October Thought Day 28: Holiday History

Talking about past candy scores made me think about Halloween’s past and how much things have changed. Change is inevitable, sometimes it can be painful, but it is interesting to see it progress. I remember that Halloween used to mean parents dressing up their kids and sending them out to get candy. Most of the time children were unsupervised or if they were it was with an older sibling. You went door to door in your neighborhood, got your candy and happily munched it without a care in the world. Then came the few bad apples that put dangerous things in the candy. So parents had to send the haul to a scanner before their kids could eat it. Then it got too dangerous to trick or treat so parents started taking their kids to the mall or churches or trunk or treats to keep them safe. Now most people go to an alternative Halloween affair, which is fun, but not the same as what I did as a kid.

It’s sad that in my short lifespan things have changed so drastically. In my mind that is craziness. Halloween has always been one way and to change it seems wrong. But has it really always been that way? I knew a little about the history of Halloween, but for the sake of this question I dug a bit deeper.

In the beginning, the time around what we now call Halloween was thought to be when the veil between worlds was thinnest and evil spirits could run amok. To confuse the evil spirits, people wore masks. If the spirit thought you were another beasty it would leave you alone. In the Middle Ages that morphed into people going door to door asking for soul-cakes for food. If they got a cake the recipient would promise to say a prayer for the giver’s departed family members. During that same time frame, the religious theme was compounded by people beginning to dress up in costumes, particularly those connected to biblical figures. These costumed people would roam the towns and tell bible stories as well as myths. This idea of mumming is partly responsible for the concept of trick-or-treating that we have now.

Trick or treating became popular in the US in the 30’s as a way to diminish youth causing mischief. The idea first took hold in the western US and then moved east. According to Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween, “It began as a new year’s celebration and a Christian commemoration of the dead. Over time it has served as a harvest festival, a romantic night of mystery for young adults, an autumnal party for adults, a costumed begging ritual for children, a season for exploring fears in a controlled environment and most recently a heavily commercialized product exported by the US to the rest of the world.”

Having learned the history of my favorite holiday, it makes me wonder why people do it now. I have never met anyone who dressed up because they were trying to confuse evil spirits. I have never heard a trick-or-treater offer to pray for a family’s loved ones in exchange for candy. Do we participate because of national tradition and a sense that we have always done it so we just keep on keeping on? If I had to make a guess, I would say collectively it is done to go with the flow, for kids it’s because of candy and for adults it’s an excuse for a party. I think there are some out there who use it as a day of remembrance like me, but even I do it for the fun of dressing up and decorating. I also love the parties. It is a way to get ready for the coming winter, a no pressure way to practice for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s funny and a bit sad that something steeped in such tradition has become a watered down version of itself.  

So why do you celebrate the holiday, or do you?