Halloween 2019 - The History!

_Elsa_

How did Halloween begin and where did it originate?

History of Halloween - Halloween is an annual holiday celebrated each year on October 31. It originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints; soon, All Saints Day incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before was known as All Hallows Eve, and later Halloween. Over time, Halloween evolved into a day of activities like trick-or-treating, carving jack-o-lanterns, festive gatherings, donning costumes and eating sweet treats.

Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.  You can read the entire article here. 

Mischief Night  – also known as Devil’s Night, Cabbage Night, Devil’s Eve, Goosey Night and Gate Night – is a holiday which is celebrated in the United States the day before Halloween on October 30th. It is a holiday in which children, teens, and young adults engage in pranks and harmless vandalism.

The roots of Mischief Night can be traced all the way back to the late 18th century in Great Britain. It was first mentioned as an incident that happened at Oxford in 1790, however, the night referred to wasn’t October 30th but was instead, the day before May Day. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the day before May Day was known as Mischief Night in Britain and it was often accompanied by children playing harmless pranks such as stealing or switching shop and road signs and overturning tubs of water. During the late 19th century, Mischief Night in Britain often referred to November 4th – otherwise known as Guy Fawkes Day Eve. This too was a day that was accompanied by the many pranks done by young men and women.  You can read the entire article here. 

History of Jack-O-Lanterns - legend has it that Stingy Jack invited the devil to have a drink with him, but Jack didn't want to pay for the drink so he convinced the devil to turn himself into a coin. Instead of buying the drink, he pocked the coin and kept it close to a silver cross in his house, so the devil couldn't take shape again. He promised to let the devil go as long as he would leave him alone for a year – and if Jack died that the devil wouldn't claim his soul.

 

After a year, Jack tricked the devil again to leave him alone and not claim his soul. Basically, the devil is really gullible in this story. When Jack died, God didn't want such a conniving person in heaven, and the devil true to his word (what a good guy) would not allow him into hell.

 

Jack was sent off into the night with only a burning coal to light his path. He placed the coal inside a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the earth ever since. People in Ireland and Scotland began creating their own creations of Jack's lanterns out of turnips, beets and potatoes. The tradition came to the United States along with the immigrants and people began to use pumpkins, native to North America, for the lanterns instead.  You can read the entire article here.

 

History of Trick or Treating - having children dress up in costume and go door-to-door like little beggars demanding treats is kind of weird. Like several other Halloween activities, the tradition can be traced back to the Middle Ages and the rituals of Samhain. It was believed that ghosts and spirits walked the Earth on the night of Samhain, so people would dress up as spirits themselves in an effort to fool the real deal into thinking they were one and the same.

This act was called "guising." As the Catholic Church started supplanting pagan festivals with their own holidays (like All Saints' Day), the act of guising became popular and poor children and adults would go door to door dressed as angels or spirits on Hallowmas begging for food or money in exchange for songs and prayers. This was called "souling." The earliest known reference to the phrase "trick-or-treat" in North America is from 1927 in Alberta, Canada.    More fun facts you didn’t know about Halloween here.

Common Halloween Superstitions - there are many superstitions and myths about Halloween and most of the people have a strong belief in them.

> If you hear someone's footsteps behind you on Halloween night, you should not look back because it may be a dead person following you. And if you commit the mistake of looking back, it is likely that you might join the dead very soon.

> It has been said if a bat flies into your house on Halloween, it is a sign that ghosts or spirits are very near, and maybe they are in your home and let the bat in.  You can read more superstitious facts here.

> Black cats have long been thought to be companions of witches or “familiars,” demonic animals gifted to them. While some think it’s bad luck for a black cat to cross your path, in Ireland, Scotland and England, black cats symbolize good luck.

> If you walk around your home backward three times and then counterclockwise three times before the sun sets on Halloween, you will ward off nearby evil spirits.

> Another superstition suggests that if you spot a spider on Halloween, the spirit of a deceased loved one is watching over you.

> Children who are born on Halloween are said to have the gift of second sight, which may also include the power to ward off evil spirits.

> There is a superstition that when you pass a graveyard or house where someone has died, you should turn your pockets inside out to make sure you don’t bring home a ghost in your pocket.  You can see more Halloween superstitions here.

To view the entire group of Halloween 2019 messages, please click on the image below.

_Elsa_

Tagging Friends players:

@QueenMia, @firebombmarkus, @LORDLANGERZ, @MightyWolf15, @PummyRaj, @SeraphicStar, @caambuj. @Foley1362, @Ashraf, @mysticalmysty, @Sukanta_Biswas, @kiara_wael, @RegalRenz, @LizzyLemondrop, @bearwithme, @Crimson_Dawn,  @Foley1362, @candycrushinit, @Mimiou, @ElWiLLy, @merricktab92, @Filly_McBean, @jdos7lu, @BQN537, @GranBarb, @carameldiva702, @Fakhri, @TonyaBoatwright, @Werner_Cichy @Nat09 @wafercookieflippers @MiaChristine

@flew66 @yukibear @Simon888 @kiara_wael @resty @Hesham_Shaheen @caambuj @Giovanna2304 @candycrushinit @Eiliesha_Jarman @Babygirl72 @Lavender @fabric @kendrawitcher @koliver003 @Mariela-4 @missmoulin @janifer3910 @GranBarb @KitKathySuzyQ @lanalove60 @LissaZee @D2V @lbv79 @Sukhen_Dutta @Naa @anwr @JennWho @Silvana13 @Duchess44 @Jondi

If I missed someone, please tag them.

wafercookieflippers

That Yeti image made me "awwww" out loud, @Elsa. 😍🎃❤️

I love learning history and superstition. This is such a cool post. When I was in Catholic school, we were only allowed to refer to October 31st as "All Hallows Eve." I think there was even a party at the church but you had to come dressed as a saint or other biblical figure--no other costumes allowed. No comment on that but I got to be St. Elizabeth one year in the Parade of Saints on All Saints Day (November 1). 😊🐳

Tagging @FaRayha @BrandonDowdy

_Elsa_

@wafercookieflippers it's amazing how history originates one way but then goes into a totally different direction.  Until I read the history above I had no idea how it was so religion oriented.  I never went to Catholic school but I heard horror stories from friends that did.

_Elsa_

Did you ever go to a Halloween party and found yourself dunking for apples?  If you didn't, I'm sure that you have seen pictures online showing kids dunking for them.  During one of my Halloween searches on Google I found images for candy apples in relation to Halloween.  More searching gave me facts regarding apples and the history of why apples are associated with this holiday.  So now I would like to share this information with you. 

Bobbing for apples has been an autumn tradition for hundreds of years. Despite its presence at Halloween parties and festivals today, however, its origins are more rooted in love and romance than tricks and treats. In fact, it began as a British courting ritual, popular among young ladies and their potential beaus. There were several variations of game: In one set of rules, each apple was assigned to a potential mate. The bobber would then attempt to bite into the apple named for the young man she desired. If it only took her one try, they were destined for romance. If she succeeded with her second attempt, he would court her but their love would fade. If it took three tries, their relationship was doomed. Another approach to the game was a race to be the first to bite an apple; the first to emerge successful would be the first to marry. A related superstition suggested that if a girl put the apple she had bitten underneath her pillow, she would see her future soul mate in her dreams that night.

Eventually, the game declined in popularity, and by the 1800s, it was common only in Ireland and certain areas of England. At the end of the century, though, Americans exploring their immigrant roots decided to bring back this Celtic fall tradition as a game for both children and adults at Halloween parties. Today, some parents may keep their kids away from the tub of apples for fear of spreading germs, but bobbing for apples is a comparatively safe tradition when compared to another old apple-centric Halloween pastime: Snap Apple. In the game of Snap Apple, an apple was speared on one end of a stick while a lit candle was fixed at the other end. The stick was spun around, and the participants’ goal was to take a bite of the apple, avoiding a face full of hot candle wax—definitely not a game to play with kids!

This information can be viewed here.

_Elsa_

Halloween & Candy Apples

When European colonists imported apple trees to the Americas, they also brought with them the seeds of the apple folklore we know today. Activities like bobbing for apples and trying to peel an apple without a break in the skin have deeper and older roots than you might think.

The tie between apples and Halloween is based in the Celtic festival Samhain that heralded the end of summer, on October 31. Worried the sun might not return, people would build huge bonfires to burn through the night with apples tied to evergreen boughs. Read more here.

History of the Candy Apple

Newark, New Jersey candy-maker William W. Kolb is said to have invented the red candy apple in 1908. As the story goes, Kolb first combined candy and apples when experimenting with red cinnamon candy he was selling for Christmas. Kolb dipped some apples in the red cinnamon mixture and put them in his shop window, for sale at 5 cents each. Soon, candy apples were sold at the Jersey shore and later at circuses and candy shops nationwide.  You can read more about candy apples here. 

If you would like an easy candy apple recipe you can check it out on our Halloween 2019 Food Facts & Recipes here

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_Elsa_

firebombmarkus

Thank you @Elsa for this comprehensive and quite informative post 😊

_Elsa_

Thanks @firebombmarkus.  Before we had this community and all these new wonderful community friends I never thought about trivia or searching for some good facts.  This community has created a trivia monster out of me!  I am now starting to Google search for Thanksgiving!

_Elsa_

Halloween Holiday Trivia

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

•Jack o’ Lanterns originated in Ireland where people placed candles in hollowed-out turnips to keep away spirits and ghosts on the Samhain holiday.

•Pumpkins also come in white, blue and green. Great for unique monster carvings!

•Halloween was brought to North America by immigrants from Europe who would celebrate the harvest around a bonfire, share ghost stories, sing, dance and tell fortunes.

•Tootsie Rolls were the first wrapped penny candy in America.

•The ancient Celts thought that spirits and ghosts roamed the countryside on Halloween night. They began wearing masks and costumes to avoid being recognized as human.

•Halloween candy sales average about 2 billion dollars annually in the United States.

•Chocolate candy bars top the list as the most popular candy for trick-or-treaters with Snickers #1.

•Halloween is the 2nd most commercially successful holiday, with Christmas being the first.

•Bobbing for apples is thought to have originated from the roman harvest festival that honors Pamona, the goddess of fruit trees.

•Black cats were once believed to be witch's familiars who protected their powers.

•The fear of Halloween is known as Samhainopobia.

All these facts came from here.

_Elsa_

Monster Trivia & Folklore

•Signs of a werewolf are a unibrow, hair palms, tattoos, and a long middle finger.

•Vampires are mythical beings who defy death by sucking the blood of humans.

•Donald A. Reed.

•To this day, there are vampire clubs and societies with people claiming to be real vampires.

•There really are so-called vampire bats, but they're not from Transylvania. They live in Central and •South America and feed on the blood of cattle, horses and birds.

•Many people still believe that gargoyles were created by medieval architects and stone carvers to ward off evil spirits.

All these facts came from here.