For posts about the comic Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz
Transcript:
Charlie Brown walks up to a house, bag in his hand, and knocks on the door.
Patty appears at the door and he exclaims,"Tricks or treats...money or eats!" She exclaims,"What?!"
He jumps as she shouts,"Get out of here!!! Halloween was yesterday!"
As the door slams in his face, he replies,"I'm still hungry!"
Original comic:
money or eats
I've never heard this second part before. Is it historical, or a local variation?
It's also unusual that he pluralizes the first part, looks like that was more common at first, in the early 20th century:
https://www.sootoday.com/rooted/origin-of-phrase-trick-or-treat-in-print-traced-to-the-sault-6033664
According to Barry Popik, an American etymologist from New York who has been studying language for decades, the Sault is the first place to reference ‘tricks or treats’ in print anywhere in the world.
The citation comes from an edition of The Sault Daily Star on November 1, 1917, which detailed a brief story about local youngsters who were out celebrating Halloween the previous evening.
“Tricks or treats you could hear the gangs call out,” the article read.
Sounds like there was more regional variation early on and things were still in flux when this comic was made. The references I could find to "money or eats" were from the Midwest, so probably a variant that died out in favor of just "trick or treat"
... oh, so this is why he gets rocks
