The Origins of Halloween Traditions

Today, you carve a pumpkin to ward off Jack’s spirit.  Even though he is probably off somewhere trying to convince the Easter Bunny to turn himself in an American Express card.  

Dressing Up in Costumes

People have been dressing in costume since around the Middle Ages, for reasons other than holiday spirit, more likely for orgies and parties.  This was a tradition that was more or less taken over by Americans, and turned into the day that women can feel free to compete against other women to wear the least amount of clothing.

There is speculation that this might have been started by the Celts. They celebrated Samhain, which marked the end of summer and the beginning of a harsh winter. On this day, the lines that usually divided the living from the dead were a bit fuzzy.  Thus, the living had to frighten the wandering spirits off, by wearing animal skins and heads.  When the Romans took over, they adopted the tradition, and redirected the focus to worship of the gods.  When the Catholics took over, they redirected the focus to saint worship.  When the Americans got to it, we redirected the focus to Spiderman worship.   

Trick-or-Treating

Trick or Treating dates back to the Middle Ages, when beggars would go to door to door, trading prayers for the dead for food.  There isn’t a clear line that connects this practice to the modern North American trick-or-treating, making it seem as though Americans came up with the idea to send their kids out begging door to door all on their own.  It made a slow spread until World War II, when sugar was rationed.  No one wanted raisins, so it died off during this time.  To this day, it is customary to avoid houses that give out anything remotely healthy, or black licorice.  It wasn’t until Disney came out with a cartoon about trick or treating that it really built up steam.  

As is the custom, Americans made trick-or-treating a brand of their own by placing needles, hallucinogens and poison in the candy and giving it out to children.

Bobbing for Apples

After the Romans took over Samhain, Pomona, the goddess of fruit, was elected the mascot of the holiday.  Apples were a known symbol of fertility.  The Romans used apples as a way to determine marriages, thus spawned the game of trying to bite into an apple in water or hanging from a tree.  But it was less of a game than it was a bloodsport.  The first person to bite the apple was the next one to marry.  Marriage and having children was important, in order to produce more laborers; an idea I can get behind.

Do you remember bobbing for apples?  Fall was in the air, maybe you had a little cold.  So did the other twenty children who dunked their snotty faces into a bucket of water and attempted, and often failed, to put their mouths around a piece of food, and everyone else followed suit.  Kids have dandruff and lice too.  Bam.  There goes your childhood memory.