All Hollow’s Eve, or Halloween, is when people gather and enjoy the best time. This day is a holiday in many regions of the world when people dress up as clowns, skeletons, and monsters to scare everyone with a good laugh. Kids love Halloween as this is the only day, apart from their birthdays, when they get candies just by asking. This night has drastically changed a lot over time, and the best evidence that you can find is people’s costumes. You can easily see a Halloween Trench Coat at a Halloween party that was impossible to find a hundred years ago.
Originally known as a religious day, Halloween has now become an occasion of festivities and celebrations. People throw grand parties, prepare luxurious feasts, wear fancy costumes, and dance the whole night on the beat. There were no such things in the time when Celts originated this day who used to view this day as a chance of seeing their deceased relative and pay tributes to them. In ancient times, when there was no education or literacy, Celts used to believe that their departed loved ones are visiting them today.
The way people celebrate it has now changed by many factors. It could be advanced automation, cultures, traditions, attitudes as a society. It’s not like people have ignored the old traditions entirely; candle lightning and giving-out treats are still followed by many every year. Kids have also restricted their information about this day’s history to just trick-or-treating, and the holy bonfires are long forgotten now. Let’s look at how All Hallows’ Eve has evolved over the years with the new generations.
A Decline in Future-Telling:
Long ago, when people used to tell each other, fortunes at bonfires and munch on traditional foods while paying the dead’s tributes have faded now. They used to play many games by which they would tell each other their future and even their husband or wife-to-be. The most popular game in this regard is apple bobbing. Ladies used to mark their apples and then put them in a water tub; whoever bites their apple is the one they will marry. As bizarre as it sounds, it’s in our culture after all.
Nowadays, people, especially the Irish, hide rings and straws in their Halloween special bread, Brumback, to determine the future spouses. If someone finds out a ring, then he’s going to get married very soon. We can say that somehow, at least Ireland knows the traditions!
Faded DIY Costumes:
In the early days, the Celts used to manufacture their costumes at home, and the whole family usually wears the same themed Halloween outfits. Later, after the revolution of fashion globally, many designers and clothing brands took this opportunity by all hands. As one brand started crafting Halloween costumes, its competitors also tried to create costumes better than it. This developed a new trend in the coming days where people began opting for readymade costumes.
Once, kids used to run through their neighborhoods in just bandanas, masks, and eye patches to portray a pirate, or cute frocks or dresses to look like a princess, or just a white bedsheet to scare everyone as a ghost. Now, you’ll find them rocking in superhero costumes or their favorite gaming character’s costume, all thanks to the designers! People have also started to focus on looking sexy rather than spooky or witty. Well, staying on-trend is also important, not their fault!
The Disappearance of The Traditional Savouries:
Halloween’s history takes us to the time when people used to bake cakes at their homes and name it as ‘Soul Cakes’ (in the context of All Souls’ Day). Catholics used to give these cakes to whoever gives them prayers. It was an exchange of an intangible thing with a tangible thing; notable. These cakes are still baked in many parts of the world, but as people become modernized and liberal, this religious ritual has disappeared in many countries.
People still bake cakes and cookies at home for the Halloween parties, but the concept of naming them as ‘Soul Cakes’ is no longer a thing. People now love candies and monster slushes. Pumpkin Spice Lattes are known as a traditional drink nowadays.
The Transformation of Cinema:
Call it anything, and the entertainment industry has also contributed a lot in this evolution of Halloween day alongside the fashion industry. Many Halloween Specials are now streamed on big and small screens for which people buy tickets. It all started with the debut of ‘Its the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown’ in 1966, and then a new tradition began, followed by ‘Halloween town’ and ‘Hocus Pocus’ in the latter days. ‘The Simpsons’ also made their name by their Halloween-themed episodes that people still watch on Halloween.
However, with all these changes, Halloween still is a day of festivities, and paying respect to the deceased is still followed by many people. So, don’t hesitate and style your favorite Southside Serpents Jacket and chomp on those candies that you have collected by decorating your car with a carved pumpkin. After all, going with the trends is a must-do too!
