I read a book recently about the history of Halloween in America--it's really wonderful. The traditions we think of as being so old here (as old as something can be in the US, that is) are often fairly recent. Halloween's always been around in one form or another but it's changed in the way it was celebrated. Trick or treating as we think of it now seems to have started as a Thanksgiving thing where kids would dress as urchins and beg. For a while Halloween was very associated with working class vandalism of upper class neighborhoods.
P is about 20 years older than I am so she remembers Halloween as being primarily really safe where people just gave you loose candy. I grew up in the age of urban legends about poisoned candy where everything had to be individuall wrapped etc. Even that's now become part of the tradition. Such a weird holiday; I love it!
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Date: 2003-10-30 02:02 am (UTC)I read a book recently about the history of Halloween in America--it's really wonderful. The traditions we think of as being so old here (as old as something can be in the US, that is) are often fairly recent. Halloween's always been around in one form or another but it's changed in the way it was celebrated. Trick or treating as we think of it now seems to have started as a Thanksgiving thing where kids would dress as urchins and beg. For a while Halloween was very associated with working class vandalism of upper class neighborhoods.
P is about 20 years older than I am so she remembers Halloween as being primarily really safe where people just gave you loose candy. I grew up in the age of urban legends about poisoned candy where everything had to be individuall wrapped etc. Even that's now become part of the tradition. Such a weird holiday; I love it!