In just a few days, we’ll celebrate All Saints Day. On November 1st, Catholics and many other Christians will honor the saints – thanking God for the believers who have gone before us in death. Believe it or not, that’s where Halloween has its origins. All Hallow’s Eve was originally the vigil held on the night before All Saints Day.
Of course, these days, it’s changed quite a bit.
This year Halloween falls on a Saturday and goes into the night we roll our clocks back for Daylight Savings Time. That can be good and bad news. Trick or Treaters and driving partygoers both need to be extra careful.
Purported Deeper Roots
Folks at the Smithsonian point to the ancient Celts living in the time shortly after Jesus, and their practice of Samhain as the true roots of Halloween. Among other things, these people who spread across Ireland, Scotland, England and parts of France and Germany, believed that spiritual realms existed alongside the “real” world we know. And at certain times of the year, especially during the fall harvest, the invisible wall that separated those worlds from our own was thin, allowing all manner of spirits, living and dead, to infiltrate our lives.
One of their practices was to dress up like the devils themselves in order to blend in. They would also leave out offerings to distract these spirits.
During the time of Pope Gregory III, the Catholic church made a concerted effort to subvert these pagan practices, exchanging them for a veneration of saints. The Pope also added a new holiday, All Souls Day, where the focus was on saving souls trapped in between heaven and hell in purgatory. Purgatory itself is a Jewish practice that predates Christianity. On All Souls Day, poor people would go door to door, offering to pray for the dead relatives of rich publicans in exchange for food or money. Both the alms and prayers given would supposedly benefit the stuck souls.
Historians claim that later, this practice evolved into people going door to door in costume, offering a song or dance in exchange for money or food. You can make up your own mind whether these ancient practices actually made the jump across thousands of years and miles – including hundreds of years where it appears very few people, if any, participated – led to our current Halloween traditions.
Tricks or Treats
Though it may seem perfectly normal now, the practice of costumed children going door to door asking for candy is less than 100 years old. At least in America. Encyclopedia Britannica notes the phrase trick or treat was first recorded in 1927.
In truth, prior to the two World Wars, Americans were far more inclined to pull pranks than hope for a Reese’s cup or Snickers bar. Immigrants from Scotland and Ireland fled famines to the United States in the mid-1800’s and brought their holiday traditions with them. After the Great Depression, it’s believed many communities organized more regulated trick or treating of a sort to curb the violence.
In the 1950s, sugar rationing became a thing of the past, and candy companies leaned in hard to Halloween as a sweets-based holiday. They were helped along by Norman Rockwell paintings of kids going door to door, and Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang going out for “tricks or treats,” and looking for the great pumpkin patch.
Today, Americans spend around 13 billion dollars every year on pumpkins, candy and decorations, second only to Christmas in the collective price tag.
Be Safe Out There
According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, children are more than twice as likely to be struck and killed by a vehicle on Halloween than on any other day of the year. It’s dark, children and parents may be dressed in darker costumes, and in the excitement of the moment, may not take into account usual safety procedures.
For pedestrians, it’s recommended that you travel in pairs, if not larger groups, so that you can watch out for each other. Carry a flashlight. Follow the rules of the road as well as the signs and signals, and always check twice before crossing. Use crosswalks and protected curbs as much as possible.
Drivers need to be doubly aware. Slow down and scan the road for pedestrians, even in less busy intersections and unusual crossings. Be alert for the sudden appearance of a trick or treater who may race out into the street without looking. If you’re partying, plan ahead. Have a designated driver. If you’ve had too much to drink, leave your car and get a ride. In Florida and several other states, AAA offers 10 miles of Tow-and-Go on Halloween.
If you’re offering candy, turn your porch light on. Only hand out candy that’s sealed for everyone’s safety. For kids with autism and other neurodivergent issues, many communities have places where blue Halloween buckets can be picked up to let everyone know the child may not be verbal or may require more time. They also may react poorly to too much stimulus.
Don’t stay out too late, and after you get home and dig through your candy treasures, be sure to set your clocks back an hour.
For home or school parties, we’ve got some spooky treats you can concoct in your kitchen. And to keep the bugs out of the house, there’s nothing better than our Perimeter Plus Green. Affordable pest control that’s safe for the whole family. For more details, please give us a call!