History Of Halloween

By Jordan Snyder

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Most people know Halloween as a day to dress up, go trick-or-treating, carve pumpkins, or do other spooky activities. Halloween is a great time to have fun, but most people don’t know how Halloween actually came to be. Traditions of Halloween first originated in the ancient Celtic festivals of Samhain; here people would dress up in costumes and light bonfires in order to ward off spirits. Later on, Pope Gregory III decided that November 1st would be known as all saints day. Making October 31st become All Hallows Eve; this later morphed into what we know as Halloween. Probably the most popular Halloween tradition, trick-or-treating, came from old European traditions. They used to get dressed up and go house to house asking for money or food; this has become the origin of where we dress up and go trick-or-treating. The next most popular Halloween tradition is carving pumpkins. This idea is borrowed from people in England and Ireland in the 1800s who would use turnips as lanterns at night. They brought this tradition with them once they came to America but since pumpkins are more common than turnips during autumn they began using those as their lanterns. Halloween carries many fun traditions and whether you prefer to go to a haunted house, Halloween party, or trick-or-treat there is something everyone can enjoy during this season.