<P> Despite the concept of trick or treating originating in Britain and Ireland in the form of souling and guising, the use of the term' trick or treat' at the doors of home owners was not common until the 1980s . Guising requires those going door - to - door to perform a song or poem without any jocular threat, and according to one BBC journalist, in the 1980s "trick or treat" was still often viewed as an exotic and not particularly welcome import, with the BBC referring to it as "the Japanese knotweed of festivals" and "making demands with menaces". In Ireland before the phrase "trick or treat" became common, children would say "Help the Halloween Party". Very often, the phrase "trick or treat" is simply said and the revellers are given sweets, with the choice of a trick or a treat having been discarded . </P> <P> Trick - or - treating typically happens between 5: 30pm and 9: 30pm on October 31, although some municipalities choose other dates . Homeowners wishing to participate in it sometimes decorate their private entrances with artificial spider webs, plastic skeletons and jack - o - lanterns . Some rather reluctant homeowners would simply leave the candy in bowls on the porch, others might be more participative and would even ask an effort from the children in order to provide them with candy . In more recent years, however, the practice has spread to almost any house within a neighbourhood being visited by children, including senior residences and condominiums . Although people decorate their homes for Halloween, when homes would like to participate in handing out candy, a porch light is usually left on to signify that a home is handing out candy . </P> <P> In Scotland and Ireland, "guising"--children going from door to door in disguise--is traditional, and a gift in the form of food, coins or "apples or nuts for the Halloween party" (in more recent times chocolate) is given out to the children . The tradition is called "guising" because of the disguises or costumes worn by the children . In the West Mid Scots dialect, guising is known as "galoshans". While guising has been recorded in Scotland in the 16th century, a more contemporary record of guising at Halloween in Scotland is in 1895, where masqueraders in disguise carrying lanterns made out of scooped out turnips, visit homes to be rewarded with cakes, fruit, and money . Guising also involved going to wealthy homes, and in the 1920s, boys went guising at Halloween up to the affluent Thorntonhall, South Lanarkshire . An account of guising in the 1950s in Ardrossan, North Ayrshire, records a child receiving 12 shillings and sixpence, having knocked on doors throughout the neighborhood and performed . </P> <P> There is a significant difference from the way the practice has developed in North America with the associated threat . In Scotland and Ireland, the children are only supposed to receive treats if they perform a party trick for the households they go to . This normally takes the form of singing a song or reciting a joke or a funny poem which the child has memorised before setting out . Occasionally a more talented child may do card tricks, play the mouth organ, or something even more impressive, but most children will earn plenty of treats even with something very simple . Often they won't even need to perform . While going from door to door in disguise has remained popular among Scots and Irish at Halloween, the North American saying "trick - or - treat" has become common . </P>

Where did the words trick or treat come from