Did You Know? Page 3
Halloween Safety Tips Page 6
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds Page 9
Annual Day of The Dead Page 11
Adults have hijacked Halloween, In a good way The pranks turned more sinister, and by the 1930s, young people of many origins were threatening to vandalize stores and homes. On Halloween in 1933, at the height of the Great Depression, hundreds of young men overturned automobiles, sawed down telephone poles, and taunted police. Eventually, the rabble-rousers began asking for sweets, threatening tricks unless they received treats. Twentieth-century consumerism, candy and costumes and decorations helped reduce the vandalism, so Halloween became less of an adolescent night and more of a kiddie night. But throughout the history of Halloween in America, adults have participated right alongside young people wearing costumes and playing parlor games. By Françoise Rhodes Halloween is one of my favorite holidays of the year. Not because of its scary connotation, but because gifts are not obligatory, and adults tend to relax and have fun with it. Let’s face it, we put on a costume and throw caution to the wind hoping no one will know it’s us until we make the big reveal. So how has Halloween morphed into an adult holiday, the numbers are staggering. Its official, adults have hijacked Halloween; two in three adults feel Halloween is a holiday for them and not just kids. Haunted houses
for adults are in demand this year, and some 20 percent of celebrants over the age of 18 plans to visit one. True that when the holiday was imported from Celtic nations in the mid-19th century, along with a wave of immigrants fleeing Ireland’s potato famine, it was essentially a younger person’s game. But a little research reveals that adults have long enjoyed Halloween right alongside young spooks and spirits. Back in the mid-19th century, new Americans introduced to these shores new games like bobbing for apples and harmless pranks, such as taking a neighbor’s garden gate off
its hinges, according to a National Geographic report. “Young pranksters wore masks, so they wouldn’t be recognized.”
Today more than 157 million Americans plan to celebrate Halloween this year, according to the National Retail Federation’s Halloween Consumer Spending Survey. The average person celebrating will spend $74.34, total spending on Halloween is expected to reach $6.9 billion. It’s estimated that 68 million Americans will dress up this Halloween and another 20 million pet owners will dress up their pet. Happy Halloween!