Halloween is a joyous night where you can feel children’s excitement for free candy in the air. You excitedly put on your costume until you are unrecognizable and set out for a night full of fun. But what is actually masked is the true core of Halloween. The backstory is unrecognizable due to the present day commercialization.  

The American citizens are projected to spend 3.9 billion dollars this year on Halloween candy alone. This does not include the countless costumes (4.3 billion), plentiful amount of pumpkins (834 million), and the degree of decor (4.2 billion). The total amount spent on the holiday for America is ranked second highest second only to Christmas. 

Companies tap into this for their benefit, take candy brands for example. Candy brands package the same or very similar products, differing in mostly just color and shape and market that has a special limited edition “Halloween Product.” This drives up their profit with very little effort put on the company end. 

Comparably, the same issue is how Halloween costumes are purchased. Prices are high, like this adult Lilo Costume from Spirit Halloween that costs $39.99. Companies are aware that people will pay the price for the one-night festivity, which in many ways, has nothing to do with the origins of Halloween. On November 1st, that $39.99 costume is either thrown out or not used until the next year. 

The origins of Halloween were not originally just candy and costumes. It started from Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts would celebrate the New Year on November 1st because that’s when their harvest would begin. The darkness and cold also connected with ideas of death, so they believed that on October 31st the world of the living and the world of the dead would merge, allowing ghosts to return to Earth. They believed that these ghosts were dangerous and could cause harm to crops, but they also believed that  the spirits would make it easier for the priests (Druids) to predict the future. To celebrate the event, the Druids would make sacrifices of crops and animals to their gods during a bonfire. At this fire, the Druids would wear costumes then attempt to tell the future. Though this was long ago, our very Halloween customs today are connected to the Celtic festival of Samhain.

Halloween’s backstory is very interesting and gets blown away by because of the consumer-driven society that we live in today. I hope that this Halloween everyone can find a balance with the fun parties and trick-or-treating and acknowledging the vast history behind the holiday.

https://www.history.com/articles/history-of-halloween 

https://www.isu.edu/cob/blog/articles/the-evolution-and-business-of-halloween.html