[Lee Stewart]

Back in the day, revelers couldn't just show up on a doorstep and demand candy; they had to entertain for it. In Middle Ages Britain, kids who were mostly poor went door-to-door dressed in disguise on All Hallow's Eve, singing, dancing, telling jokes and reciting poetry in exchange for food, wine and money. Irish and Scottish immigrants revived the tradition in 19th century America, turning it more or less into the trick-or-treating we know now.