Halloween History

With Halloween right around the corner, take a break from decorating and learn about how this beloved holiday went from a harvest festival to a sweet tooth’s dream.

Originating in Scotland and Ireland, the Gaelic people marked the end of their harvest season and the beginning of winter with feasts and bonfires. Believing that around this time the veil between the spirit world and ours was thinned, and spirits could more easily pass through, bonfires were set to ward off evil spirits. Years later, the day after Halloween was referred to as “All Saints Day” by the Catholic Church, and as time went on their holidays fused into the holiday that we refer to as Halloween.

During the 19th century as more immigrants were coming from western Europe, this holiday was brought with them. At this time in Scotland and Ireland, people would visit the houses of the wealthy and pray for their dead relatives in return for a pastry or coins. However, younger generations, rather than pledging to pray for the dead, would sing a song, recite a poem, tell a joke, or perform another sort of “trick” before collecting their treat. These treats would typically consist of fruit, nuts, or coins.

Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, this holiday became popular with more and more people dressing up and often younger populations pulling pranks. However, during the late 1920s, a community organized an effort to begin trick-or-treating to curtail the hijinks. Though the great depression and World War II slowed the production of sugar, the tradition picked back up in the 1950s. For over a century, we have been celebrating Halloween with trick or treating in costume and lighting pumpkins to ward off the evil spirits.

Whether you are enjoying the decorative spirit of Halloween or candy for trick-or-treaters or yourself, enjoy your Halloween, and why not splurge for king-size candy for the kids and become the talk of the town.