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Haysnacks · October 16 · 2 min

Is Trick or Treating Dying?

People are now paying strangers — called “Uber Treats” — to go trick-or-treating for their kids while the kids stay on the couch. I joke, but for real: you upload a pic of your kid in costume, pick basic/premium/full-size candy, track the driver as they hit houses (and skip the raisin ones), and if Reese’s are out you get “free‑range” candy corn as a substitute. I love that Halloween started centuries ago in Ireland and Scotland where kids actually had to perform a song or poem to earn candy — like an audition for sugar. America streamlined it into neighborhood pillowcase raids by the 1950s, then we moved on to trunk-or-treats and church/school events for safety and convenience. Call me nostalgic, but I miss the hustle of knowing which house handed out full-size bars — now we’ve outsourced trick-or-treating to an app. Takeaways: I point out trick-or-treating is centuries old, with roots in Ireland and Scotland, not just 1978. Back then kids had to perform songs, poems, or little routines to actually earn their Halloween treats. By the 1950s it morphed into a massive neighborhood thing—pillowcases full of candy and parents on driveways. Nowadays people favor trunk-or-treats and organized events; safer and easier, sure, but some neighborhood charm gets lost. Then I impersonate a parody 'Uber Treats' service—upload a costume pic, pick basic/premium/full-size options, track your Treater, and enjoy goofy substitution policies like free-range candy corn.

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People are now paying strangers — called “Uber Treats” — to go trick-or-treating for their kids while the kids stay on the couch. I joke, but for real: you upload a pic of your kid in costume, pick basic/premium/full-size candy, track the driver as they hit houses (and skip the raisin ones), and if Reese’s are out you get “free‑range” candy corn as a substitute. I love that Halloween started centuries ago in Ireland and Scotland where kids actually had to perform a song or poem to earn candy — like an audition for sugar. America streamlined it into neighborhood pillowcase raids by the 1950s, then we moved on to trunk-or-treats and church/school events for safety and convenience. Call me nostalgic, but I miss the hustle of knowing which house handed out full-size bars — now we’ve outsourced trick-or-treating to an app.

Takeaways:

  • I point out trick-or-treating is centuries old, with roots in Ireland and Scotland, not just 1978.
  • Back then kids had to perform songs, poems, or little routines to actually earn their Halloween treats.
  • By the 1950s it morphed into a massive neighborhood thing—pillowcases full of candy and parents on driveways.
  • Nowadays people favor trunk-or-treats and organized events; safer and easier, sure, but some neighborhood charm gets lost.
  • Then I impersonate a parody 'Uber Treats' service—upload a costume pic, pick basic/premium/full-size options, track your Treater, and enjoy goofy substitution policies like free-range candy corn.

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