Halloween. It’s many people’s favorite spooky scary holiday that falls on October 31 every year. Kids around the world dress up as anything from a cute monkey to a killer clown.
The beloved holiday is one of the hottest events of the year, but not many people stop to think about the origins of the holiday. When you take a minute to think about it, the origins of Halloween are both crazy and interesting.
Halloween originated from Christians in Ireland as an ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the end of summer and the beginning of their new year, as November 1 was the new year rather than January 1.
The festival of Samhain was centered around the idea of spirits returning to Earth, and participants of the festival wore costumes to ‘ward off’ these evil spirits. The costume-wearing festival was eventually brought over from Ireland to the United States by Irish immigrants fleeing poverty, economic shortcomings, and political corruption. In the 1920s and 1930s, American citizens held Halloween parties at their house to play games, eat food and socialize. This eventually led to the rather boring United States to adapt Halloween nationwide as a ‘get together holiday.’
The holiday turned a new leaf when guising, an Irish term for children going door-to-door to do a performance of some sort in exchange for food or candy rewards, was adapted as ‘trick- or-treating.’ The concept of children going door-to-door was unheard of in America at the time, so it took a little while for trick-or-treating to formally become part of the holiday. Children love candy, and the Irish children were rewarded candy for their performances. So America decided to hand out candy to kids coming at their door for Halloween.
The phrase ‘trick-or-treat’ originated from a newspaper article in Alberta, Canada in 1927. Trick-or-treating is about how the kids on Halloween would ask for a treat or else they would play a trick on you. The interesting concept skyrocketed and became the most famous part of the holiday.
America’s fascination with spirits, ghouls, witches and other supernatural creatures has led to Halloween becoming a spooky spectacle rather than a get together. The popular appeal of frightening sights led to the inventions of the haunted house and costumes deemed ‘scary’ for the kids to wear on the holiday. Halloween has molded into a spooky and candy seeking holiday that has lasted for just over 100 years.
Halloween has been around in the United States since the 1920s, but the way people go about the holiday and its aesthetic has changed a lot over the years. Halloween started as a religious festival to ward off evil spirits from entering Earth’s atmosphere, then it became a hang out kind of holiday before finally becoming a nationwide sensation about horror and trick-or-treating children which has been the center of pop culture influence for decades. Hundreds of movies and television shows reference the holiday, whether it’s a holiday special episode or the center of the show’s premise.
Halloween has changed so much over the years, but one thing stays the same: the love we have for Halloween is something that will stand the test of time.
