Guest Post: Facts of a Mysterious Holiday

Guest post by one of our own, Laura D.!

A breeze whips through the streets, carrying with it the first bite of winter and sending the dried leaves dancing through the moonlit night. On the sidewalks, young princesses and pirates, ghosts and ghouls race from house to house clutching their bags of treats and filling the air with their joyous laughter.

Halloween is a holiday that those of us in the United States are very familiar with. It is the night in October, that as children, we all looked forward to. It was a chance for us to pretend to be whatever we wanted to be, spend time with friends, and get a sugar rush that drove our parents crazy. However, how much do we really know about this mysterious holiday? The following are some surprising facts about this long-lived tradition.

1. Halloween is believed to have originated in Ireland about 6,000 years ago.

2. The modern day version of trick or treating originated from a medieval Christian practice in which on Hallowmas the poor would go door to door offering prayers for the dead in exchange for food.

3. The first Jack O’ Lanterns were actually carved turnips.

4. Orange and black are the colors associated with Halloween because orange represents the harvest and black is associated with darkness and death.

5. Young Celtic girls believed that if they threw apple peels over their shoulder on Halloween the peels would form the initials of their future husband.

6. Dressing up in costume for Halloween is believed to have originated from the ancient Celtic tradition of wearing masking when leaving the house on Halloween to allow them to go unnoticed by wandering spirits.

7. Halloween is the second largest commercialized holiday.

8. In the United States, the largest Halloween parade is the Village Halloween parade in New York City. It has over 50,000 participants and draws around 2 million spectators.

            9. Tootsie rolls were the first wrapped penny candy in America.

            10. The most popular candy for Halloween is chocolate candy bars, with Snickers topping the list at #1.

                        

If you want to find out more interesting facts about Halloween or get some great spooky holiday ideas, check out these items available in the Lackawanna County Library System. Happy Halloween and safe trick-or-treating!

Halloween  by Gooseberry Patch

And Then Comes Halloween by Tom Brenner

A Hallowe’en Anthology: Literary and Historical Writings Over the Centuries by Lisa Morton

The Best of Halloween Tricks and Treats by Better Homes & Gardens

The Haunted History of Halloween - DVD

 Laura D.

On behalf of the ACL

Sources for this article:

http://facts.randomhistory.com/halloween-facts.html

http://www.history.com/topics/halloween

http://www.halloween-website.com/trivia.htm