Halloween Historical Background
June 22, 2008
The traditional Halloween celebrations come round every October 31st, and these days those who enjoy the festivities the most are the children. Halloween is a time to dress up in fancy dress and take to the streets trick or treating. Some families go to a lot of trouble decorating their homes and front yards in a ghostly and eerie Halloween theme.
Halloween is very old Celtic festival, and has continued through time most strongly in the Celtic communities in Ireland, Scotland and Wales. From there, with emigration, Halloween has spread around the world, most notably to the United States. In later years, the spread of popular American culture has kindled new interest in Halloween to some places for the first time, such as Asia and Western Europe.
The original Celtic celebrations were pagan festivities related to the changing seasons as winter approached. Traditionally it was a time when the living could communicate with the dead, and magic was abroad. The early Christian church, as with many pagan festivals, absorbed these celebrations into the Christian calendar. All Saints Day, also known as All Hallows Day, was set down for November 1st. All Hallows Evening, the night of October 31st, became known as Hallow E’en, later just Halloween, and the time for the traditional celebrations.
Halloween was celebrated in each village, and there was usually a large fire to keep warm and entertaining games. The apple harvest was going on, and games such as trying to eat an apple on a string or floating in a tub of water with no hands, were favorites. Children would go from house to house to gather fruit, nuts and other foodstuffs for the festivities, which was the origin of the “treating” visits of today. Notably in Scotland, the children would sing or put on a performance in return for the treats they were handed. Nowadays the treats handed out are usually candies and sweets, and perhaps some coins.
Halloween “tricks” were originally secret and often witty pranks played on some adults by children, with responsibility assigned to the mischievous spirits that were said to be abroad on Halloween. This trickery was especially common in Ireland. At some stage long lost in time, trick or treating became a stand over tactic: give a treat or become the victim of a trick. This unsociable development led to such customs as throwing eggs at houses and soaping windows, and what we would now see as vandalism. Today such activities at Halloween are uncommon.
Halloween party venues are often decorated with a haunted house theme. To the pleasure of children, Halloween menu items often include tomato soup described as vampire soup, spaghetti renamed as cemetery worms, and the always popular long cookies tipped with sliced almonds and described as witches’ fingers. Pumpkins are made into carved jack-o-lanterns, and the pumpkin flesh used for pumpkin dishes, such as the pumpkin pie that is traditionally a feature of Halloween menus.
For the last few years, the magic and wizards themes of the popular Harry Potter books have added fresh ideas to Halloween fancy dress and decorations for children’s Halloween parties.
Halloween fancy dress parties have grown in popularity for adults too in recent years. They are a suitable reason to dress up and party. It appears the trend today is for any costume to be fine, not necessarily just the customary witches, ghouls, vampires and ghosts of Halloween. Costume design inspirations are now taken from many origins, such as well known films and television series. Some costumes are just smart, such as the seasonally relevant theme of a “leaf blower”, being merely of a leaf on a string hung from the brim of a hat where it can be blown.
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