226 Oct. 31--Still a Celebration!

OCTOBER 31 – Still A Celebration! 

Yes, I am probably rushing the holiday a bit, but I admit Hallowe’en is one of my favorite celebrations. Although many schools and churches no longer acknowledge Hallowe’en as an activity for children, pumpkins seem to work their way into teaching about fall and, thus, a few orange and black Crayons see extra duty in school, and spooky stories might get included. I do believe every child who ever set foot in a public elementary school brought home at least one orange pumpkin picture to be hung on the refrigerator.

From www.gardner’snet.com, a site that tells me when to prune the trees and shrubs that grow around our house, I found some interesting pumpkin facts. I think maybe I knew some of them, but here are a few: 

· Pumpkins originated in Central America 

· Pumpkins are really squash 

· Pumpkins are fruit – they have seeds 

· Pumpkins should not be called Jack-O-Lanterns until they are carved (eye roll here)

· Pumpkins are gluten-free

· Pumpkins are grown all over the world except in Antarctica

· Never handle a pumpkin by its stem

For those of you, dear friends and readers, I thought I would also refresh my memory and yours about Hallowe’en. Bless Google’s heart! The first site that appeared was www.holidayspot.com --a site that gives a nice variety of facts for almost all occasions. So, taking from their website, I have relearned that the custom of trick-or-treating originated in the Middle Ages. 

An age of superstition for sure, but the poor dressed in costumes and went door-to-door on what was called “Hallowmas” to beg for food or money. Some of the poor got only a prayer while luckier beggars got a coin or a Soul Cake. (Wikipedia defines a Soul Cake as a small round cake which, when eaten, means a soul would be released from purgatory. Also, popping up, were recipes for Soul Cake. Those I did not open--no need to turn on the oven--now is there?!)

Back to Medieval Europe. The black cat and the owl were and are popular images for Hallowe’en says the holidayspot.com website. Black cats were the familiars of the witches, and owls were thought to be witches themselves. The owl’s hoot on October 31 meant someone would die soon. 

From reading historical fiction and binge-watching the Celts on Amazon Prime, I do know that the last day of October is the last day of the Celtic calendar and it honors the dead. The Celtic tradition uses the term Samhain, meaning “end of summer.” I also learned that it is pronounced “sow-in.” (Not exactly English phonics, is it?)

Now, let’s jump forward to the 1930s and modern Hallowe’en when the National Communication Association (a somewhat scholarly association that has been around since the 1920s) said that over 90% of all American children celebrated Hallowe’en with parties, costumes, and/or trick-or-treating. But in the 1930s, with the Depression, urban gangs, and backwoods’ good-ole-boys, trick-or-treating turned a bit nasty with considerable theft and property damage. Local authorities then began setting limits on what was legal and what was not. Hours for trick-or-treating were established community by community.

I remember my first Hallowe’en. It was a party at the Episcopal parish hall. I was four-years-old and a “beautiful ballet dancer” with a tutu and a wand. I won first place for the prettiest costume. (Don’t think I have won anything since! and I don’t remember the prize so it must not have been anything particularly noteworthy.) 

Then there were the years of herding my two younger sisters from house-to-house with the caveat that I got part of their candy. In high school, the custom was for groups to go out as a covey? flock? gathering? of ghosts. I used the same sheet for three years. In my junior year, we got stopped by the local sheriff who told us to “go on home and let the little ones get the candy.” Nope, didn’t stop us until we had a sufficient supply of sugar in our brown paper bags. We were so cool, weren’t we? One of our ghostly gang members’ grandparents lived at and were the caretakers of the local cemetery. It was a grand place to play flashlight tag and hide’n’seek in our ghostly sheets.

Now Dear Husband and I, since we get no “trick-or-treaters” in the country, buy a bag of our favorite candy and munch away on the 31st with no thought of sugar or calories!!

Here’s a tip or two for candy-buying. According to www.sunny98.1sd.radio.com, the most popular candies are: Twix, Kit Kat, M&Ms, Nerds, Butterfingers, Sour Patch Kids, and Hershey Bar miniatures. (I was a little surprised--where are the Reese’s Cups and the Snickers?) 

The least favorite treats are: candy corn, Mary Jane taffy, Necco Wafers, Tootsie Rolls, Good&Plenty, and licorice. 

Also, predicted for most popular costumes this year: Pennywise (the awful, scary clown from IT), other clown costumes, Spiderman, dinosaurs, and pretty little princesses.

I have my coupon for CVS buy-one-get-one-free Hallowe’en candy. I can’t go too far ahead of time, though, as my will power is not great. So, here’s to Happy Hallowe’en, or Samhain and to lots of good chocolate!

Savvy Glenne

p.s. this just struck my warped sense of humor as really funny: