The (long and complicated) history of Halloween

By: Hannah Wiley, Features Editor

Halloween as we know it today is a fun holiday that young kids all the way up to college students enjoy. But have you ever wondered how it came to be the holiday we all know and love?

Halloween originated with the Celts – who lived in what is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and Northern France – as a festival called Samhain. Oct. 31 marked the end of summer and the start of the cold, long winter ahead. The Celts believed that this time of year was associated with human death, so similarly to Day of the Dead, they believed that ghosts could return to Earth. They also believed that on this day Celtic priests – or Druids – could more accurately predict the future. 

Costumes also originated with the festival…but they were slightly more unsettling than what you see today. Celts would dress up in animal heads and skins while the Druids made sacred bonfires where they would sacrifice crops and animals while attempting to read each other's fortunes. 

By the time the Roman Empire conquered the Celts, two new festivals had begun. Feralia was in late October and was the Romans’ way of commemorating the dead. The second honored Pomona who was the goddess of fruit – her symbol was the apple and it is assumed that this is where the tradition of bobbing for apples started!

In the United States, Halloween had a slow start, which is surprising compared to its booming present-day popularity. The holiday was commonly celebrated in southern colonies, but due to the large Protestant population in New England, celebrations of Halloween were few and far between up north. Slowly, festivals started to emerge where people would tell ghost stories, dance and predict futures. By the beginning of the 19th century, fall festivals were common, and by the late 19th century, with new Irish immigrants fleeing to America from the potato famine, Halloween started to take off in America.  

After this, Americans adopted the tradition of wearing costumes, and by then, trick-or-treating had gained popularity across Europe. During this time, the holiday turned into neighborly get-togethers and Halloween parties became more prevalent while superstitions and the religious parts of the holiday started to fade. In the 1920s and ‘30s, the Halloween party was thriving, causing high amounts of vandalism, and by the 1950s, the holiday had reverted back to being centered around kids because of the baby boom.

Overall, it has taken Halloween a long time to get to what we know it as today. Be safe this Halloweekend!

Via Sophie Asher