thanks flatfrog, i couldn't be bothered to argue the toss with him
i suspect the dressing up as anything thing comes from needing an excuse to, fancy dress parties are pretty gay, but most people like having the excuse once a year
(quintsy, Fri 26 Oct 2012, 11:05, 1 reply)

I looked into this recently...
...The dressing up element comes from guising which was a Scottish tradition of going round the local houses dressed up and being rewarded (or bribed to go away) with money and treats. The tricking element comes from another old tradition of mischief/misrule night. Both of these were exported to America with immigrant families and distilled into one "trick or treat" night that got affixed to halloween, the day before All Saints Day.

The Good Ole US of A might have exported "trick or treating" and pumpkins (instead of turnips which are a nightmare to carve!) back over the ocean, but the notion of halloween predates their country by several centuries (according to the OED at least!).
( e.m.m.y. foxtrot uniform charlie kilo india tango, Fri 26 Oct 2012, 14:07, closed)

I was going to say this
I am sure there are b3tans older than me here but we used to go guising back in the early 70's in Aberdeen. We'd dress up, ask "penny for the guy" (but never had 'a Guy' with us, infact I didn't know who Guy was) We'de be very dissapointed if we were given sweets instead of money and throw wet toilet paper at the windows of people who didn't answer their doors - we were proto-trick or treaters. Prometh-i-treaters as it were.
( spitsticker is not working on, Fri 26 Oct 2012, 21:49, closed)