KIDS UNITED
Jack-O-lanterns
In Ireland the people told a story about poor Jack. The story goes that he was not allowed to enter heaven because he had bad behavior. The devil didn't want him because ole Jack had out-tricked him. So, Jack was forced to wander the earth forever, carrying a lantern.
On Halloween the Irish started making "jack-o-lanterns" by carving out a face in turnips or potatoes and placing a small candle inside. They would set them on tables or in windows. Today, we carve jack-o-lanterns out of pumpkins.
"Trick or Treat"
In England, children would beg for "soul-cakes." Soul cakes are little round cakes with a hole in the middle just big enough to be able to slide over a broom handle. That is how we got the famous "dough naught." That is, a zero or "naught" as they used to call them, made out of cake dough. It is our famous do-nut or doughnut that we see all over today. Everyone loves doughnuts but few people know they are really soul cakes.
The children in England begged in several different ways. Some said:
Soul! Soul! For a souling-cake!
I pray you, good missus, a souling-cake.
In another part of England, the children sang:
Soul! Soul! For an apple or two!
If you have no apples,
Pears will do,
If you have no pears,
Money will do.
If you have no money,
God bless you!
When the English settlers came to the United States they brought this custom with them. In America the song was changed to "Trick or treat, money or eat." Today the expression is even shorter: "Trick or Treat!"
