Christmas, Hanukkah, Easter, And Halloween

There are several Symbols associated with Christmas, Santa Claus, Snow or cold weather, Wreaths, garland , wrapping paper and a Christmas tree. Society does not look at Halloween costumes or a hot sunny day and think of Christmas, although when I noticed that some retailers have Halloween, thanksgiving and Christmas décor out, it does not seem to mesh well. But retailers are showing society these symbols getting them thinking about what’s coming soon.

Every year millions of kids get dressed up, knock on doors, and beg for candy. With Halloween just around the corner, you all are probably wondering where this strange tradition came from. Every year I have experienced this holiday and have done research on this topic. According to a 2014 Smithsonian.com article, stated by Natasha Geiling, in just one year Americans spent over six billion dollars on candy, costumes, and ghoulish decor in anticipation for Halloween. Many people think all Halloween is about dressing up and going trick or treating but there's more to it than that. The roots and variations from all around are what makes Halloween what it is today. In order to understand this holiday, we will go into the history of Halloween, how it's celebrated around the world, and superstitions revolving it.

We all remember dressing up for Halloween night as children. Getting together with best friends and competing to see who has the best costume or can collect the most candy. For some, this was the best night of the year. Then there are the children who sit at home and go through the motions of what their parents do. These parents inevitably will carve a generic looking pumpkin and then sit down and hand out candy to kids the remainder of the night. The children that are staying at home with their parents are handing out candy to the kids who are living and enjoying their Halloween. As Mac Hammond in “Halloween” stresses, the children that are out having fun on Halloween are the true

Introduction: Patrons of the season of Halloween spend over $2.5 billion dollars every year on candy, costumes, and decorations. Every year millions of kids get dressed up, knock on doors, and beg for candy. Have you ever wondered where this strange tradition originated? The three most important points of Halloween can be summed up by looking at its origins, how it came to include jack-o-lanterns and bobbing for apples, and how it is celebrated today with trick-or-treating and haunted houses.

Attention Getter: By a show of hands, how many of you will be spending money on costumes, candy or decorations for this year’s Halloween? According to the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics, Americans will splurge on costumes, candy and pumpkins for a record $9.1 billion in Halloween spending this year, according to the NRF’s annual survey. Halloween is the second largest holiday celebrated in the US.

The catholic, mexican holiday, Day of the Dead and the very westernized holiday Halloween may seem very alike with their traditions and themes, but in retrospect, they are very different and have very different origins. Halloween and Day of the Dead happen at the same time, end of October and beginning of November. The background of these two holidays are very spiritual and they have an interesting story of how the Halloween and day of the dead was created. In this essay, I will be talking about the how Halloween and Day of the Dead are celebrated , the origins of Day of the Dead and Halloween, and decorations and celebrations of Day of the Dead and Halloween. Both Day of the Dead and Halloween deal with spooky traditions but they are very different than the stereotypical thought that they are just weird, scary holidays but after reading some background to these two holidays, many people realize there is a lot more to Halloween and Day of the Dead.

Tootsie Roll’s highest selling period was Halloween (which is common for most candy manufacturers) and focused on promotional programs to target consumers. Also, they changed up their packaging to adapt to the trends of the consumers and catch their eyes.

Pennsylvania police, for instance, reported that a 13-year-old trick-or-treater in Montgomery County had found a razor blade secreted in the wrapped candy Nestle Crunch bar given to him on the Halloween night (Towamencin). A mother in Kaisertown complained to police about pieces of glass in Tootsie Pops that her children were given during trick or treating (The Buffalo News). Also, a father in Auburn, Main, said his child found a sewing needle concealed in a Snickers bar received while trick-or-treating (The Babgir Daily News). Fortunately, none of the trick-or-treaters claimed the life of the children, but these criminals still hasn't been caught yet. Can the parents be relieved to hear that any children didn’t die from the candies? The candies may show that potential sadists were hiding behind the door or that someone just played a trick. The fact we know so far is that these candies could be fatal if trick-or-treaters ate. As long as these crimes have been reported, parents would never consider that Halloween goodies are utterly

C. Thesis Statement: Going from what the meaning of Halloween is in America today and looking back at it’s roots, it has evolved dramatically. And just recently we have been seeing a comeback from one of those roots, but do we know it’s real cultural significance?

Halloween is not only one of the most popular holidays, but is also one of the oldest, and can be dated back to about 2,000 years ago. It is also known to have started

Halloween is a night that children can dress and act like something they are not and allows them to travel around town receiving candy. Halloween allows the elderly a time to interact with children and gives people a break from normality. Even though the popularity of Hallowing is slimming,

Easter is the Christian celebration of the resurrection of Jesus, but in the bible the word Easter is not mentioned. The idea of Easter arrived in America in the 1700’s when Germans immigrated to Pennsylvania. In Germany the kids would make nest for the “Osterhase”, or the “Oschter Haws”, and the bunny would deliver the eggs to the good kids. The egg and the bunny are symbols of fertility and new life. This idea spread across America, but we spiced it up a bit. We turned the nests into baskets and changed from eggs to chocolate and other goodies. Now we find eggs filled with treats.

The Passover in Hebrew is known as Pesach. It begins in the Sunset of Monday, April 10, 2017, and ends at the nightfall of Tuesday, April 18, 2017. The Pesach is depicted in the book of Exodus 12:23. It describes the day when God passed over Israelites. During the Passover, the Israelites usually celebrate their Liberation from the Egyptian bondage. This is when God delivered them from slavery in Egypt. The Passover is also considered to be one of the most theologically important holidays in the Jewish calendar. It normally goes for eight days but in other communities, it lasts for only one week. The Jews are prohibited to eat any bread or leavened food. They are only allowed

Today in America, the tradition of wearing costumes on Halloween is more about fun, and going door to door to collect candy instead of hiding from sprits that were once thought to roam

Furthermore, there are many traditional rituals and superstitions associated with Halloween. Since the ancient Celts thought the nonliving roamed the earth, they created costumes out of animal pelts to ward off evil spirits. Fortunetelling and the utilization of large bonfires for sacrifices and purification were also early customs. After the Christianization of the holiday to commemorate saints and martyrs, the same festivities, bonfires, and guising remained, but October 31st was renamed All-Hallows Eve. This inevitably turned into Halloween. Similar to European traditions, America’s Halloween has also evolved throughout the years. Halloween’s recognition was originally restricted in colonial America due to its non-Christian beliefs and practices, and it was practiced at a more local level. According to an online source, “The first celebrations included ‘play parties,’ public events held to celebrate the harvest, where neighbors would share stories of the dead and tell each other’s fortunes, dance, and sing” (“History of Halloween”). Festivities were akin to European traditions, but also included ghost stories and pranking. Beginning in the twentieth century, Halloween