A Short History of Halloween
Halloween (31st October) is popular in the UK and even more popular in America where it estimated a quarter of the years’ sweets are sold during the period. Halloween, Pumpkins and Trick-or-Treat. How did it all start?
Halloween (31st October) is popular in the UK and even more popular in America where it estimated a quarter of the years’ sweets are sold during the period.
There’s a long history behind Halloween. It may have started as long ago as the Celts, 2000 years ago. Around the 7/8th Century the Pope made November 1st the Christian event of All Saints Day or All Hallows Day (as ‘Hallow’ means Saint or holy person), to honour all saints and martyrs.
The night before All Saints Day, the 31st October, the Celtic Samhain night, became the time for ghosts of the dead to return and cause trouble and ruin crops, so people started lighting bonfires to warn off these evil spirits. They made Jack O’Lanterns as images of the dead, carved out of pumpkins.
This night was called All Hallows Eve which eventually got contracted to Halloween. By the way, November 2nd is known as All Souls Day, the day to honour the dead.
Today we still have the pumpkins, sometimes the bonfires, and often dress up as ghostly figures, play games and go trick-or-treating. It’s good fun, especially for kids, but the adults love to join in!
You can get some good outfits and props from the Amazon Halloween Store.
On eBay USA: