Happy Halloween

Origins of All Hallows' Eve

Jefferson County residents will welcome Halloween 2012 on October 31. Halloween is believed to have originated from the Celtic festival Samhain, which was a time when people would don costumes and light large bonfires to ward off ghosts. During the 8th century, November 1st was designated as All Saints’ Day and some of the traditions of Samhain were carried over. The night before All Saints’ Day was known as All Hallows’ Eve and later it morphed into the modern Halloween. Halloween offers a time for children and adults to celebrate and usher in the cold weather. It has also become big business in the United States, bringing in more than 8 billion dollars in retail. Halloween has surpassed Valentines Day as the candy day of the year and it is quickly becoming a major player in greeting cards as well. It is estimated that adults spend an average of around $76 on costumes for the spooky night and that is just the tip of the financial iceberg. Retailers enjoy the boom from the spooky holiday, which ranks second only to Christmas in retail spending. Halloween and all the trappings have become important in modern culture and, according to retail experts, Halloween has proven itself recession proof. Even in economic downtimes, Americans still celebrate Halloween. The holiday provides a brief escape from the daily grind into a world where anything imaginable is possible, if only for one day at the end of October.