I have a theory – we can call it a hobbyhorse – that every historical episode or cultural phenomenon can be and even in some cases should be understood through the lens of infrastructure policy. In this way, for instance, the outcome American Civil War can be easily explained as a contest between an army with riverboats and pack wagons versus one with railroads and telegraph lines. Similarly, the invention and popularization of the modern bicycle in the 1890s gave women a greater degree of independence and mobility, leading directly to both changing dress styles as well as changing gender roles in society.  In the spirit of this “All Roads Lead to Roads” analysis, herewith: an article on the transportation underpinnings of Halloween traditions. 

Halloween has its roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain – an end of summer harvest festival during which a “thin veil” between worlds allowed the spirits to roam freely, encouraging celebrants to dress up in costumes to ward off ghosts. After the conquest of Britain in the first century A.D., construction of Roman roads allowed missionaries to travel through these Celtic lands and introduce Christianity. There followed from approximately 400 A.D. through 1000 A.D. an era of “Celtic Christianity” in which many Celtic traditions were co-opted into Christian holidays to facilitate adoption of Christianity. In this case, in the 8th Century, Pope Gregory III moved All Saints Day (All Hallows as it was known in medieval England) from May to November 1, which made it coincide with the timing of Samhain. All Saints Day and the day prior – All Hallows Eve, and later “Halloween” – came to incorporate classic Samhain traditions. 

Those traditions largely stayed put for the next several centuries. In the 17th and 18th, immigration to the U.S. relied on sailing ships and was costly, often deadly, and took months. Early immigrants to America were largely Puritans, who didn’t celebrate the debaucherous, pagan-inspired holidays of Christmas, Easter, or Saints Day, and largely only observed the holidays of Thanksgiving and Election Day. In the 19th century, the invention of the steamship dramatically reduced costs and time for cross-oceanic travel and expanded opportunities for immigration to the U.S. from Ireland, Scotland, and England. With these new Americans arrived new traditions, including those Celtic traditions that continued to be practiced for Halloween, such as the carving of spooky faces into turnips and gourds. 

One Halloween tradition from the British Isles would appear to be the forerunner of trick-or-treating. In one variant known as souling, poor children would knock on the doors of wealthier families and receive soul cakes or other gifts in exchange for promises of prayer. In a Scottish tradition known as “guising,” young people would dress in costume and accept offerings of coins and fruit from houses in exchange for small performances, recitations, or other tricks.  

Unlike souling or guising, which did not appear to be regularly practiced in the 19th or early 20th century in the U.S., another Irish and Scottish Halloween tradition or pranking was widely adopted in that period. Transportation assets were a frequent target of such pranks. Popular pranks included blocking roads, greasing the tracks of streetcar trains, reparking carts and wagon on the roofs of buildings, littering streets with dummies meant to look like bodies, and throwing bags of flour at streetcar riders. 

As with any prank, it’s all fun and games until someone gets an eye poked out, and unsurprisingly the injuries associated with pranks such as greased tracks and streetcars unable to stop on downhill descents were not insignificant. By the early 20th century, several pranks led to serious injuries or deaths, such as the death of a young prankster in Bowling Green in 1910, run over by a streetcar he was attempting to grease with soap, and the death of another child in Utah in 1918 when a streetcar driver mistook him for one of the dummies and other obstacles laid across the road. During the Great Depression, pranks became excessive and sometimes even led to acts of violence. 

As the public appetite declined for enduring the increasing personal injuries, harassment, and property damage associated Halloween pranks, starting in the 1930s cities looked for other ways to channel Halloween energies and distract youth from mischief making. The result was the rise of Haunted Houses and trick or treating, luring potential pranksters off the streets and giving them safer thrill-seeking activities. Although trick-or-treating was curtailed during World War 2 and the rations on sugar, it became standard practice for the post-war baby boom era, encouraged by national advertising led by candy companies.  

Today, trick-or-treating remains the standard practice for celebration of Halloween, but the rise of roadways designed without pedestrian accommodation and the increasing distance between households in suburban and exurban areas poses safety and logistical challenges to trick-or-treating. This has given rise to a new form of trick-or-treating known as “trunk-or-treating” in which families can tailgate in a parking lot around safely parked cars and pass out candy to costumed children without undue safety fears.