Safe Halloween Fun in Thomson

10/1/2021 (Permalink)

The History of Halloween

Halloween is a Nationally recognized holiday that occurs every year on October 31st, which falls on a Sunday this year. The tradition began as the ancient Celtic festival Samhain where people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts.

In the early eighth century Pope Gregory III designated November 1st as a day to honor all saints. “All Saints Day” adopted some of the same traditions as Samhain. The evening prior was known as ‘All Hallows Eve’, and then later renamed Halloween. As centuries passed, Halloween evolved into a day of fun activities for all ages, such as trick-or-treating, carving jack-o-lanterns, and dressing up in favorite costumes.

• Did you know? Each year more than 29 million people will buy Halloween costumes for their pets.

A Deeper Dive into The Festival of Samhain

Halloween’s origins date back to about 2,000 years ago when Celtic people who lived in modern day Ireland, the U.K. and northern France celebrated their new year every November 1st. That date marked the end of summer and harvest and the beginning of dark, and harsh winters which they associated with death. The Celtic people believed that the night before the boundary between the world of the dead and the living became blurred and accessible. On the night of October 31st, it was believed that ghosts of their loved ones returned to earth.

Adding to the frustration of believing that this caused crop failure, the Celts believed that the presence of the spirits made it easier for Druids (Celtic priests) to predict the future. These “prophecies” gave them hope and comfort to hold onto during the long winters. 

To celebrate the event, Druids built huge sacrificial bonfires and wore costumes made of animal skins. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires which were extinguished earlier in the evening after the sacred bonfire burned out.

• Did you know? One quarter of all candy sold yearly in the U.S. is purchased for Halloween trick-or-treaters and parties.

Halloween Comes To America

Halloween was not celebrated in colonial New England due to the Protestants strict religious beliefs. Halloween was more commonly celebrated in Maryland and the southern colonies. Colonial Halloween festivities featured tales of ghosts and creation of mischief amongst neighbors.

By the 18th century, autumn festivals were common, but Halloween itself wasn’t widely celebrated. Towards the beginning of the 19th century, America had an increase in new immigrants, particularly Irish immigrants. These Irish immigrants helped popularize Halloween nationally.

Halloween As We Know It

By the 1920s and 30s Halloween had become a widely celebrated community focused holiday. This featured parades and town-wide parties and festivals. Around the 1950s Halloween began to be commercialized and targeted more towards children. Due to the huge increase in population due to the baby boom, parties moved from community centers to in classrooms or homes, where it was easier to accommodate the large numbers of children. Between 1920-1950 the activity of trick-or-treating was widely practiced, as it was an inexpensive way to celebrate with the community and also used as a bribe to keep neighborhood kids from playing tricks on people.

All this history is what made Halloween the American tradition that is known today. Annually Americans spend $6 billion on Halloween and it is the countries second largest commercial holiday following Christmas.

What to Remember This Year

Hopefully no tricks will be played to cause a n accidental fire, and party or jack-o-lantern candles are not left unattended. Should you experience a Halloween fire damage, give our team a call for help at 706-843-1990. We work 24/7 - 365 to help to make it "Like it never even happened."®