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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Tips for safe trick-or-treating with parents and friends. Also, pumpkin carving tips for youngsters. http://www.cdc.gov/safeusa/halloween.htm |
Food and Drug Administration: Advice on examining candy and treats. http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/kids/candyandtreats.html |
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Girl Power: Halloween trick-or-treating travel tips and costume comments. Links to games and face painting tips also included. http://www.girlpower.gov/girlarea/10oct/halloween.htm |
US Consumer Product Safety Commission: Hints on treats, costumes, and travel. http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/hallow.html |
"Halloween had its beginnings in an ancient, pre-Christian Celtic festival of the dead. The Celtic peoples, who were once found all over Europe, divided the year by four major holidays. According to their calendar, the year began on a day corresponding to November 1st on our present calendar. The date marked the beginning of winter. Since they were pastoral people, it was a time when cattle and sheep had to be moved to closer pastures and all livestock had to be secured for the winter months. Crops were harvested and stored. The date marked both an ending and a beginning in an eternal cycle." - Library of Congress
"Virtually
all present Halloween traditions can be traced to the ancient Celtic day of
the dead. Halloween is a holiday of many mysterious customs, but each one
has a history, or at least a story behind it. The wearing of costumes, for
instance, and roaming from door to door demanding treats can be traced to
the Celtic period and the first few centuries of the Christian era, when it
was thought that the souls of the dead were out and around, along with fairies,
witches, and demons. Offerings of food and drink were left out to placate
them. As the centuries wore on, people began dressing like these dreadful
creatures, performing antics in exchange for food and drink. This practice
is called mumming, from which the practice of trick-or-treating evolved. To
this day, witches, ghosts, and skeleton figures of the dead are among the
favorite disguises. Halloween also retains some features that harken back
to the original harvest holiday of Samhain, such as the customs of bobbing
for apples and carving vegetables, as well as the fruits, nuts, and spices
cider associated with the day." - Library
of Congress
For more detail on the history of Halloween, according to the Library of Congress, see http://www.loc.gov/folklife/halloween.html. This page includes links and tips on search options for Halloween topics in film, drama, music, sound, stories, and more.
Understanding
the history of Halloween through the Library of Congress is a lot of fun.
The US Census Bureau also publishes information on Halloween. For example,
did you know that a total of 894.9 million pounds of pumpkin
was produced in the year 2000? Illinois, with 364 million pounds, led the
country in pumpkin produce. If you're looking for a place to celebrate, try
going to Pumpkin Center, North Carolina. For other Halloween-induced
locales, including more fun Census facts, look at http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01fff14.html.
To
find out what the Census Bureau has in store for 2002, check their updates
page for the newest Halloween web site: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/tp02-19.html
While it is important to be safe, don't forget to have fun!
As put by the Library of Congress,
"Today Halloween is becoming once again an adult holiday or masquerade,like mardi Gras. Men and women in every disguise imaginable are taking to the streets of big American cities and parading past grinningly carved, candlelit jack o'lanterns, re-enacting customs with a lengthy pedigree. Their masked antics challenge, mock, tease, and appease the dread forces of the night, of the soul, and of the otherworld that becomes our world on this night of reversible possibilities, inverted roles, and transcendency. In so doing, they are reaffirming death and its place as a part of life in an exhilarating celebration of a holy and magic evening." (Reference)
A sampling of sites:
A NASA Halloween:
US Patent and Trademark Office Halloween Games:
Halloween and the Ghost Head Nebula, past site of the day from NASA:
Haunted houses of Illinois: top
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of Illinois LibrariesUniversity
of Illinois