When the harvest noon rises on October 31, little hob goblins, spooky ghosts, ghoulish witches and gremlins--their young faces hidden behind grotesque masks--will go forth to frighten friends and neighbors and to threaten them with "Trick or Treat."
Halloween (All Hallows Eve) as the name implies, is a night-time holiday, the one night in the year when the child's world turns to pure fantasy. Children take all the lead parts while parents and other adults play the supporting roles. Encouraged by teachers and merchants and the remembrance of the good time they had the previous year, children (from 3 to 11 years old) start readying their costumes and Halloween decorations weeks ahead. Although parents are very much involved in helping prepare the costumes, on Halloween they must pretend to be frightened or mystified by the masked visions that suddenly appear. There will be little witches in long black dresses with tall pointed hats and magic broomsticks to carry them over the rooftops--to a neighbor's house in the next block; ghosts swathed in sheets, with tell-tale sneakers and half-socks showing when they run; and fierce pirates with skull and crossbones painted on their three-cornered hats. Some carry jack-o-lanterns but all carry bags or UNICEF boxes marked "Trick or Treat," which fill up very fast.
Teenagers have their fun playing pranks that sometimes get rather rough. They hurl eggs or tomatoes at passing motorists, mark up windows and windshields with hard-to-erase candle wax, roll pumpkins down along hills, carry away porch furniture and garbage can covers, inscribe graffiti on fences, or commit whatever devilment occurs to them as they cruise around looking for ways to "let off steam." Police officers are vigilant but they only arrest those caught doing real damage. In most communities there are school dances or block parties to help divert the energies of the youthful pranksters. Business firms offer prizes for the best costumes, and recreation directors help plan the party, but the young people themselves take charge of the entertainment and the decorations--an essential part of Halloween. Dried corn stalks, pumpkin faces, and piles of apples create the harvest atmosphere; and cut-outs of witches astride their brooms, goblins, ghosts and black cats symbolize the witchcraft aspect of the holiday. The refreshments--apple cider, popcorn and pumpkin pie, and witches made of spicy ginger cookies--also carry out both themes.
There is an occasional adult Halloween Dance in a garish orange and black setting, with paper mobiles of black cats, witches and grinning skeletons floating above the dance floor, but Halloween has become essentially a young people's holiday--and the younger the child the more exciting he finds it.
Few holidays tell us as much of the past as Halloween. Its origins date back hundreds of years before Christ to the Druid festival of Samhain, Lord of the Dead and Prince of Darkness, who, according to Celtic belief, gathered up the souls of all those who had died during the year to present them to Druid Heaven on October 31. The Sun god shared the holiday and received thanks for the year's harvest.
When the Romans invaded Britain in 55 B.C., they added to the harvest celebration their festival dedicated to Pomona, the goddess of fruits. The Druid New Year Began on November 1, marking the beginning of winter and the reign of the Lord of Death. The Druids called upon supernatural forces to placate the evil spirits, and it is from that tradition that our modern Halloween gets the paraphernalia of ghosts, goblins, witches, skeletons, cats, masks and bonfires.
The custom of telling ghost stories on Halloween also comes from the Druids. To honor the Sun god and to frighten away evil spirits, they would light huge bonfires atop high hills and as they sat grouped around watching the bright flames, they would relate eerie happenings they had experienced. Wise old women called "witches" foretold the future and gave magic words to keep away the evil spirits. Black cats were thought to be mascots of the witches, or witches in disguise.As Christianity replaced the pagan religions, the church set aside November 1st to honor all saints and called it All Hallows' Day. The evening before became All Hallows' Even--later shortened to Halloween. The inclusion of witches, goblins and fairies into the rituals arose from the pagan belief that on All Hallows' Eve there was a thronging of spirits of the dead who carried on an organized opposition to the church rites and came to mock the All Saints celebration with revels of their own. Frustrated ghosts where supposed to play tricks on human beings and cause supernatural happenings.
Halloween customs today, although gay and frolicsome rather than sombre, follow many of these ancient practices. When children wear ghost costumes, false faces, or witches' hats, bob for apples, eat corn candy, or carry jack-o-lanterns and ask for "Trick or Treat," they are carrying on an accumulation of ancient traditions whose significance has long since disappeared.
The jack-o-lantern, most typical of Halloween symbols, began with the Irish. According to legend symbols, began with the Irish. According to legend a man named Jack, who was kept out of Heaven because he was stingy and expelled from Hell for playing tricks on the Devil, was condemned to walk the earth forever carrying a lantern to light his way. In Ireland the jack-o-lanterns were made by hollowing out large potatoes or turnips, with flickering tapers for a light. "Trick or Treat" likewise had its origin in Ireland, where children would go from house to house soliciting food for the village Halloween festivities in the name of Muck Olla, ancient god of the Irish clergy. English children carried on the practice when, dressed up in each other's clothes, wearing marks, they went begging for "soul cakes: on All Hallows' Eve.
Halloween was not widely
celebrated in American until the
large Gaelic immigration in the 1840s, although earlier
colonists had followed the English custom of celebrating Nut
Crack Night, when boys and girls gathered around autumn
bonfires, cracked nuts and foretold the outcome of love
affairs by the way the kernels jumped from the fire. Some
of the Halloween customs brought by the colonists have
remained as they were but others have been altered to fit new
ways of living. Pumpkins, for instance, make much better
jack-o-lanterns than turnips. Larger and already partially
hollow, the big orange pumpkins seem to smile even before the
upturned slit and rounded eyes are carved out. A candle
burning inside makes the merry face visible from far away on
a dark night’and the pulp
makes a delicious pumpkin pie.
With all its practical attributes, the pumpkin has not been
able to resist the bewitching influence of the holiday. An
old legend says that at midnight on Halloween all pumpkins
leave their vines and do a spritely dance across the fields.
These two faces of Halloween--the playful deference to the supernatural and gratitude for a plenteous harvest--produce a strangely compatible blend of ancient and modern custom. While some youngsters are out playing pranks, others are gathered for a party where they are enjoying a taffy pulling contest, bobbing for apples, popping corn, toasting marshmallows, telling ghost stories or playing games which feature spooks and "haunts" (see supplementary material for Halloween games). Those who begin the evening by going out for mischief-making probably end up at someone's party. And the party-goers very possibly think of some pranks to play on the way home.
Among young children "Trick or Treat" and Halloween are synonymous. Even before they can pronounce the words accurately little children like to dress up in grotesque costumes and go around the neighborhood ringing door bells. As the door opens they shout "Trick or Treat". Most adults enjoy seeing the children, especially the tiny ones, and make sure they are ready with plenty of candy, cookies, and fruit. The tricks, when they do occur, are usually no more serious than soaped windows or some misplaced garden tool. A popular poet tells the story:
Halloween
A loud howl! And a roar!
Then I opened the door,
And there on my front porch stood
A witch and a bat
And a scraggly cat
All looking as fierce as they could!
"Trick or treat!" said the bat.
"Trick or treat!" snarled the cat
"Trick or treat. We must eat!
"Trick or treat."
And the witch tossed her head
As she hopefully said,
"On this night, we must eat something sweet."
So I quick filled their sacks
With sweet chocolate packs
And bid them good luck on their way.
Then the bat shook my hand
And said, "Thank you, sir, and:
We'll send all our spook friends your way."
Through the years Halloween customs have varied little, but
recently children in the United States have given the holiday
a new dimension. In 1950 a Sunday school class in Philadelphia
found a way of sharing their "Trick or Treat" look with
children around the world. They replaced their "Trick or
Treat" bags with small cartoons marked "Trick or Treat
for
UNICEF," and instead of treats they asked for pennies which
UNICEF would send to needy children in other countries. Their
motto was, "Let's share instead of scare." Their first
collection which netted only $17 has turned into a
million-dollar idea. In 1966 some 3.5 million American
children, enabling UNICEF to help children in 120 countries.
In recognition of UNICEF's great humanitarian program, it
was awarded the 1965 Nobel Peace Prize.
Danny Kaye, the well-known move
and TV comedian who has been
an energetic promoter of UNICEF's Halloween Program from its
beginnings, makes annual tours on behalf of the fund. Along
with his inimitable brand of tomfoolery, Mr. Kaye makes a
serious appeal to youngsters in his whistle-stop tour just
before Halloween. He explains that his tour "is simply an
effort to help children acquire an interest and understanding
of each other. Perhaps this can in some way someday contribute
to peace in an increasingly complex and shrinking world."