Fun Halloween Trivia and History

When you think about Ireland these days you're probably more likely to think about Leprechauns or Saint Patrick's Day before Halloween comes to mind. However, this spooky holiday comes straight from the ancient Celtic tradition to celebrate the new year on October 31st, what they considered to be the last day of summer.

Called Samhain, and pronounced Sow-en, it was believed that the souls of all those who died came back to find living bodies to possess for the next year. Yikes!

The Irish had some tricks for avoiding this creepy fate. On the night of October 31st all villagers would put out the fires in their homes, in hopes that if their house was cold and clammy even the dead would not want to enter. Then as a means of disguise, they would dress up as ghosts, demons, and other members of the dead. This way, the dead would not recognize them as humans. They would then go out and march around town committing acts of vandalism, which was supposedly intended to scare away the spirits of the dead. If you ask me though, it sounds like a perfect excuse for the rascally kids to wreck some havoc!

The custom of pranks and dressing up was introduced to America in thanks to the Irish Potato famine. As immigrants came over in the 1840s, the tradition spread to all members of American cities on the Eastern coast.

Another tradition we have the Irish to thank for is the Jack o’ lantern. This comes from another method the Celts used to scare away the dead. Candles were placed in hollowed-out turnips to frighten spirits away. In America, pumpkins proved to be easier to carve.

Here's some more trick or treat trivia:

Tootsie Rolls were the first wrapped penny candy in America.

Halloween candy sales average about 2 billion dollars annually in the United States.

Bobbing for apples is thought to have originated from the roman harvest festival that honors Pamona, the goddess of fruit trees.

Signs of a werewolf are a unibrow, hair palms, tattoos, and a long middle finger.

The Ouija Board ended up outselling the game of Monopoly in its first full year at Salem. Over two million copies of the Ouija Board were shipped.

Check back tomorrow for some fun ideas for Halloween arts and craft ideas for your kids Halloween party!