Other

In the kitchen

Melamine resin is often used in kitchen utensils and plates (such as Melmac). Melamine resin utensils and bowls are not microwave safe.[3]

During the late 1950s and 1960s melamine tableware became fashionable. Aided by the stylish modern designs of A. H. Woodfull and the Product Design Unit of British Industrial Plastics, it was thought to threaten the dominant position of ceramics in the market. In the late 1960s the tendency of melamine cups and plates to become stained and scratched led to a decline in sales, and eventually the material became largely restricted to the camping and nursery markets, in which its light weight and resistance to breaking were valued.[4]

Cabinet and furniture making

Melamine resin is often used to saturate decorative paper that is laminated under heat and pressure and then pasted onto particle board; the resulting panel, often called melamine, is commonly used in ready-to-assemble furniture and kitchen cabinets. [citation needed]

Melamine is available in diverse sizes and thicknesses, as well as a large number of colors and patterns. The sheets are heavy for their size, and the resin is prone to chipping when being cut with conventional table saws." (wikipedia)

"Tableware items are the dishware and utensils used for setting a table, serving food, and dining. The term includes cutlery, glassware, serving dishes, serving utensils, and other items used for practical as well as decorative purposes.[1][2] The quality, nature, variety and number of objects varies according to culture, religion, number of diners, cuisine and occasion. For example, Middle Eastern, Indian or Polynesian food culture and cuisine sometimes limits tableware to serving dishes, using bread or leaves as individual plates, and not infrequently without use of cutlery. Special occasions are usually reflected in higher quality tableware.[3]

Serving dishes

A wide range of serving dishes are used to transport food from kitchen to table or to serve it at table, to make food service easier and cleaner or more efficient and pleasant. Serving dishes include: butter dishes; casseroles; fruit bowls; ramekins or lidded serving bowls; compotes; pitchers or jugs; platters, salvers, and trays; salt and pepper shakers or salt cellars; sauce or gravy boats; tureens and tajines; vegetable or salad bowls.

A range of items specific to the serving of tea or coffee also have long cultural traditions. They include teapots and coffee pots as well as samovars, sugar bowls; milk or cream jugs." (wikipedia)

"A tray is a shallow platform designed for the carrying of items. It can be fashioned from numerous materials, including silver, brass, sheet iron, paperboard, wood, melamine, and molded pulp. Trays range in cost from inexpensive molded pulp trays which are disposable and inexpensive melamine trays used in cafeterias, to mid-priced wooden trays used in a home, to expensive silver trays used in luxury hotels. Some examples have raised galleries, handles, and short feet for support.

A butler's tray often has a gallery, or deeper surround, handles on the long sides to facilitate carrying (usually cut into the surround), and a portable stand with folding legs. It is used for the service of drinks and generally serves as a convenient side table.

A cafeteria tray is used for carrying items in a cafeteria. It is typically made of plastic or fiberglass. A compartment tray or mess tray is a cafeteria tray designed to be used directly, without dishes - it incorporates shallow compartments in which different types of food are placed." (wikipedia)

"Halloween,[a] also known as All Hallows' Eve,[9] or All Saints' Eve,[10] is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. It is at the beginning of the observance of Allhallowtide,[11] the time in the Christian liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.[3][12][13] In popular culture, Halloween has become a celebration of horror and is associated with the macabre and the supernatural.[12][14]

Symbols

At Halloween, yards, public spaces, and some houses may be decorated with traditionally macabre symbols including skeletons, ghosts, cobwebs, headstones, witches and scarecrows

Development of artifacts and symbols associated with Halloween formed over time. Jack-o'-lanterns are traditionally carried by guisers on All Hallows' Eve in order to frighten evil spirits.[81][157] There is a popular Irish Christian folktale associated with the jack-o'-lantern,[158] which in folklore is said to represent a "soul who has been denied entry into both heaven and hell":[159]

On route home after a night's drinking, Jack encounters the Devil and tricks him into climbing a tree. A quick-thinking Jack etches the sign of the cross into the bark, thus trapping the Devil. Jack strikes a bargain that Satan can never claim his soul. After a life of sin, drink, and mendacity, Jack is refused entry to heaven when he dies. Keeping his promise, the Devil refuses to let Jack into hell and throws a live coal straight from the fires of hell at him. It was a cold night, so Jack places the coal in a hollowed out turnip to stop it from going out, since which time Jack and his lantern have been roaming looking for a place to rest.[160]

In Ireland, Scotland, and Northern England the turnip has traditionally been carved during Halloween,[161][162] but immigrants to North America used the native pumpkin, which is both much softer and much larger, making it easier to carve than a turnip.[161] The American tradition of carving pumpkins is recorded in 1837[163] and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century.[164]

The modern imagery of Halloween comes from many sources, including Christian eschatology, national customs, works of Gothic and horror literature (such as the novels Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus and Dracula) and classic horror films such as Frankenstein (1931) and Night of the Living Dead (1968).[165][166] Imagery of the skull, a reference to Golgotha in the Christian tradition, serves as "a reminder of death and the transitory quality of human life" and is consequently found in memento mori and vanitas compositions;[167] skulls have therefore been commonplace in Halloween, which touches on this theme.[168] Traditionally, the back walls of churches are "decorated with a depiction of the Last Judgment, complete with graves opening and the dead rising, with a heaven filled with angels and a hell filled with devils", a motif that has permeated the observance of this triduum.[169] One of the earliest works on the subject of Halloween is from Scottish poet John Mayne, who, in 1780, made note of pranks at Halloween—"What fearfu' pranks ensue!", as well as the supernatural associated with the night, "bogles" (ghosts)[170]—influencing Robert Burns' "Halloween" (1785).[171] Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn husks, autumn leaves, and scarecrows, are also prevalent. Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around Halloween. Halloween imagery includes themes of death, evil, and mythical monsters.[172] Black cats, which have been long associated with witches, are also a common symbol of Halloween. Black, orange, and sometimes purple are Halloween's traditional colors.[173]

Trick-or-treating and guising

Main article: Trick-or-treating

Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween. Children go in costume from house to house, asking for treats such as candy and other confections, or sometimes money, with the question, "Trick or treat?" The word "treat" is asking for a sweet treat while the word "trick" implies a "threat" to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given.[72] The practice is said to have roots in the medieval practice of mumming, which is closely related to souling.[174] John Pymm wrote that "many of the feast days associated with the presentation of mumming plays were celebrated by the Christian Church."[175] These feast days included All Hallows' Eve, Christmas, Twelfth Night and Shrove Tuesday.[176][177] Mumming practiced in Germany, Scandinavia and other parts of Europe,[178] involved masked persons in fancy dress who "paraded the streets and entered houses to dance or play dice in silence".[179]

In England, from the medieval period,[180] up until the 1930s,[181] people practiced the Christian custom of souling on Halloween, which involved groups of soulers, both Protestant and Catholic,[97] going from parish to parish, begging the rich for soul cakes, in exchange for praying for the souls of the givers and their friends.[75] In the Philippines, the practice of souling is called Pangangaluluwa and is practiced on All Hallows' Eve among children in rural areas.[28] People drape themselves in white cloths to represent souls and then visit houses, where they sing in return for prayers and sweets.[28]

In Scotland and Ireland, guising—children disguised in costume going from door to door for food or coins—is a secular Halloween custom.[182] It is recorded in Scotland at Halloween in 1895 where masqueraders in disguise carrying lanterns made out of scooped out turnips, visit homes to be rewarded with cakes, fruit, and money.[162][183] In Ireland, the most popular phrase for kids to shout (until the 2000s) was "Help the Halloween Party".[182] Author Nicholas Rogers cites an early example of guising in North America in 1911, where a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, reported children going "guising" around the neighborhood.[184]

American historian and author Ruth Edna Kelley of Massachusetts wrote the first book-length history of Halloween in the US: The Book of Hallowe'en (1919), and references souling in the chapter "Hallowe'en in America".[185] In her book, Kelley touches on customs that arrived from across the Atlantic; "Americans have fostered them, and are making this an occasion something like what it must have been in its best days overseas. All Halloween customs in the United States are borrowed directly or adapted from those of other countries".[186]

While the first reference to "guising" in North America occurs in 1911, another reference to ritual begging on Halloween appears, place unknown, in 1915, with a third reference in Chicago in 1920.[187] The earliest known use in print of the term "trick or treat" appears in 1917, in The Sault Daily Star, of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada.[188]

The thousands of Halloween postcards produced between the turn of the 20th century and the 1920s commonly show children but not trick-or-treating.[189] Trick-or-treating does not seem to have become a widespread practice in North America until the 1930s, with the first US appearances of the term in 1934,[190] and the first use in a national publication occurring in 1939.[191]

A popular variant of trick-or-treating, known as trunk-or-treating (or Halloween tailgating), occurs when "children are offered treats from the trunks of cars parked in a church parking lot", or sometimes, a school parking lot.[112][192] In a trunk-or-treat event, the trunk (boot) of each automobile is decorated with a certain theme,[193] such as those of children's literature, movies, scripture, and job roles.[194] Trunk-or-treating has grown in popularity due to its perception as being more safe than going door to door, a point that resonates well with parents, as well as the fact that it "solves the rural conundrum in which homes [are] built a half-mile apart".

"Halloween is a celebration observed on October 31, the day before the feast of All Hallows, also known as Hallowmas or All Saints' Day. The celebrations and observances of this day occur primarily in regions of the Western world, albeit with some traditions varying significantly between geographical areas.

Asia

China

The Chinese celebrate the "Hungry Ghost Festival" in mid-July, when it is customary to float river lanterns to remember those who have died. By contrast, Halloween is often called "All Saints' Festival" (Wànshèngjié, 萬聖節), or (less commonly) "All Saints' Eve" (Wànshèngyè, 萬聖夜) or "Eve of All Saints' Day" (Wànshèngjié Qiányè, 萬聖節前夕), stemming from the term "All Hallows Eve" (hallow referring to the souls of holy saints). Chinese Christian churches hold religious celebrations. Non-religious celebrations are dominated by expatriate Americans or Canadians, but costume parties are also popular for Chinese young adults, especially in large cities. Hong Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park (Halloween Bash) host annual Halloween shows.

Mainland China has been less influenced by Anglo traditions than Hong Kong and Halloween is generally considered "foreign". As Halloween has become more popular globally it has also become more popular in China, however, particularly amongst children attending private or international schools with many foreign teachers from North America.[33]

Hong Kong

Traditional "door-to-door" trick or treating is not commonly practiced in Hong Kong due to the vast majority of Hong Kong residents living in high-rise apartment blocks. However, in many buildings catering to expatriates, Halloween parties and limited trick or treating is arranged by the management. Instances of street-level trick or treating in Hong Kong occur in ultra-exclusive gated housing communities such as The Beverly Hills populated by Hong Kong's super-rich and in expatriate areas like Discovery Bay and the Red Hill Peninsula. For the general public, there are events at Tsim Sha Tsui's Avenue of the Stars that try to mimic the celebration.[34] In the Lan Kwai Fong area of Hong Kong, known as a major entertainment district for the international community, a Halloween celebration and parade has taken place for over 20 years, with many people dressing in costume and making their way around the streets to various drinking establishments.[35] Many international schools also celebrate Halloween with costumes, and some put an academic twist on the celebrations such as the "Book-o-ween" celebrations at Hong Kong International School where students dress as favorite literary characters.

Japan

A Halloween display in a local bank window, in Saitama, Japan

Halloween arrived in Japan mainly as a result of American pop culture. As late as 2009, it was celebrated mainly by expats.[36] The wearing of elaborate costumes by young adults at night has since become popular in areas such as Amerikamura in Osaka and Shibuya in Tokyo, where, in October 2012, about 1700 people dressed in costumes to take part in the Halloween Festival.[37] Celebrations have become popular with young adults as a costume party and club event.[38] Trick-or-treating for Japanese children has taken hold in some areas. By the mid-2010s, Yakuza were giving snacks and sweets to children.[39] However in recent years authorities in Tokyo have tried to discourage street drinking on Halloween.[40]

Philippines

The period from 31 October through 2 November is a time for remembering dead family members and friends. Many Filipinos travel back to their hometowns for family gatherings of festive remembrance.[41]

Trick-or-treating is gradually replacing the dying tradition of Pangangaluluwâ, a local analogue of the old English custom of souling. People in the provinces still observe Pangangaluluwâ by going in groups to every house and offering a song in exchange for money or food. The participants, usually children, would sing carols about the souls in Purgatory, with the abúloy (alms for the dead) used to pay for Masses for these souls. Along with the requested alms, householders sometimes gave the children suman (rice cakes). During the night, various small items, such as clothing, plants, etc., would "mysteriously" disappear, only to be discovered the next morning in the yard or in the middle of the street. In older times, it was believed that the spirits of ancestors and loved ones visited the living on this night, manifesting their presence by taking an item.[42]

As the observation of Christmas traditions in the Philippines begins as early as September, it is a common sight to see Halloween decorations next to Christmas decorations in urban settings.[citation needed]

Saudi Arabia

Starting 2022, Saudi Arabia began to celebrate Halloween in the public in Riyadh under its Vision 2030.[43]

Singapore

Around mid-July Singapore Chinese celebrate "Zhong Yuan Jie / Yu Lan Jie" (Hungry Ghosts Festival), a time when it is believed that the spirits of the dead come back to visit their families.[44] In recent years, Halloween celebrations are becoming more popular, with influence from the west.[45] In 2012, there were over 19 major Halloween celebration events around Singapore.[46] SCAPE's Museum of Horrors held its fourth scare fest in 2014.[47] Universal Studios Singapore hosts "Halloween Horror Nights".[48]

South Korea

The popularity of the holiday among young people in South Korea comes from English academies and corporate marketing strategies, and was influenced by Halloween celebrations in Japan and America.[49] Despite not being a public holiday, it is celebrated in different areas around Seoul, especially Itaewon and Hongdae.[50]

Taiwan

Children dressed up in Halloween costume in Songshan District, Taipei, Taiwan

Traditionally, Taiwanese people celebrate "Zhong Yuan Pudu Festival", where spirits that do not have any surviving family members to pay respects to them, are able to roam the Earth during the seventh lunar month. It is known as Ghost Month.[51] While some have compared it to Halloween, it has no relations and the overall meaning is different. In recent years, mainly as a result of American pop culture, Halloween is becoming more widespread amongst young Taiwanese people. Halloween events are held in many areas across Taipei, such as Xinyi Special District and Shilin District where there are many international schools and expats.[52] Halloween parties are celebrated differently based on different age groups. One of the most popular Halloween event is the Tianmu Halloween Festival, which started in 2009 and is organised by the Taipei City Office of Commerce.[53] The 2-day annual festivity has attracted more than 240,000 visitors in 2019. During this festival, stores and businesses in Tianmu place pumpkin lanterns outside their stores to identify themselves as trick-or-treat destinations for children.[54]

Oceania

Australia

Halloween display in Sydney, Australia

Non-religious celebrations of Halloween modelled on North American festivities are growing increasingly popular in Australia despite not being traditionally part of the culture.[55] Some Australians criticise this intrusion into their culture.[56][57] Many dislike the commercialisation and American pop-culture influence.[57][58] Some supporters of the event place it alongside other cultural traditions such as Saint Patrick's Day.[59]

Halloween historian and author of Halloween: Pagan Festival to Trick or Treat, Mark Oxbrow says while Halloween may have been popularised by depictions of it in US movies and TV shows, it is not a new entry into Australian culture.[60] His research shows Halloween was first celebrated in Australia in Castlemaine, Victoria, in 1858, which was 43 years before Federation. His research shows Halloween traditions were brought to the country by Scottish miners who settled in Victoria during the Gold Rush.

Jack-o'-lantern in Adelaide, South Australia

Because of the polarised opinions about Halloween, growing numbers of people are decorating their letter boxes to indicate that children are welcome to come knocking. In the past decade, the popularity of Halloween in Australia has grown.[61] In 2020, the first magazine dedicated solely to celebrating Halloween in Australia was launched, called Hallozween,[62] and in 2021, sales of costumes, decorations and carving pumpkins soared to an all-time high[63] despite the effect of the global COVID-19 pandemic limiting celebrations.

New Zealand

Halloween first gained traction in New Zealand in the 1990s, and every year it is one of the first countries in the world to celebrate Halloween due to its proximity to the International Date Line.[64] Although Halloween is not celebrated to the same extent as in North America, it is still a significant event, mainly celebrated in urban areas.[64][65][66][67] Trick-or-treat has become increasingly popular with minors in New Zealand, despite being not a "British or Kiwi event" and the influence of American globalisation.[68] One criticism of Halloween in New Zealand is that it is overly commercialised—by The Warehouse, for example.[68]

Europe

A jack-o'-lantern in Finland

Over the years, Halloween has become more popular in Europe and has been partially ousting some older customs like the Rübengeistern [de] (English: turnip ghosts, beet spirit), Martinisingen, and others.[69]

France

Halloween was introduced to most of France in the 1990s.[70] In Brittany, Halloween had been celebrated for centuries and is known as Kalan Goañv (Night of Spirits). During this time, it is believed that the spirits of the dead return to the world of the living led by the Ankou, the collector of souls.[71]

Germany

"Don't drink and fly" Halloween decoration in Germany

Halloween was not generally observed in Germany prior to the 1990s, but has been increasing in popularity. It has been associated with the influence of United States culture, and "Trick or Treating" (German: Süßes sonst gibt's Saures) has been occurring in various German cities, especially in areas such as the Dahlem neighborhood in Berlin, which was part of the American zone during the Cold War. Today, Halloween in Germany brings in 200 million euros a year, through multiple industries.[72] Halloween is celebrated by both children and adults. Adults celebrate at themed costume parties and clubs, while children go trick or treating. Complaints of vandalism associated with Halloween "Tricks" are increasing, particularly from many elderly Germans unfamiliar with "Trick or Treating".[73]

Greece

In Greece, Halloween is not celebrated widely and it is a working day, with little public interest, since the early 2000s. Recently, it has somewhat increased in popularity as both a secular celebration; although Carnival is vastly more popular among Greeks. For very few, Halloween is [when?] considered the fourth most popular festival in the country after Christmas, Easter, and Carnival. Retail businesses, bars, nightclubs, and certain theme parks might organize Halloween parties. This boost in popularity has been attributed to the influence of western consumerism.

Since it is a working day, Halloween is not celebrated on 31 October unless the date falls on a weekend, in which case it is celebrated by some during the last weekend before All Hallow's Eve, usually in the form of themed house parties and retail business decorations. Trick-or-treating is not widely popular because similar activities are already undertaken during Carnival. The slight rise in popularity of Halloween in Greece has led to some increase in its popularity throughout nearby countries in the Balkans and Cyprus. In the latter, there has been an increase in Greek-Cypriot retailers selling Halloween merchandise every year.[74]

Ireland

On Halloween night, adults and children dress up as various monsters and creatures, light bonfires, and enjoy fireworks displays; Derry in Northern Ireland is home to the largest organized Halloween celebration on the island, in the form of a street carnival and fireworks display.[76]

Games are often played, such as bobbing for apples, in which apples, peanuts, other nuts and fruits, and some small coins are placed in a basin of water.[77] Everyone takes turns catching as many items possible using only their mouths. Another common game involves the hands-free eating of an apple hung on a string attached to the ceiling. Games of divination are also played at Halloween.[78] Colcannon is traditionally served on Halloween.[77]

31 October is the busiest day of the year for the Emergency Services.[79] Bangers and fireworks are illegal in the Republic of Ireland; however, they are commonly smuggled in from Northern Ireland where they are legal.[80] Bonfires are frequently built around Halloween.[81] Trick-or-treating is popular amongst children on 31 October and Halloween parties and events are commonplace.

October Holiday occurs on the last Monday of October and may fall on Halloween. Its Irish names are Lá Saoire i Mí Dheireadh Fómhair or Lá Saoire Oíche Shamhna, the latter translating literally as 'Halloween holiday'.

Italy

A carved pumpkin in Sardinia

In Italy, All Saints' Day is a public holiday. On 2 November, Tutti i Morti or All Souls' Day, families remember loved ones who have died. These are still the main holidays.[82] In some Italian tradition, children would awake on the morning of All Saints or All Souls to find small gifts from their deceased ancestors. In Sardinia, Concas de Mortu (Head of the deads), carved pumpkins that look like skulls, with candles inside are displayed.[83][84][85] Halloween is, however, gaining in popularity, and involves costume parties for young adults.[86] The traditions to carve pumpkins in a skull figure, lighting candles inside, or to beg for small gifts for the deads e.g. sweets or nuts, also belong to North Italy.[87] In Veneto these carved pumpkins were called lumère (lanterns) or suche dei morti (deads' pumpkins).[88]

Poland

Since the fall of Communism in 1989, Halloween has become increasingly popular in Poland. Particularly, it is celebrated among younger people. The influx of Western tourists and expats throughout the 1990s introduced the costume party aspect of Hallowe'en celebrations, particularly in clubs and at private house parties. Door-to-door trick or treating is not common. Pumpkin carving is becoming more evident, following a strong North American version of the tradition. Poland is the biggest pumpkin producer in the European Union.[89]

Romania

Romanians observe the Feast of St. Andrew, patron saint of Romania, on 30 November. On St. Andrew's Eve ghosts are said to be about. A number of customs related to divination, in other places connected to Halloween, are associated with this night.[90] However, with the popularity of Dracula and vampires in western Europe, around Halloween the Romanian tourist industry promotes trips to locations connected to the historical Vlad Tepeș and the more fanciful Dracula of Bram Stoker. One of the most successful Halloween Parties in Transylvania takes place in Sighișoara, the citadel where Vlad the Impaler was born. This party include magician shows, ballet show and The Ritual Killing of a Living Dead[91] The biggest Halloween party in Transylvania take place at Bran Castle, aka Dracula's Castle from Transylvania.[92]

Both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches in Romania discourage Halloween celebrations, advising their parishioners to focus rather on the "Day of the Dead" on 1 November, when special religious observances are held for the souls of the deceased.[93] Opposition by religious and nationalist groups, including calls to ban costumes and decorations in schools in 2015, have been met with criticism.[94][95][96] Halloween parties are popular in bars and nightclubs.[97]

Russia

In Russia, most Christians are Orthodox, and in the Orthodox Church, Halloween is on the Saturday after Pentecost, and therefore 4 to 5 months before western Halloween. Celebration of western Halloween began in the 1990s around the downfall of the Soviet regime, when costume and ghoulish parties spread in night clubs throughout Russia. Halloween is generally celebrated by younger generations and is not widely celebrated in civic society (e.g. theaters or libraries). In fact, Halloween is among the Western celebrations that the Russian government and politicians—which have grown increasingly anti-Western in the early 2010s—are trying to eliminate from public celebration.[98][99][100]

Spain

In Catalonia, celebrations involve eating castanyes (roasted chestnuts), panellets (special almond balls covered in pine nuts), moniatos (roast or baked sweet potato), Ossos de Sant cake and preserved fruit (candied or glazed fruit). Moscatell (Muscat) is drunk from porrons.[101] Around the time of this celebration, it was common before Climate Change for street vendors to sell hot toasted chestnuts wrapped in newspaper. In many places, confectioners often organised raffles of chestnuts and preserved fruit.

The tradition of eating these foods comes from the fact that during All Saints' night, on the eve of All Souls' Day in the Christian tradition, bell ringers would ring bells in commemoration of the dead into the early morning. Friends and relatives would help with this task, and everyone would eat these foods for sustenance and warming.[102]

Other versions of the story state that the Castanyada originates at the end of the 18th century and comes from the old funeral meals, where other foods, such as vegetables and dried fruit were not served. The meal had the symbolic significance of a communion with the souls of the departed: while the chestnuts were roasting, prayers would be said for the person who had just died.[103]

The festival is usually depicted with the figure of a castanyera: an old lady, dressed in peasant's clothing and wearing a headscarf, sitting behind a table, roasting chestnuts for street sale.

In recent years, the Castanyada has become a revetlla of All Saints and is celebrated in the home and community. It is the first of the four main school festivals, alongside Christmas, Carnestoltes and St George's Day, without reference to ritual or commemoration of the dead.[104]

Galicia is known to have the second largest Halloween or Samain festivals in Europe and during this time, a drink called Queimada is often served.[citation needed]

Sweden

On All Hallow's Eve, a Requiem Mass is widely attended every year at Uppsala Cathedral, part of the Lutheran Church of Sweden.[105]

Throughout the period of Allhallowtide, starting with All Hallow's Eve, Swedish families visit churchyards and adorn the graves of their family members with lit candles and wreaths fashioned from pine branches.[105]

Among children, the practice of dressing in costume and collecting candy gained popularity beginning around 2005.[106] The American traditions of Halloween have however been met with skepticism among the older generations, in part due to conflicting with the Swedish traditions on All Hallow's Eve and in part due to their commercialism.[107] In Sweden, All Saints' Day/ All Hallow's Eve is observed on the Saturday occurring between October 31 and November 6, whereas Halloween is observed on October 31, every year.

Switzerland

In Switzerland, Halloween, after first becoming popular in 1999, is on the wane, and is most popular with young adults who attend parties. Switzerland already has a "festival overload" and even though Swiss people like to dress up for any occasion, they do prefer a traditional element, such as in the Fasnacht tradition of chasing away winter using noise and masks.[108][109]

United Kingdom and Crown dependencies

England

See also: Mischief Night and Allantide

In the past, on All Souls' Eve families would stay up late, and little "soul cakes" were eaten. At the stroke of midnight, there was solemn silence among households, which had candles burning in every room to guide the souls back to visit their earthly homes and a glass of wine on the table to refresh them. The tradition of giving soul cakes that originated in Great Britain and Ireland was known as souling, often seen as the origin of modern trick or treating in North America, and souling continued in parts of England as late as the 1930s, with children going from door to door singing songs and saying prayers for the dead in return for cakes or money.[110]

Trick or treating and other Halloween celebrations are extremely popular, with shops decorated with witches and pumpkins, and young people attending costume parties.[111]

Scotland

The name Halloween is first attested in the 16th century as a Scottish shortening of the fuller All-Hallow-Even, that is, the night before All Hallows' Day.[112] Dumfries poet John Mayne's 1780 poem made note of pranks at Halloween "What fearfu' pranks ensue!". Scottish poet Robert Burns was influenced by Mayne's composition, and portrayed some of the customs in his poem Halloween (1785).[113] According to Burns, Halloween is "thought to be a night when witches, devils, and other mischief-making beings are all abroad on their baneful midnight errands".[114]

Among the earliest record of Guising at Halloween in Scotland is in 1895, where masqueraders in disguise carrying lanterns made out of scooped out turnips, visit homes to be rewarded with cakes, fruit and money.[115] If children approached the door of a house, they were given offerings of food. The children's practice of "guising", going from door to door in costumes for food or coins, is a traditional Halloween custom in Scotland.[3] These days children who knock on their neighbours doors have to sing a song or tell stories for a gift of sweets or money.[116]

A traditional Halloween game includes apple "dooking",[117] or "dunking" or (i.e., retrieving one from a bucket of water using only one's mouth), and attempting to eat, while blindfolded, a treacle/jam-coated scone hanging on a piece of string.

Traditional customs and lore include divination practices, ways of trying to predict the future. A traditional Scottish form of divining one's future spouse is to carve an apple in one long strip, then toss the peel over one's shoulder. The peel is believed to land in the shape of the first letter of the future spouse's name.[118]

In Kilmarnock, Halloween is also celebrated on the last Friday of October, and is known colloquially as "Killieween".[119]

Isle of Man

See also: Hop-tu-Naa

Halloween is a popular traditional occasion on the Isle of Man, where it is known as Hop-tu-Naa.

Elsewhere

Saint Helena

In Saint Helena, Halloween is actively celebrated much along the American model, featuring ghosts, devils, witches and the like. Imitation pumpkins are used instead of real ones, as the pumpkin harvesting season in Saint Helena's hemisphere is not near Halloween. Trick-or-treating is widespread, and party venues provide entertainment for adults." (wikipedia)

"Orange is the colour between yellow and red on the spectrum of visible light. The human eyes perceive orange when observing light with a dominant wavelength between roughly 585 and 620 nanometres. In traditional colour theory, it is a secondary colour of pigments, produced by mixing yellow and red. In the RGB colour model, it is a tertiary colour. It is named after the fruit of the same name.

Foods

Orange is a very common colour of fruits, vegetables, spices, and other foods in many different cultures. As a result, orange is the colour most often associated in western culture with taste and aroma.[35] Orange foods include peaches, apricots, mangoes, carrots, shrimp, salmon roe, and many other foods. Orange colour is provided by spices such as paprika, saffron and curry powder. In the United States, with Halloween on 31 October, and in North America with Thanksgiving in October (Canada) and November (US) orange is associated with the harvest colour, and also is the colour of the carved pumpkins, or jack-o-lanterns, used to celebrate the holiday." (wikipedia)

"Allhallowtide[a] is the Western Christian season[5] encompassing the triduum of All Hallows' Eve (Halloween), All Hallows' Day (All Saints' Day) and All Souls' Day,[6][7][8] as well as the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (observed on the first Sunday of November) and Remembrance Sunday (observed on the second Sunday in November) in some traditions.[9][10][11] The period begins on 31 October annually.[12] Allhallowtide is a "time to remember the dead, including martyrs, saints, and all faithful departed Christians."[13] The present date of Hallowmas (All Saints' Day) and thus also of its vigil (Hallowe'en) was established for Rome perhaps by Pope Gregory III (731–741) and was made of obligation throughout the Frankish Empire by Louis the Pious in 835.[14] Elsewhere, other dates were observed even later, with the date in Ireland being 20 April.[15] In the early 11th century, the modern date of All Souls' Day was popularized, after Abbot Odilo established it as a day for the monks of Cluny and associated monasteries to pray for the dead.[16]

The word autumn (/ˈɔːtəm/ ⓘ) is derived from Latin autumnus, archaic auctumnus, possibly from the ancient Etruscan root autu-, which had connotations of the passing of the year.[16] Alternative etymologies include Proto-Indo-European: *h₃ewǵ- ('cold') or *h₂sows- ('dry').[17]

After the Greek era,[clarification needed] the word continued to be used as the Old French word autompne (automne in modern French) or autumpne in Middle English,[18] and was later normalised to the original Latin. In the Medieval period, there are rare examples of its use as early as the 12th century, but by the 16th century, it was in common use.

Before the 16th century, harvest was the term usually used to refer to the season, as it is common in other West Germanic languages to this day (cf. Dutch herfst, German Herbst, and Scots hairst). However, as more people gradually moved from working the land to living in towns, the word harvest lost its reference to the time of year and came to refer only to the actual activity of reaping, and autumn, as well as fall, began to replace it as a reference to the season.[19][20]

The alternative word fall for the season traces its origins to old Germanic languages. The exact derivation is unclear, with the Old English fiæll or feallan and the Old Norse fall all being possible candidates. However, these words all have the meaning 'to fall from a height' and are clearly derived either from a common root or from each other. The term came to denote the season in 16th-century England, a contraction of Middle English expressions like "fall of the leaf" and "fall of the year". Compare the origin of spring from "spring of the leaf" and "spring of the year".[21]

During the 17th century, English settlers began emigrating to the new North American colonies, and took the English language with them. While the term fall gradually became nearly obsolete in Britain, it became the more common term in North America.[22]

The name backend, a once common name for the season in Northern England, has today been largely replaced by the name autumn.[23]

Associations

Harvest

Association with the transition from warm to cold weather, and its related status as the season of the primary harvest, has dominated its themes and popular images. In Western cultures, personifications of autumn are usually pretty, well-fed females adorned with fruits, vegetables and grains that ripen at this time. Many cultures feature autumnal harvest festivals, often the most important on their calendars.

Still-extant echoes of these celebrations are found in the autumn Thanksgiving holiday of the United States and Canada, and the Jewish Sukkot holiday with its roots as a full-moon harvest festival of "tabernacles" (living in outdoor huts around the time of harvest). There are also the many festivals celebrated by Indigenous peoples of the Americas tied to the harvest of ripe foods gathered in the wild, the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, and many others. The predominant mood of these autumnal celebrations is a gladness for the fruits of the earth mixed with a certain melancholy linked to the imminent arrival of harsh weather.

This view is presented in English poet John Keats's poem To Autumn, where he describes the season as a time of bounteous fecundity, a time of "mellow fruitfulness".

In North America, while most foods are harvested during the autumn, foods usually associated with the season include pumpkins (which are integral parts of both Thanksgiving and Halloween) and apples, which are used to make the seasonal beverage apple cider....

"Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia.[citation needed] It is also observed in the Australian territory of Norfolk Island. It began as a day of giving thanks for the blessings of the harvest and of the preceding year. Various similarly named harvest festival holidays occur throughout the world during autumn. Although Thanksgiving has historical roots in religious and cultural traditions, it has long been celebrated as a secular holiday as well.[citation needed]

In the United States

Main article: Thanksgiving (United States)

An annual thanksgiving holiday tradition in North American colonies is documented for the first time in 1619, in what is now called the Commonwealth of Virginia. Thirty-eight English settlers aboard the ship Margaret arrived by way of the James River at Berkeley Hundred in Charles City County, Virginia on December 4, 1619. The landing was immediately followed by a religious celebration, specifically dictated by the group's charter from the London Company. The charter declared, "that the day of our ships arrival at the place assigned for plantation in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God."[11][5] Since the mid 20th century, the original celebration has been commemorated there annually at present-day Berkeley Plantation, ancestral home of the Harrison family of Virginia.[12]

The more familiar but historically inaccurate explanation of the origins of the Thanksgiving holiday involves the Pilgrims and Puritans who emigrated from England in the 1620s and 1630s. They brought their previous tradition of days of humiliation and thanksgiving (both of which involved fasting) with them to New England. A multi-day festival in 1621 in Plymouth Colony was prompted by a good harvest, though it was not at the time described as a thanksgiving. The Wampanoag, who had a mutual defense treaty with the colonists, responded in alarm to sounds of ceremonial gunfire, and were welcomed to join the feast. Along with the last surviving Patuxet, the Wampanoag had helped them get through the previous winter by giving them food in that time of scarcity, in exchange for an alliance and protection against the rival Narragansett tribe.[13]

Several celebrations were held in early New England history that have been identified as the "First Thanksgiving", including Pilgrim festivals in Plymouth in 1621 and 1623, and a Puritan holiday in Boston in 1631.[14][15] Now called 3 Oktoberfeest, Leiden's autumn thanksgiving celebration in 1617 was the occasion for sectarian disturbance that appears to have accelerated the Pilgrims' plans to emigrate to America.[16] The 1621 Plymouth celebration was largely forgotten for hundreds of years and did not contribute to the development of the American holiday. It was retroactively termed "the first Thanksgiving" in a footnote added to an 1841 book by Alexander Young, and the Pilgrim story was then later incorporated into celebrations of the holiday.[17]

Later in New England, religious thanksgiving services were declared by civil leaders such as Governor Bradford, who planned the Plymouth colony's thanksgiving celebration and feast in 1623.[18][19][20] The practice of holding an annual harvest festival did not become a regular affair in New England until the late 1660s.[21]

Thanksgiving proclamations were made mostly by church leaders in New England up until 1682, and then by both state and church leaders until after the American Revolution. During the revolutionary period, political influences affected the issuance of Thanksgiving proclamations. Various proclamations were made by royal governors, and conversely by patriot leaders, such as John Hancock, General George Washington, and the Continental Congress,[22] each giving thanks to God for events favorable to their causes.[23] As the first President of the United States, George Washington proclaimed the first nationwide thanksgiving celebration in America marking November 26, 1789 as, "a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God",[24] and calling on Americans to "unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions."...

"Thanksgiving is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November (which became the uniform date country-wide in 1941). The earliest Thanksgiving can occur is November 22; the latest is November 28.[2][3] Outside the United States, it is called American Thanksgiving to distinguish it from the Canadian holiday of the same name and related celebrations in other regions. As the name implies, the holiday generally revolves around giving thanks and the centerpiece of most celebrations is a Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends.[4][5]

Many European designers moved to the United States during the 1930s and 1940s, including Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, and Eliel Saarinen. These designers played a large role in shaping American mid-century modern interior design. They believed that well-designed environments could have a positive influence on behavior and quality of life. Their contributions helped move interior design away from decorative traditions and to a more intentional approach.[7]

The 1954 "Design in Scandinavia" exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum helped bring Scandinavian modern design to the U.S. Around that time, it started to mix with mid-century modern, a style that became popular in the 1950s. Mid-century modern was America’s way of moving away from older, fancy styles and was part of a bigger modern design movement.[8] Contemporary furniture retailers, such as Modern Miami Furniture, have continued to promote mid-century modern and modern designs, offering a variety of mid-century inspired products online and in showrooms.[9]

Thomas Hines talks about how after World War II, American companies started making products that looked sleek and futuristic, inspired by space and military technology. These modern designs became a sign that the country was entering a new chapter. Promoting this style wasn’t just about the updated look, but it was also a way to encourage consumers to buy to help the economy grow.[7][10]

The city of Palm Springs, California is noted for its many examples of mid-century modern architecture." (wikipedia)