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Times change but trick-or-treating’s for kids
(by Gene Newman - October 29, 2008)
The Irish invented Halloween. Long before they were converted by St. Patrick, Oct. 31 was a pagan festival day for them, a time when they believed the wall between the living and the dead was temporarily breached. Their celebration included bonfires, masks to represent the evil spirits and, I'm sure, a few drops of poteen to ward them off.
When they got the faith, it was no great leap to celebrate the Eve of All Saints Day or All Hallows' Eve on the same date with many of the same events.
The Irish also invented the Jack-O-Lantern with their legend of Stingy Jack, a greedy, two-fisted drinker who trapped the Devil in a tree and won from him a Keep-Out-of-Hell card, but because of his sinful life he was also barred from heaven. He wanders the earth to this day, his way lit by a candle inside a carved pumpkin which, in the original tale, was a turnip.
Halloween is still a time to have a little fun at the expense of things we're frightened of like ghosts, goblins and witches. Of course, being Americans, we have to overdo it. We spend about $5 billion on costumes and over $2 billion on candy for the trick-or-treaters. Halloween is the number one candy sales holiday in the U.S.
The Irish and British had something like trick-or-treating in the Middle Ages when poor people went door to door “souling” on All Saints Day, getting gifts of food in return for promises to pray for the dead.
And so the Halloween customs continue to evolve over the years. As an ardent candy fan, I'm hoping that someday the kids' monopoly on trick-or-treating will be abolished and we older folk will be able to knock on the doors of complete strangers and ask for sweets without having them put in calls to 911.
For costumes we can wear our everyday 1960s outfits if we can still squeeze into them. They should look outlandish and scary enough. Our threats of tricks won't be taken seriously, since few of us are able to run fast enough from the scene of the mischief to elude capture.
For health considerations, people can hand out sugar-free candy to those of us who need it, and we won't have to worry about the treats ruining our teeth. We'll just leave them at home.
Gene Newman is a resident of Parsippany.
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