Rogers says the holiday was considered “a kind of social space” in 1960s, before the 1969 Stonewall Riots and ensuing Pride movement. The morbid beginnings of trick-or-treatingīefore Snickers bars and candy corn, trick-or-treating was a way to mourn a dead neighbour in return for a free meal.īack in the Middle Ages, children and adults would spend Hallowmas visiting neighbours’ homes dressed in costume to offer prayers for the recently departed.Īs payment for their penance, visitors were typically given food and drink.įor the LGBT community, Halloween was a massive annual party before the era of Pride festivals.

“So there was a deliberate attempt to infantilize the whole day and make it palatable for kids,” Rogers told CTV New Channel. He added that it’s possible that the church wanted to “re-Christianize populations,” and annexing a popular pagan festival was considered an effective way to do so.Īs Halloween progressed into the 20th century, concerted efforts were made in the 1950s to “tone down” scary pranks and vandalism that sometimes went along with the spooky holiday. Nicholas Rogers, a York University history professor and author of “Halloween: From Pagan ritual to Party Night,” says it wasn’t difficult “to fuse” the two celebrations because “the Christian church had a lot of magical elements to it” at the time. This pagan celebration was later piggybacked on by the Christian celebration of Hallowmas, also known as the Eve of All Hallows, in which Christians prayed for the dead. The celebration has been traced back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced “sow-en”), which marked the end of summer on Oct. Halloween has a disjointed origin story, with elements of Christianity, paganism and post-war era fears making up the traditions we know today. Spook your friends with these quizzical tidbits of Halloween trivia. Halloween has arrived, and alongside the jack-o-lanterns, TV specials and pumpkin-flavoured treats come centuries of curious history.

Nicholas rogers halloween