Halloween’s history
Halloween for some is a day to step into costume, gorge on candy and scare each other to death. Are you ready for little ghosts and goblins to show up on your doorstep? Having eaten a bit too much of the Halloween candy you purchased, perhaps you’re headed to the store. Or maybe you’re headed out to dinner so you don’t have to answer the door. In either case, you’re likely to see some ghoulish outfits today.
Halloween gradually evolved from Christian and Pagan traditions over the centuries. Short video clips on The History Channel website transport us over the see to find the roots of several of the current customs.
Wearing costumes, going trick-or-treating, and carving jack-o-lanterns all had their origins 2,000 years ago in Ireland and Britain. An ancient festival known as Samhain, a Celtic word for summer’s end, was celebrated on Nov. 1.
Once Irish farmers finished the harvest, they knew the long winter was about to begin.
Believing that the dead could rise from their graves and walk among the living, they attended big bonfires built by the druids to ward off these specters. Eventually the bonfires shrank to become lit jack-o-lanterns.
Steve Clark, a famed pumpkin carver, said that the Irish carved turnips and rutabagas which they carried around to ward off evil spirits and ghosts. When these immigrants arrived in America, they found the pumpkin was a better vehicle for their carving.
Celtic farmers even wore masks when they left their houses so that the ghosts wouldn’t recognize them. Fairies, goblins and other supernatural beings were also believed to roam about on Samhain causing trouble. Food and wine were left out front on their doorsteps to keep the spirits at bay so they wouldn’t enter their homes.
In the 8th Century, probably in an attempt to distract the Celts from their pagan practices, the Pope declared Nov. 1 as All Saints Day or All Hallows Day. The night before, Oct. 31, was known as All Hallows Eve which eventually was shortened to Halloween. “Hallow” is short for saints and “een” means evening so Halloween literally means saint’s evening.
In Medieval Britton, on Nov. 2, All Soul’s Day, the needy went door-to-door begging for sweet pastries known as soul cakes because they would pray for the souls of the dead relatives of those who lived there. The medieval tradition of guising was when kids dressed up in costumes and accepted food and money for singing, poetry recitations and joketelling.
In the 19th century, the potato famine brought a million Irish and Scottish immigrants to America along with their superstitions and customs. They revived the old traditions of trick-or-treating although they emphasized the tricks or pranks. It wasn’t until the 1950’s that the kid-centered and family-friendly Halloween took on its current form.
Brynn Holland’s Newsela article, “How Donald Duck and Peanuts saved trick-or-tricking” said that following sugar rationing during WWII, the tradition almost died. In 1951, Charles Schultz ran the Peanuts comic strip featuring ghost costumes and pumpkin carving that helped popularize Halloween again.
In the mid-50s, Disney released a short film of Huey, Dewey, and Louie trick-or-treating at their uncle’s door. Donald Duck put firecrackers in his nephew’s treat bags, but Witch Hazel helped the boys fight back.
About the same time, a campaign was launched by UNICEF, The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund to raise money. Orange cardboard boxes are still given to kids to take trickor-treating so they could collect money while they get candy. This has raised hundreds of millions of dollars and also helped popularize the tradition again.
In the 1970’s, fear of bad guys tampering with kid’s treaties gave rise to the affordable and convenient factory-made candy in a wrapper. Now Halloween is big business as the second largest grossing holiday behind Christmas. Last year $8.4 billion was spent by American consumers for costumes and candy.
When the doorbell rings tonight, perhaps you’ll be reminded of the centuries old traditions brought here by immigrants. Kristi Mccracken, author of two children’s books and a long time teacher in the South Valley, can be reached at educationallyspeaking@gmail.com.