The modern holiday of Halloween has its origins in the ancient Gaelic festival known as Samhain. It is a celebration of the end of the harvest season. It is 'The Celtic New Year'. The festival was a time to take stock of supplies and slaughter livestock for winter. They believed that on October 31, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped and the deceased would come back to life and cause trouble such as sickness or damage the crops. The festivals would frequently involve bonfires. Costumes and masks were worn in an attempt to mimic and confuse the evil spirits.
The commercialization of Halloween in the United States did not start until the 20th century, beginning perhaps with Halloween postcards which were most popular between 1905 and 1915. Dennison Manufacturing Company, which published its first Hallowe'en catalog in 1909, and the Beistle Company were pioneers in commercially made Halloween decorations, particularly die-cut paper items. German manufacturers specialised in Halloween figurines that were exported to the United States in the period between the two world wars.
Mass-produced Halloween costumes did not appear in stores until the 1930s, and trick-or-treating did not become a fixture of the holiday until the 1950s.
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Comments: 33
Interesting trivia here Peter. I guess we have our parent's generation to thank for the commercialization of the holiday! LOL
But I think we can ALL agree pumpkins work best!!!
The commercialization has gone bonkers.
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977157763
Good story, but I have to disagree with the use of costumes and a few other facts here and in the above comments. The belief is that October 31 is the first turn of the wheel of the New Year and that the doors to the other planes are most open at this time. The spirits closer than at any other time of the year and also that it is the best time to contact your dead and to honor them as well. The wearing of costumes were to dress as what you would like to be in your next life, there weren't any goals or goblins!! and also to honor the gods and bring on a good hunting season. often doning horned skins etc. There was NO EVIL ever assoiciated with Halooween until the commericalization and corruption of the blessed day occurred..
Nov.1 has been all saints day for the mexican culture for centuries and it is also the day they honor their dead and even leave them feast on which to partake. The celtic/pagean calender was based mainly on agriculutre and the phases of the moon. It's speaks volumes when you take notice that most relgious holidays of todya follow very closly with that original holiday.
During the Festival of Samhain, fires were lit which burned all winter and sacrifices would be offered to the gods on the fires. This practice of burning humans stopped around 1600, and instead effigy's were burned.
When Christianity spread into Europe, instead of trying to abolish pagan customs, people combined paganism with Christianity in order to appear more Christian. Halloween has since become a confusing mixture of traditions and practices from pagan cultures and Christian tradition. Read more here.
http://www.jeremiahproject.com/culture/halloween.html
This is why our family does NOT observe or have anything to do with Halloween.
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Regardless, it's the pagan roots of Halloween that we celebrate!
Fun stuff just makes life entertaining!!!
Seriously, well done!