Halloween History

Halloween, A History Snippet

by Phyllis Middleton

I thought about what to write today. Costumes? Parties? Treat…yum?  Once I started researching Halloween, I decided to pass along some of the bits of interesting history the internet was able to provide.

Straddling the line between fall and winter, plenty and paucity, life and death, Halloween is a time of celebration and superstition. It is thought to have originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which is seen as 'autumn's end' and the beginning of winter. Samhain is pronounced (depending on where you're from) as 'sow-in' (in Ireland), or 'sow-een' (in Wales), or 'sav-en' (in Scotland), or (inevitably) 'sam-hane' (in the U.S., where we don't speak Gaelic). During this festival, people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off roaming ghosts.

In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints and martyrs; the holiday, 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 secular, community-based event characterized by child-friendly activities such as trick-or-treating.

Trick or Treat - Old style    Trick or treating consisted of begging at the door grew from an ancient English custom of knocking at doors to beg for a "soul cake" in return for which the beggars promised to pray for the dead of the household. Soul cakes, a form of shortbread — and sometimes quite fancy, with currants for eyes — became more important for the beggars than prayers for the dead, it is said.

Florence Berger tells in her Cooking for Christ a legend of a zealous cook who vowed she would invent soul cakes to remind them of eternity at every bite. So she cut a hole in the middle and dropped it in hot fat, and lo — a doughnut. Circle that it is, it suggests the never-ending of eternity. Truth or legend ?

The refrains sung at the door varied from "a soul cake, a soul cake, have mercy on all Christian souls for a soul cake," to the later:

Soul, soul, an apple or two,

If you haven't an apple, a pear will do,

One for Peter, two for Paul,

Three for the Man Who made us all.

Halloween today, to most of us, Halloween means fun costumes and creative food at parties.

Back in my cop days, we had a Sargeant who had a sense of humor different than most. That humor lead to a memo to those of us who had to work patrol on Halloween.  It was a simple message:

Memo:  When responding to calls, do NOT go to the door and say Trick or Treat.