We aren’t exactly sure who invented trick-or-treating – kids who realized they could extort adults for candy, or adults who bought off kids in exchange for laying off pranks? The bigger question is: Will trick-or-treating survive the 21st century? Learn more in this classic episode.
AI Summary
# Stuff You Should Know - Trick-or-Treating Episode
Join Josh and Chuck as they dive into the spooky history of trick-or-treating, exploring how this uniquely American tradition actually came to be and how it's evolved from a night of genuine pranks and mischief into the safer, more commercialized version we know today. The guys trace the surprising origins from Celtic harvest festivals and European customs like souling and mumming, then track how American kids in the early 20th century somehow combined all these elements into the perfect candy-collecting scheme, complete with plenty of nostalgia about their own costumes and Halloween memories along the way.
"When you didn't have the ability to be the alien from alien — Josh references how elaborate costumes from movies like Alien were difficult to create as a child."
— Josh
American Psycho
2000
1h 42m
★ 7.4
"What were you last year? It was Patrick Bateman from American Psycho — Josh describes his Halloween costume the previous year as Patrick Bateman from American Psycho."
"I pumped music out, like the psycho theme and scary John Carpenter stuff — Chuck describes playing the Psycho theme music when scaring trick-or-treaters at his old house in Atlanta."
— Chuck
Raising Arizona
1987
1h 34m
★ 7.1
"I would try and find some cool movie character like H.I. from Raising Arizona. I did one year — Chuck mentions dressing as H.I., the main character from Raising Arizona, for a Halloween costume."
— Chuck
Saturday Night Live
1975
★ 7.0
"Like Ed Grimly one year, the Saturday Night Live character — Josh mentions dressing as Ed Grimly, a character from Saturday Night Live, for Halloween."
— Josh
The Goonies
1985
1h 54m
★ 7.5
"The kids in the Goonies were able to pull off because they had freedom and spark — Josh references the Goonies when discussing how trunk-or-treating restricts kids compared to free-range trick-or-treating."
— Josh
To Kill a Mockingbird
1962
2h 9m
★ 8.0
"The old dead oak tree with the big hole in it that Boo Radley hides figures in — Chuck compares his property to the spooky setting from To Kill a Mockingbird to explain why trick-or-treaters avoid his house."
— Chuck
Trick or Treat
1952
NR
8m
★ 7.0
"Donald Duck trick-or-treat a year after that had Donald working with his nephews — Josh discusses a Donald Duck cartoon that promoted trick-or-treating to American audiences in the 1950s."
— Josh
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