Don’t understand some of these replies.
I’m 39 and we always donned the costumes and trick or treated as kids so as far as I’m concerned it’s always been a thing here.
Maybe it's because you were born in 1980.
Just a wild guess, some of these replies you don't understand come from posters born 15-20 + years before you.
I was reading earlier that trick or treat became very popular in England after the film ET was released.
I grew up in central Brighon and I don't remember anyone in my area doing trick or treat until the mid 80s, and this was just a handful of kids.