If you think about it, "trick or treat" is actually a threat (for which you’ll deserve a prank if you don’t cough up the candy), but hey, you’re not opposed to passing on the chocolate lovin’, so you don’t have to worry about any pranksters reeking revenge on you this Halloween. But how did this cough-up-or-pay-up to the little ghosts, witches, and goblins (and princesses, superheroes, and cartoon characters…) who visit your home one chilly night each fall start? How did North America and the UK morph a traditionally Irish holiday into one of chocolate’s most successful times of the year?
You’ve probably heard that Halloween was first celebrated as the evening before All Saints’ Day (November 1st), a feast in honor of Christian saints (which has its origins in Pagan traditions). Halloween is a contraction of "all-hallow-even(ing)," the evening of what was once known as "All Hallows’ Day." (It used to be celebrated the same day as All Saints’ Day after sunset, not the day before.) Originally a Celtic festival to celebrate the end of the harvest, Halloween expanded to include the ancient Gaelic thought that after night fell on this day, the spirits of the dead were allowed to contact the living, and being the troublemakers they were, they often took this opportunity to cause sickness or wilted crops.
Hundreds and hundreds of years later, the idea of celebrating Halloween by dressing up in costumes and soliciting free sweets door to door emerged sometime shortly before 1900 simultaneously but likely independently in North America and in the UK. (And has since been exported to much of the world.) Although wearing costumes and begging door to door was nothing new (there were Middle Ages traditions that made use of this idea such as Christmas wassailing), there is no known evidence to suggest that Trick-or-treating started long before 1900. In fact, there is little evidence as to exactly when the tradition started, but the earliest documentation of North American Trick-or-treating appeared in 1911 in an Ontario newspaper that references the tradition as if it were nothing new.
So the Trick-or-treating tradition seemed to slowly emerge and no one’s sure exactly how it happened (if that isn’t a spooky ghost story, what is?), but fall wouldn’t be the same without it. While you’re giving some chocolate treats to the kids in your neighborhood this Halloween, how about treating yourself? The fun of Halloween is something most adults never grow out of, whether they still attend costume parties or they just enjoy a good Halloween chocolate! But now that you’re grown up, why don’t you spoil yourself a little more? Skip the grocery store chocolate—check out the Halloween chocolate available at these classier chocolatiers this season!
The always-delectable Godiva (www.godiva.com) has some favorite and new Halloween treats available at their website (here) and at their stores nation-wide (godiva.geoserve.com/forms/godiva.php). Chocolate bat lollipops, pumpkin spice truffles wrapped to look like mini pumpkins, a plush bear dressed up for Halloween (and with the all-important chocolate pretzels in hand), and an assorted set of Halloween-shaped chocolates are the highlights of the collection. And check out the simple yet adorable black cat design on many of the boxes!
Speaking of adorable, who knew Halloween chocolate could be so incredibly… cute? At Teuscher Chocolates (www.teuscher-newyork.com), you can find Halloween chocolate so cute, you may not even eat them! (Who are we kidding? Of course we’ll eat them, but we’ll feel a little guilty about it!) There are two Teuscher stores in New York—one on Fifth Avenue and another on Madison Avenue—and a number across the nation (look for the closest location here: www.teuscher.com/locator-north-america.html ; or just be prepared to order online once you see that you can’t resist them!), which all feature chocolates hand-made by master artisans in Zurich, Switzerland and shipped directly by air to all the North American stores. The month of October brings special Halloween-themed figurines that you would never guess at a glance are made of chocolate! Witches, ghosts, and pumpkins featuring 1-2 truffles and/or 4-5 oz. of chocolate are sure to melt your heart. Take a look: http://www.teuscherfifthavenue.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=28
Looking for a more elegant Halloween treat? Try Chocolat Moderne (www.chocolatmoderne.com), which is based in New York on West 20th Street and is available for sale online and at specialty stores across the nation (chocolatmoderne.com/Retail1.html). Around Halloween, founder Joan Coukos’ chocolate-covered caramels, ganaches, and pralines, which usually feature hand-painted artistic designs inspired by art as diverse as the Ukrainian egg decoration tradition and the Japanese kimono, are redecorated to feature spider webs and pumpkins. Plus, the dark brown and orange theme that decorates Chocolat Moderne’s packages already invokes some thoughts of Halloween!
This Halloween, treat the kids in your neighborhood with a few bags of yummy chocolate you can buy down at the grocery store—but don’t forget to treat the grown-ups in your life (read: you) with some higher quality chocolatier Halloween chocolate, too! And watch out for those pesky spirits!
