Despite feeling a twinge of guilt for extending this Halloween knowledge miniseries into three separate posts, I’m really not feeling too torn up, seeing as it is my favourite time of year, and I have been anything but subtle about my love for Halloween. There is a lot more information relevant to Halloween than I initially suspected, and because I enjoy reading about it, I just assume everyone else out there will, too.
Again, this information comes from today.com.
“Trick-or-Treating Might Have Canadian Origins(:) The origins of trick-or-treating are still up for debate. Although some believe trick-or-treating dates back to medieval times, Henry Ansgar Kelly, a research professor specializing in medieval and renaissance studies at UCLA, said it may have started in Canada during the early 1900s as a way to deter pranksters from wreaking havoc.
“Halloween May Have Started in 600 A.D.(:) Many experts believe that Halloween stems from Samhain, a Gaelic festival to celebrate the end of summer. The first known celebrations of Samhain are said to have occurred around 600 A.D., making Halloween more than 3,500 years old.
“Trick-or-Treating Took Off in the 1930s(:) Lisa Morten, author of ‘Trick of Treat: The History of Halloween,’ said the first official mention of trick-or-treating as a Halloween activity in the U.S. was published in the November 1939 issue of ‘American Home’ magazine.
“Europe Doesn’t Celebrate Halloween Like the U.S.(:) Even though Halloween was brought to the U.S. from Irish and Scottish immigrants, the rest of Europe didn’t begin celebrating the holiday until decades later. Although many European countries now celebrate the holiday, it hasn’t been quite as commercialized as the U.S.
“It Wasn’t Always Called ‘Halloween'(:) There are several theories about the origin of the word ‘Halloween.’ According to the Oxford English Dictionary, ‘Halloween’ stems from ‘All Hallow’s Eve.’ However, in 1773, the Scottish began calling it, ‘Hallow-e’-en.’ Then, a few years later, poet Robert Burns put the words together in the poem titled ‘Halloween’ and we’ve been writing it that way ever since,” the web page explains.
I sincerely hope we’re all feeling a bit more savvy with our newly learned Halloween knowledge.
Photo by Rick Monteiro on Unsplash
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