booo!

According to an article in today’s Writer’s Almanac,

Halloween:

f is the second most popular holiday of the year in the U.S. after Christmas.

j was first a New Year’s Eve celebration, kept by the Celtic people of Northeast Europe.

d became known as All Hallows Eve after Pope Gregory III (8th Century A.D.) made November 1st All Saint’s Day.

k was first brought to the U.S. by Irish Catholics when they immigrated, after the potato famine in the 1840s.

l was first referred to in connection with children going door to door for candy in The Ladies’ Home Journal, 1920.

p finds 92% of U.S. children trick-or-treating by 1999.

I’m just wondering how many adults now take part. In the past few years I’ve noticed a great many more people in costume, in businesses, restaurants etc. And last year some rather large ‘kids’ joined the approximately 100 wee ones who came to our door for their treat!

This year we’re handing out Skittles, Jujubes and Halloween suckers (a sort of molasses toffee which makes my teeth ache) – stuff of which I’m not overly fond, and if left over, we can stuff in the Christmas boxes to orphans that go overseas (vs. chocolate - which I love and is verboten for those boxes).