All Hallows Eve, All-Hallow mas, All Saints Day, and, All Souls Day are all names that tie into the holiday that we all know and love today, Halloween.

Halloween has been celebrated for more than 3,500 years! The holiday first came to the United States in the 1840s. This day of dressing up, trick-or-treating, and spooky creatures is rooted in an annual Catholic pagan festival called Samhain that was introduced by the early Catholic Church. 

All of the decorations and costumes have origins and meanings. When Halloween first began, instead of carving pumpkins like we do today, early celebrators carved other garden harvests such as beets, potatoes, and turnips. It was believed that carving faces into these vegetables warded off restless souls and spirits.

Many people believed that Halloween was the best day for divination and would search for fortune tellers to find out the names of their future lovers. This is one of the reasons why witches, warlocks, and spellcheckers are associated with the holiday. Between February 1619 and May 1693, more than 200 people were accused of such witch spiritual activities. 19 people and 2 dogs were found guilty. When the time came for their court trials, they were hanged.

Dressing Up in costumes was first started in 1585 by Celtic countries. These costumes consisted of ghosts, skeletons, devils, and witches. They weren’t made with the same materials that ours are made today. People often used old clothing that was no longer in use and used soot as face paint. The saying “Trick-Or-Treat” started in 1927 with a news article reporting pranksters who demanded “Trick-Or-Treat” at houses.

Today over 35 million kids trick-or-treat in the United States on Halloween and spend about 3 billion dollars on costumes.