Why do we wear Halloween costumes? Children, and increasingly adults, love to dress up for Halloween. Trick-or-treating was always one of my favorite events. What’s not to like about pretending to be a pirate, superhero, or some undead incarnation? Add to that the appeal of free candy (at least in the US), and the whole dressing up in Halloween costumes makes a lot of sense.
As for adults, I think the long work hours and limited vacation time in the US create a lot of stress. The chance to dress up and pretend to be something else offers a great release. Before my anti-social tendencies came to the fore, I dressed up for quite a few Halloween parties. My wife and I even took our 8-month-old son to one party. We went as cowboy and cowgirl and dressed him in a baby-sized bull costume.
When Did it Begin?
The tradition of wearing Halloween costumes started with the Celtic festival of Samhain. It was a celebration of the completed harvest and a preparation for the darker half of the year. The Celts believed that the boundary with the spirit world was at its thinnest during Samhain. They initially wore costumes as a form of protection from the spirits. In the 9th century, the christian church adopted some aspects Samhain in what became All Saints Day.
Surge in Popularity?
While I don’t have a specific study to back it up, Halloween seems to be the fastest growing holiday in the US. I have no recollection of my parents ever being invited to, much less attending, a Halloween costume party. While I remember a large percentage of homes decked out with lights for Christmas, I can’t remember a single one for Halloween. Maybe a few houses put a colored bulb in their porch light or perhaps a few tombstones, but nothing too extravagent. Now, every block has at least two or three houses with decorations. Many include elaborate displays complete with graveyards, ghosts, and gigantic spiders.
One problem with Halloween costumes, is deciding what to go as. To help with that, this month’s featured map provides the most popular Halloween costume in each state in 2021. This map comes courtesy of All Home Connections.
As always thanks for reading.
Armen
Note to Pay the Bills: The Celtic origins of Halloween as well as dressing in costumes plays an important role in Penny Preston and the Raven’s Talisman. If you’ve ever wondered how to mix theoretical physics and Welsh mythology in a YA fantasty story, you can learn more here or find links to purchase books here.
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