The Irish were already dressing in costume (or disguise, if you prefer) for samhain, as a way to confuse any ghosties who might be on the hunt that night, Mental Floss tells us. Gifts of food would be left out on doorsteps — a way to appease any wandering spirits who, apparently, worked up an appetite as they scared the bejabbers out of the population.
The ghostly tradition of that time of year continued into the American Colonies — witness Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," with its Headless Horseman, published in 1820, involving a ghostly Hessian soldier from the Revolutionary War. The holiday morphed into a night of revelry and pranks, as well as borderline extortion — "give us a treat, or you'll get a trick," and nothing like making a card disappear, either. We'd probably call it "vandalism" today — tipping over outhouses was always a knee-slapper in those happy, carefree times.
It wasn't until the post-World War II era that tons of processed sugar entered into the equation.
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