution and Importation<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n By 1895, the practice had morphed into \u201cguising,\u201d where British youths would disguise themselves with masks and cloaks, and would prance about the neighborhood begging for cakes, fruit, and money, not necessarily in that order. They would add to the aura of mystery and general creepiness by carrying lanterns made from hollowed out turnips, which helped along another Halloween tradition: the jack-o-lantern.<\/p>\n Seen here in the always classic \u201cSoul Devouring\u201d form.<\/p><\/div>\n Over the next 15 years it rode on the Immigrant Expressway across the Atlantic and became popular both in Canada and British ethnic neighborhoods. Soon it found a new following in the Western United States, under a new name: Trick or Treating. Trick or treating in those days was more hardcore, if the homeowner refused to pony up the treat, they really would be subjected to trickery.<\/p>\n Trick or Treating spread across the country like a brushfire, with more and more children taking part every year, in spite of the Depression. Then, the frivolity was put on pause and almost ruined by that guy who ruined every decent thing in the world at the time.<\/p>\n Hey, wait a minute\u2026okay yeah sure. It\u2019s all Mussolini\u2019s fault.<\/p><\/div>\n A strict sugar ration was put in place for the duration of World War II, and let\u2019s just say delicious Halloween candies were not at the top of government priority lists. However, once the Axis powers were defeated and all that sugar came back on the peacetime market, trick or treating was back on in full force.<\/p>\n The Modern Era<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Thanks to television exposure by such sources as Walt Disney and Ozzie and Harriet, Trick or treating became a nationwide tradition. And the candy companies–Hershey, Mars, Nestle, and Brachs, contributed to it with a marketing campaign to promote trick or treating in every neighborhood in the country.<\/p>\n \u201cRemember, honey, if we don\u2019t satiate the little demons, they will come after us with the toilet paper.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n Over time, the trick part of trick or treating went out of fashion, as law enforcement felt that throwing eggs at a person\u2019s house simply because they aren\u2019t home to acknowledge the horde of costumed children demanding sugar outside.<\/p>\n Corruption in the Industry<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Of course, adults continue to find ways to suck the fun out of it. Just because one guy murdered his son with pixy stix<\/a> now all trick or treat candy has to be inspected vigorously before consumption, lest they be tampered with. They even x ray fruit to make sure it\u2019s free from foreign objects!<\/p>\n Seeking a safe and lazy alternative that doesn\u2019t involve walking around too much, certain groups have started \u201cTrunk or Treat\u201d traditions. Basically, a bunch of people (usually some kind of church group) gather in a parking lot somewhere, open up their car trunks to reveal the candy within, and basically have a pot luck candy party where Jesus is the ULTIMATE supervisor. But it\u2019s not like that works either, one kid received a vial of nose candy<\/a> at a Trunk or Treat in Utah of all places.<\/p>\n Safety issues aside, then you have just plain greedy people. Have you ever noticed that a big trick or treating event draws way too many people? You wanna know why? The children are bused in from other towns, counties, sometimes states to maximize the amount of candy received. There are parents that will send their kids out trick or treating in their neighborhood one night, and then drive to the next town over the next night for more. This of course doesn\u2019t even include teenagers and even adults who go trick or treating, some of them claiming to be collecting for a sick kid, some who drop the pretense altogether. Here\u2019s<\/a> a story about a town who\u2019s trick or treating festivities are being ruined by out of towners, squatters, and general jerk faces. Hey, jackoff in the Spongebob costume, you aren\u2019t 10 anymore, stop stealing candy from people!<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.thisblogrules.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/Cakes.jpg\" "\\"Cakes\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.thisblogrules.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/jackolantern.jpg\" "\\"jackolantern\\"")
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