All Hallow’s Eve has been celebrated throughout the world since 1745. Hallows Eve reflects the celebration of remembering the dead including saints (hallows), the evening before All Saints Day.
During the 19th century when mass immigration occurred from Ireland and Scotland; Halloween became a major holiday in North America. Children in these countries would dress up and go house to house and beg for coins or food.
This tradition continues in the US today while children dress up in costumes and “Trick or Treat” throughout the community. Going house to house has been replaced in many areas by “Trunk or Treating”, as people decorate their car trunks and hand out candy to those who go car to car in a parking lot.
The yearly New York Halloween Parade, begun in 1974 by puppeteer and mask maker Ralph Lee of Greenwich Village, is the world’s largest Halloween parade and America’s only major nighttime parade, attracting more than 60,000 costumed participants, two million spectators, and a worldwide television audience of over 100 million.[124]
Safely celebrating Halloween this year will be a Trick all its own. With “Trick or Treating” or “Beggar’s Night” quickly approaching, how will you celebrate this year? Any way you celebrate, please include safety in your plans.
