Holiday Antiques

Halloween History

Halloween has its origins in two ancient celebrations, the Christian holy day of All Saints and the Celtic festival of Samhain. Celebrated on October 31, Halloween is today largely a secular holiday. Fleeing the great potato famine of 1846, Irish immigrants brought versions of the traditional celebration with them to America. Here they took root and grew into an American tradition that is still active and growing today.

The symbols of Halloween are jack-o-lanterns, witches, skeletons black cats, bonfires, ghosts and costume parties. These harvest season symbols derive from the Celtic belief that October 31 was the end of the old year and the beginning of the new; a time when the boundary separating the dead from the living was thinnest. In Celtic lore this was the most dangerous time of year because the dead could cross the separating boundary and create grievous mischief and potential harm.

Our modern day celebrations of Halloween and the collectibles and costumes that commemorate it derive from the symbols that previous cultures associated with the holiday. The associations with the dead, evil and horror clearly derive from the Celtic traditions and beliefs and fear associated with the Sabbat of Samhain. This is likewise the case for bonfires, ghosts, witches, and their associated black cats and skeletons which the Celts placed upon their windowsills.

Spectacular collections of Halloween collectibles can be assembled and displayed. Consisting of paper lanterns, bobble-heads, pressed cardboard flats, candy containers, masks, noisemakers, plastic figures, and other fascinating forms they are easily displayed in a small space and are very colorful. Notable collections abound and there several really excellent books available.