Was there ever a razor blade in the apple?

I have some things I'm just too nervous I'll forget about by the time next Autumn comes around!  As I find things, I'll post them.  So be on the look out ;)

From the Heath brothers' "Made to Stick," a book required for one of my classes:

Who Spoiled Halloween?

In the 1960s and 1970s, the tradition of Halloween trick-or-treating came under attack.  Rumors circulated about Halloween sadists who put razor blades in apples and booby-trapped pieces of candy.  The rumors affected the Halloween Tradition nationwide.  Parents carefully examined their children's candy bags.  Schools opened their doors at night so that kids could trick-or-treat in a safe environment.  Hospitals volunteered to X-ray candy bags.

In 1985, an ABC News poll showed that 60 percent of parents worried that their children might be victimized.  To this day, many parents warn their children not to eat any snacks that aren't prepackaged.  This is a sad story: a family holiday sullied by bad people who, inexplicably, wish to harm children.  But in 1985 the story took a strange twist.  Researchers discovered something shocking about the candy-tampering epidemic: It was a myth.

The researchers, sociologists Joel Best and Gerald Horiuchi, studied every reported Halloween incident since 1958.  They found no instances where strangers caused children life-threatening harm on Halloween by tampering with their candy.

Two children did die on Halloween, but their deaths weren't caused by strangers.  A five-year-old boy found his uncle's heroin stash and overdosed.  His relatives initially tried to cover their tracks by sprinkling heroin on his candy.  In another case, a father, hoping to collect on an insurance settlement, caused the death of his own son by contaminating his candy with cyanide. 

 In other words, the best social science evidence reveals that taking candy from strangers is perfectly okay.  It's your family you should worry about.

 The candy-tampering story has changed the behavior of millions of parents over the past thirty years.  Sadly, it has made neighbors suspicious of neighbors.  It has even changed the laws of this country.  Both California and New Jersey passed laws that carry special penalties for candy-tamperers.  

As a child of Halloween and a lover of baking, this story is especially interesting to me.  When I was young, we also followed the protocol of no unwrapped or homemade goods gathered during night.  I wish people didn't still feel this way.  I would love to be able to share my baked yummies (yeah, I said that) with everyone over the holiday.  Unfortunately, the possible backlash just isn't worth the risk.

Do you have any candy-tampering stories?  How do you feel about it?

A Little History for Thursdays: Around the World #1

Ever wondered how other countries around the world celebrate the holiday?  Well, I do! (Which is all that matters anyway...)

This week, we look at Ireland, since there is where Halloween is most generally thought to have originated.

From Pumpkin Patches and More:

In Ireland, which is considered to be where Halloween [began], the day is still celebrated much like it is in the United States. In rural areas, bonfires are lit as they were centuries ago, and all over the country, children get dressed up in costumes and spend the evening "trick-or-treating" in their neighborhoods. After trick-or-treating, most people attend parties with neighbors and friends. At the parties, many games are played, including "snap-apple," a game in which an apple on a string is tied to a doorframe or tree and players attempt to bite the hanging apple. In addition to bobbing for apples, parents often arrange treasure hunts, with candy or pastries as the "treasure." The Irish also play a card game where cards are laid face down on a table with candy or coins underneath them. When a child chooses a card, he receives whatever prize is found below it.

A traditional food eaten on Halloween is barnbrack, a kind of fruitcake that can be bought in stores or baked at home. A muslin-wrapped treat is baked inside the cake that, it is said, can foretell the eater's future. If a ring is found, it means that the person will soon be wed; a piece of straw means that a prosperous year is on its way. Children are also known to play tricks on their neighbors, such as "knock-a-dolly," a prank in which children knock on the doors of their neighbors, but run away before the door is opened.

A Little History for Thursdays: Did you know? #1

From Halloween Web:

Halloween is the 2nd most commercially successful holiday, with Christmas being the first.

A Little History for Thursdays: Bobbing for Apples

Ever wonder why we're so willing to shove our faces into a barrel of water for an apple?

(Well, maybe not this year...)

The History of Bobbing for Apples

This tradition appears to have originated from Samhain, the Celtic harvest celebration.  The apple (as I am well aware ;) ) is a symbol of fertility, then represented by the Roman goddess Pomona.  When sliced in half, the apple's seeds form a sort of five-pointed star, like the pentagram.  The pentagram, to the Celts, was also a great fertility symbol.  From there, the apple just seemed like a natural fit!

The apple then became an object of divination used to predict marrages during that time of year.  Those who were unmarried at the time of the celebration would take turns trying to bite into an apple, either in a pool of water or hanging from a string.  The first one to do so would be the next expected to wed.

And to think that today it's thought of as a child's game...

One article on the topic says that the [girl] to possess the bitten apple would dream of her future lover when placed under her pillow at night.  I find that to (1) be uncomfortable and (2) be sticky.

The apple was also used to foresee other things.  By peeling an apple infront of a candle-lit mirror, one could see not only the image of one's future hubby but also the years left of one's life according to the peel length before it broke.  I think knowing such things only takes the fun and mystery out of life!

Links/Sources:

• Haunted Bay
• Wikipedia
• The Spectator

A Little History for Thursdays: Bits from Books #2

From Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night


On soul cakes:

The custom of baking bread or soul cakes for "all crysten souls" was well established before the Reformation.  This food was conventially distributed to all relatives and poor neighbors who offered to pay for the souls in purgatory, underscoring the belief that prayers and ritual practices could smooth or speed a soul's passage to heaven.  This custom was likely revived or revamped by Catholics as a popular response to the elimination of All Souls' Day from the official religious calendar by the Protestants.

 Does anyone have a good, traditional recipe for soul cakes?  Let me know!

A Little History for Thursdays: The Corn Maiden

An excerpt from The Witches' Almanac 09/10:

The autumn equinox coincided with the end of the harvest, and the ancient belief in the corn spirit survived in folk customs.  The last sheaf was ritually cut and formed into a human-shaped image known variously as the Corn Maiden or Corn Mother, the Kern Baby, the Mare, the Old Wife, the Old Hag or the Old Witch.  This was carried in procession back to the farm and placed above the hearth to bring fertility and prosperity to the household.  In January, when the early ploughing began, the corn dolly was buried in the first furrow to bring a good harvest in the summer.

Many Native American tribes carry on this tradition in various forms and, apparently, so do many British farmers.  If I grew corn, I would totally do it...  Does anyone practice this today? Pictures??

Corn dollies from around the world:

Scotland

Wilderness Cottages - good background!

Beamish, England

BBC article on the Beamish Open Air Museum

Koorda, Australia

Australia's Golden Outback

By trying to find a good North American example, I can only come up with the tamales...  Suggestions?

A Little History for Thursdays: A celebration around the world!

I "stumbled" across a page on Boston.com a couple days ago entitled, "Days of the Dead - The Big Picture."  It's a compilation of tremendously moving photos (37 all together) from various countries depicting different celebrations having to do with Halloween, All Saints' Day, All Souls' Day, Dia de los Muertos and so on.

Please, take a few minutes to look at the photos on the site.  (The pictures are much larger and of much higher quality there.)  They are truly amazing and really show a broad picture, or the bigger picture, of what Halloween means to the world!

I'm going to take the risk of posting some of these pictures purely for commentary purposes.  I don't mean to infringe on any copyrights!

Some of my favorites:

(Photo credit: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

#8 - The Obamas celebrate Halloween at the White House!  What I really like about this picture are the presidential couple's expressions.  Michelle Obama has this fierce, almost growling, look on her face that perfectly fits her leopardess outfit!

(Photo credit:AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

#21 - This photo shows a close-up of Haitian's face painted for a voodoo ritual for Day of the Dead celebrations.  There is a strong intensity in his face.  After a while, I looked up from his eyes to see a pair of fashionably large sun glasses perched atop of his fedora.  It made me smile :)

(Photo credit: AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

#29 - Here is a scene that I would actually like to see more of in the States.  In America we have such a hushed respect for the dead that is too depressing for my liking, while most South & Central American regions celebrate their dead for the lives they lived and touched.  This picture shows a cemetery beautifully lit up and decorated for an old Day of the Dead tradition.

(Photo credit: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

#37 - It's a lemur and a Jack-o'-Lantern.  No other explanation needed.

This article has inspired me to include a lot of around-the-world traditions to my "History" day.  What do you think?

A Little History for Thursdays: Bits from Books #1

Will a little advise from a friend, (and a panicked search for it online after FOUR bookstores failed me,) I've finally become the owner of book dedicated to the history of Halloween.  The book is titled, "Halloween, From Pagan Ritual to Party Night."

Today, I thought I would just share a little tidbit with you from this book since I haven't been able to really dig into it yet.  Did you know (according to this book's author):

In Naples, one custom once associated with the rite of Hallowtide, (the linked festivals of All Saints' and All Souls' days,) was the opening of the charnel houses, which contained the bones of the dead.  They were opened on All Souls' Day and decorated with flowers.  "Crowds thronged through [the charnel houses]  to visit the bodies of their friends and relatives.  Sometimes the cadavers were dressed in robes and placed in niches along the walls."

The original Haunted Houses? Hmm..

A Little History for Thursdays: The Jack-o'-Lantern

I'm still perfecting my art of pumpkin carving, if you can call what I make art...  I love digging into the slime, squeezing it through my fingers, and separating the seeds out to bake into a yummy snack later.  But, have you ever wondered what started this tradition?

From History.com:

People have been making jack o'lanterns at Halloween for centuries. The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man nicknamed "Stingy Jack." According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn't want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree's bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.
Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as "Jack of the Lantern," and then, simply "Jack O'Lantern."

In Ireland and Scotland, people began to make their own versions of Jack's lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placing them into windows or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits. In England, large beets are used. Immigrants from these countries brought the jack o'lantern tradition with them when they came to the United States. They soon found that pumpkins, a fruit native to America, make perfect jack o'lanterns.

Normally, folks, I do my own research and create my own little 'essay' for you, however, it's been another long day.  I'll get better!! ;)  I don't delay any posts; it's always a post a day!

Sources:

• History.com

A Little History for Thursdays: Trick-or-Treating

(Photo from Warner Bros. film Trick or Treat. Not sure what that is...)

The act of "trick-or-treating" can be traced back centuries. Some sources compare the act to wassailing in the Middle Ages. Perhaps most relevant, though, is the medieval practice of souling. Souling consisted of the poor traveling door to door on Hallowmas (then celebrated November 1st) to receive food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day (November 2nd.) Such practices were mainly found in Ireland and Britain, although similar ones have been found to have occurred as far as Italy.

As I've mentioned in a previous post, the reason behind dressing up in costumes to trick-or-treat most likely goes back to the Celts celebration of Samhain. Citizens would dress in "costumes" and masks created from the remnants of their herds. The purpose might have been to copy evil spirits, or appease them.

The history of trick-or-treating is a bit more hazy when it comes to tracing it to North America. Sources say there is no evidence of souling of the poor. The earliest mention of the tradition doesn't even pop up until 1911. It wasn't until 1927 that the first mention of it was to be found in print somewhere in Canada. The practice didn't seem to really catch on until the 1930s.

What we do know today is that trick-or-treating has become a central part to the tradition. Almost a social requirement. While it briefly declined in the 70s and 80s due to tainted candy scares, the tradition holds strong today.

What are some of YOUR trick-or-treating memories?

Resources:

• Wikipedia
• Things That Go Boo!

Other related links:

• TheHolidaySpot (no relation!)
• Halloween Alliance

Miscellaneous Wednesdays: Did you know?

Some facts from the U.S. Census Bureau from 2008 on Halloween '09:

• 36 Million: The estimated number of potential trick-or-treaters in 2007 — children 5 to 13 — across the United States.
• 1.1 Billion Pounds: Total production of pumpkins by major pumpkin-producing states in 2007.
• 24.5 Pounds: Per capita consumption of candy by Americans in 2007.
• Places to spend Halloween:

Tombstone, Ariz. (population 1,562).

Pumpkin Center, N.C. (population 2,228); and Pumpkin Bend, Ark. (population 307).

Cape Fear in New Hanover County, N.C. (15,711); and Cape Fear in Chatham County, N.C. (1,170).

Skull Creek, Neb. (population 274).

Transylvania County, N.C. (29,984 residents).

A Little History for Thursdays: First Post!

There are many sources of the Halloween we know today, but perhaps the oldest and strongest source is the Celtic celebration, Samhain.

Samhain, celebrated some 2,000 years ago, was the mark of the end of the harvest and the beginning of a new year. The Celts believed with the end of summer came the cold, the dark, and therefore, the time most associated with deaths among the tribes. Originally, Samhain was the night where the barriers, holding the dead in their world, were blurred and broken. The passage of the dead into our world was long thought the reason for ruined crops and the rise of mischief. On the other hand, the Celts also believed Samhain to be the best time for their priests, the Druids, to make predictions on the upcoming year.

In celebration, enormous bonfires were erected where the remnants of crops and animals, removed of their offerings for the winter, were thrown to feed the blaze. The Celtic people would dress in the hides and bones of animals and exchange fortunes. Each house in the village would end the night by taking a piece of the fire back to light their hearth for luck in the new year.

To find out more about Samhain, only a piece of what Halloween has become, try these links:

• History.com
• WitchVox
• Wikipedia

I also highly suggest going to your local bookstore to find out more!