Facts
About Halloween
How It Started
Holidays and festivals have been celebrated at the end of October
for thousands of years. In 5th Century BC, the Celts celebrated
Samhain (sow-en) believing that the spirits of all those who had
died the preceding year would come back in search of living bodies
to possess. The Celts thought that by dressing up in ghoulish costumes
they could frighten the spirits away.
During the eight century,
the Christian church made November 1st, "All Saints' Day" and the
night before was known as "All Hallows Eve". Eventually this name
became Halloween. The custom of Halloween was brought to America
in the 1800's by European immigrants.
Trick Or Treat
The custom of trick-or-treating originated with a ninth-century
European custom called souling. On November 2, All Souls Day, people
would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes," made
out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes
the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to
say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors.
The National
Confectioners Association estimates that for Halloween 2000, a whopping
one billion nine hundred fifty-three million dollars will be spent
on candy. 80% of children say their favorite Trick or Treat candy
is either chocolate or gum.
Turnip-O-Lantern
The
Jack-o-lantern custom comes from Irish folklore. Originally the
Irish used turnips as their "Jack's lanterns" but found that pumpkins
were far more plentiful than turnips in America.
World's Records
Fastest Carver: Jerry Ayers of Baltimore, Ohio
Pumpkin carved
in 37 seconds
Most Pumpkins: Jerry Ayers of Baltimore, Ohio
One ton of pumpkins carved in seven hours and 11 minutes.
Largest Pumpkin: Gerry Checkon of Spangler, Pa
1,131 pounds
Festivals Around The World
October 31st - "El Dia
de los Muertos or the Day of the Dead" - Mexico
November 1st
- "All Saints Day" - Roman Catholic Church
November 2nd - "The
Festival of the Dead" - Palermo and Sicily
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Born on Halloween
Comedian John Candy
Actress Deidre Hall
TV Anchor Dan Rather
Singer Ethel Waters
Actor Michael Landon
Rapper Vanilla Ice
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Died on Halloween
Legendary magician Harry Houdini died
in Detroit of gangrene and peritonitis resulting from a ruptured
appendix Halloween in 1926.
