Halloween History

Halloween's Celtic OriginThe holiday that evolved into Halloween was first celebrated over 2,000 years ago by the Celtic people, who called it Samhain.

Candy CornCandy corn was invented in the 1880s by George Renninger of the Wunderlee Candy and is produced today by the Jelly Belly Candy Company.October 30th is National Candy Corn Day. An estimated 35 million pounds of candy corn, that’s 9 bill...

The Tradition of Pumpkin CarvingThe Irish Legend of Jack: The idea of pumpkin carving originated in Irish folklore. According to legend, a man named Jack (who was fond of pra...

The Tradition of Wearing CostumesSamhain Costumes:Costumes have been worn during Halloween long before it was called Halloween. Up to 2,000 years ago, Samhain revelers would ...

The Modernization of Halloween The All Souls' Day begging and cake giving, along with the tradition of leaving food on one's doorstep to appease spirits, evolved into trick-or-treating.Halloween became modernized throughout the 19th century, as colonial Americans made it a holiday about getting together to enjoy parties, food and fun costumes. By the dawn of the 20th century, Halloween was hardly about religion anymore and was widely celebrated as a purely recreational holiday.

Halloween Honeys During the 18th and 19th century, Halloween was also believed to be the night when a young woman could found out who she was going to marry. Consequently, many young women spent Halloween performing elaborate rituals involving yarn and mirrors in order to get a glimpse of their future husbands.

Nothing to Sneeze At An interesting historical tidbit is that the phrase "God Bless You" is actually associated with Halloween. The Welsh believed that every time you sneezed, you blew part of your soul out of your body. Hence, they would say "God Bless You" to anyone who sneezed to bless their soul. Because of this, sneezing on Halloween was to be avoided entirely. It was believed to be extremely dangerous because wandering spirits or the devil could capture your soul as you sneezed!