A quarter of a millennium ago, a well-dressed person knocking on doors in the Philadelphia area at this time of year was likely looking to collect taxes.
But this weekend, fancily-dressed folks standing on a doorstep are likely just hoping for candy.
Trick-or-treating on Halloween has been a tradition in the U.S. for more than a century—even though it didn’t begin here. Some believe that trick-or-treating got its start in the Middle Ages because of All Souls’ Day. As part of the celebration, the poor would visit the homes of the wealthy, and in exchange for a promise to ...