Serious question, I have no idea. Is there an established tradition, sequence of events, rule?
I just asked some kids, and they said they’d come later and secretly do some trick on me, but they didn’t seem too sure about it either.
This in Europe btw.
When I was a kid, there was no Halloween in our culture, but on a slightly similar occasion our verse ended with “…or we break a hole into your house”
Where I’m from we just did the “trick” part. Ran around in dark clothing on 30th April* in the late evening, fairly distributing toilet paper if we were unimaginative, and painting cows violet if we were more creative. General mischief, is what I’m saying, none of that bargaining for sweets, your house is going to be TP’ed and you’ll like it because the alternative might be actual property damage.
* I… think that was the date. It’s been a while and I don’t live there anymore.
Sounds like something you’d do at Walpurgisnacht. I remember women actually carrying scissors to cut off men’s … neckties or other parts of clothing. Or nighttime carnival where we’d just make infernal noise throughout the city center.
I miss the mischief.
The way you describe it, Southern Germany or Austria or Switzerland?
Southwestern Germany, yep :) We called it Hexennacht, Witches’ Night, which is of course the same as Walpurgisnacht. The necktie cutting as I know it is a Karneval thing, specifically the Thursday before Karneval, called Weiberfasnacht (“Wives’/women’s carnival”). Though I wouldn’t be surprised if there were heathens somewhere cutting neckties on some other day ;D
Shit, you’re right (same in Cologne). But I seem to remember something similar from Walpurgisnacht; women being in control, somewhat.
Walpurgisnacht Celebration