C&T Publications Eye On Fine Art Photography - October 2014 | Page 18

Fifty Fascinating Halloween Facts
By Renee Goodrich

1. Halloween is held on October 31st which is the last day of the Celtic calender.
2. The Halloween custom has evolved from the ancient Celts belief that the border between this world and "the Otherworld"
becomes thin on All-Hallows-Eve. People wore costumes to disguise themselves and avoid harm.
3. The day after Halloween is called All Saints Day. Christians dedicate this day to all those saints who don't have a special day of
their own.
4. All Hallows is another way to say All Saints. All-Hallows-Eve means the night before All-Saints Day.
5. The first evidence of the use of the word Halloween comes from Scotland in the early 16th century. It was slang for All-HallowsEve.
6. The colours orange and black represent Halloween because orange is the colour of pumpkins (and autumn) and black is associated
with death.
7. The tradition of carving a jack o' lantern started in the United Kingdom. They were carved on All Hallows Eve and left on the door
step to ward off evil spirits.
8. The original jack o' lanterns were carved from a swede or a turnip.
9. Jack o' lanterns were named after the phenomenon of strange light flickering over peat bogs.
10. Carving gourds into elaborately decorated lanterns dates back thousands of years to Africa. They were intentionally brought to
the New World via prehistoric migration through Asia.
11. A record for the most simultaneously lit jack o' lanterns was set on October 21, 2006 when 30,128 jack-o'-lanterns were
simultaneously lit on Boston Common.
12. The world's largest jack o' lantern was carved from the world's largest pumpkin (at the time) on October 31, 2005 in Northern
Cambria, Pennsylvania, United States by Scott Cully. The pumpkin weighed 1,469 lb (666.33 kg).
13. Today the record for the world's largest pumpkin is held by Nick and Kristy Harp whose pumpkin weighed in at 1,725 lbs
(782.45 kg).
14. Trick-or-treating is the Halloween custom where children dressed in costume go door to door asking for candy with the question,
"trick or treat?" The "trick" is a (usually idle) threat to perform mischief on the home-owners or their property if no treat is given.
15. Many people believe, trick or treating evolved from the Middle Ages custom of giving freshly baked soul cakes to children who
went door to door on All-Hallows-Eve offering prayers.
16. It was believed that each soul cake eaten represented a soul being freed from purgatory.
17. In Sweden, children dress up as witches and go trick-or-treating on Maundy Thursday (the Thursday before Easter).
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