The guy who started the thread asked this question:
"I’m doing some research on the history of Halloween, and I’m hoping
someone out there can help me get “unstuck” on the near-universal
adoption of trick-or-treating in the mid- to late 1930s as the way to
celebrate an American Halloween.
"I’ve been through the newspapers and magazines of the era, and I
simply can’t find any “smoking gun” where editors said, “Hey, instead
of throwing community Halloween parties to cut down on vandalism,
let’s all just wait at our front doors with bowls of candy!” In fact,
the earliest citation I can find for the phrase “trick or treat” is
from 1939.
“Is it possible that radio was the engine that drove the adoption of
this tradition? Did a radio Halloween show popularize (maybe even
name?) trick-or-treating?”
Does anyone here know why trick or treating replaced the custom of community parties?
The good folks over at the American Dialect Society have found cites for “trick or treat” as early as 1934, 1937,1938. But, it does seem that until the early 1930’s, the custom of offering the homeowner a choice of either giving the kids a treat or receiving a trick was unknown. Newspaper cites from 1890-1930 indicate that tricks(mischief) was what it was about.
Take this anecdote with a grain of salt, since it comes from a work of fiction, but it was based on the author’s experiences growing up in Brooklyn prior to World War I.
In A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, the kids went “trick or treating” on Thanksgiving Day and called it “Slamming Gate”-otherwise, the custom was nearly the same: the kids dressed up in costumes, took sacks and went around to local businesses begging-stores would give away stale candy, broken cookies, fruit that was too ripe to sell any longer. If the store owner didn’t answer the call, the kids would bang and slam on the door-I guess that counts as a “trick.”
Indeed I did. Like I said, it was a work of fiction, but as Betty Smith was drawing on her childhood, there are probably some true elements from it.
On Halloween, kids went around vandalizing things-drawing Xs on people’s backs with chalk, or smacking people on the streets with stockings full of soot.
“The tradition of trick-or-treating dates back to the early All Soul’s Day in England, during which poor citizens would beg for food and families would give them pastries called “soul cakes” in return for their promise to pray for the family’s dead relatives. The distribution of soul cakes was encouraged by the church as a way to replace the ancient practice of leaving food and wine for roaming spirits.”
Still, this doesn’t answer the question in my OP. Before the late 1930s, the common custom was to hold community parties for the kids to cut down on vandalism. The custom changed to handing out candy to kids going door to door yelling “trick or treat”. WHAT caused this change in the way Halloween was observed?
“America’s contribution to the Halloween holiday is the development of community parties. Some communities decided to hold organized activities on Halloween to keep mischievous trick and treaters out of trouble. Anoka, Minnesota is credited with holding the first community Halloween Party in 1921.”
"In the late 1800s, there was a move in America to mold Halloween into a holiday more about community and neighborly get-togethers, than about ghosts, pranks, and witchcraft. At the turn of the century, Halloween parties for both children and adults became the most common way to celebrate the day. Parties focused on games, foods of the season, and festive costumes. Parents were encouraged by newspapers and community leaders to take anything “frightening” or “grotesque” out of Halloween celebrations. Because of their efforts, Halloween lost most of its superstitious and religious overtones by the beginning of the twentieth century.
By the 1920s and 1930s, Halloween had become a secular, but community-centered holiday, with parades and town-wide parties as the featured entertainment. Despite the best efforts of many schools and communities, vandalism began to plague Halloween celebrations in many communities during this time. By the 1950s, town leaders had successfully limited vandalism and Halloween had evolved into a holiday directed mainly at the young. Due to the high numbers of young children during the fifties baby boom, parties moved from town civic centers into the classroom or home, where they could be more easily accommodated. Between 1920 and 1950, the centuries-old practice of trick-or-treating was also revived. Trick-or-treating was a relatively inexpensive way for an entire community to share the Halloween celebration. In theory, families could also prevent tricks being played on them by providing the neighborhood children with small treats. A new American tradition was born, and it has continued to grow. Today, Americans spend an estimated $6.9 billion annually on Halloween, making it the country’s second largest commercial holiday."
The first cite specifically mentions cutting down vandalism was a purpose. I’ll concede it isn’t the most credible of cites, however why would this person also make this up? And, given you mentioned cites from as early as 1890 about kids engaging in vandalism on Halloween, it seems plausible that some community leaders would try to combat this with organized community parties.