How did Halloween get to be so popular worldwide?

[Corsair 115]

I blame ET

What did Entertainment Tonight do?!?

 

[Ron Swanson]

Sadly, for at least some, such costumes are considered horribly sexist. Or something. (And don't even ask about cultural appropriation and Halloween costumes!).

What culture exactly is being misappropriated when sexy girls dress up as Mutant Teen Age Ninja Turtles?

I can post pics .. and YES that is her butt showing under that tiny skirt! :0)

 

[arthwollipot]

Economics is a harsh mistress.

It is indeed. My point was that the only reason they're manufactured in China is that America wants them, and China is the cheapest place to manufacture them. If America was somehow out of the picture, China wouldn't do Halloween.

Halloween comes from America. America exports it to other places via its pop culture. And the economics of cheap goods.

 

[Foolmewunz]

It is indeed. My point was that the only reason they're manufactured in China is that America wants them, and China is the cheapest place to manufacture them. If America was somehow out of the picture, China wouldn't do Halloween.

Halloween comes from America. America exports it to other places via its pop culture. And the economics of cheap goods.

You're stringing somewhat factual points together but reaching the wrong conclusions. America could ban Halloween tomorrow and you're not going to take it away from the countries who see it as a sort of Carnivale/Mardi Gras. You ever tried to take the costumes away from a bunch of cosplayers in Osaka on their big night of the year? The US no longer owns it. The trick-or-treat thing? Yes... that's largely America. But the Halloween industry is all about adult parties, parades, cosplay, costumes,....

 

[arthwollipot]

You're stringing somewhat factual points together but reaching the wrong conclusions. America could ban Halloween tomorrow and you're not going to take it away from the countries who see it as a sort of Carnivale/Mardi Gras. You ever tried to take the costumes away from a bunch of cosplayers in Osaka on their big night of the year? The US no longer owns it. The trick-or-treat thing? Yes... that's largely America. But the Halloween industry is all about adult parties, parades, cosplay, costumes,....

The US no longer owns it, right. But it still came from America, which was my point.

 

[Foolmewunz]

The US no longer owns it, right. But it still came from America, which was my point.

At some time, yes. But the Americans got it from Scotland, or to be more accurate, from the Scots via England, in the oldest tradition. There are accounts that Americans were going by the more traditional celebrations and that the "trick-or-treat" routine was actually also an import.... from the self-same Sots, but this time Scots-Irish.... and a couple of hundred years later. They had developed the "trick" portion, meaning "do us a little performance" in the 19th century. At the time Washington Irving penned The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, there was no kids-in-costumes-going-door-to-door involved.

Ergo, America really can't claim sole ownership of the "kids in costumes" bit. It morphed into Kids Show Fare in the US, but it came from elsewhere.

 

[bluesjnr]

At some time, yes. But the Americans got it from Scotland, or to be more accurate, from the Scots via England, in the oldest tradition. There are accounts that Americans were going by the more traditional celebrations and that the "trick-or-treat" routine was actually also an import.... from the self-same Sots, but this time Scots-Irish.... and a couple of hundred years later. They had developed the "trick" portion, meaning "do us a little performance" in the 19th century. At the time Washington Irving penned The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, there was no kids-in-costumes-going-door-to-door involved.

Ergo, America really can't claim sole ownership of the "kids in costumes" bit. It morphed into Kids Show Fare in the US, but it came from elsewhere.

I don't understand the "Scots via England" bit?

 

[arthwollipot]

At some time, yes. But the Americans got it from Scotland, or to be more accurate, from the Scots via England, in the oldest tradition. There are accounts that Americans were going by the more traditional celebrations and that the "trick-or-treat" routine was actually also an import.... from the self-same Sots, but this time Scots-Irish.... and a couple of hundred years later. They had developed the "trick" portion, meaning "do us a little performance" in the 19th century. At the time Washington Irving penned The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, there was no kids-in-costumes-going-door-to-door involved.

Ergo, America really can't claim sole ownership of the "kids in costumes" bit. It morphed into Kids Show Fare in the US, but it came from elsewhere.

*sigh*

I can see that you're insisting on being pedantic about this.

Doom was not the first first-person shooter. But it's the earliest one anyone cares about (except perhaps for Wolfenstein but shut up). No-one cares about what Halloween was before it was American. America made it popular, and the thing that people think about when they think about Halloween is the American Halloween.

Today, peoples' recognition of Halloween is almost entirely about the American Halloween. I for one didn't even know about the Scottish connection. I expected that it would have some vaguely European origin, but as far as I - and I take myself as being representative of most people here - am concerned, Halloween is as American as Thanksgiving.

 

[Trebuchet]

Just because I enjoy it:

 

[Foolmewunz]

I don't understand the "Scots via England" bit?

Just a comment on the route of Scots' immigration to the US. There were very few Scottish settlements, unless of course, one remembers that England, per se, was reigned over by a couple of notable Scottish kings at the time of colonization. The Scots, themselves were a very low percentage of the first colonists, but having a Scot on the throne, we have the Charles River, Charlestown MA, Charleston, SC and Jamestown, VA all named after them.

But there were no notable Scottish settlements.... they came as part of the economic adventures of the colonial period, with not a few coming as indentured servants as a result of the English Civil War/War of the Three Kingdoms.

So not a comment on whether and how much "Halloween" was practiced in England - I have no knowledge of that. I was just fascinated a while back with the fact that the "Ulster Scots" were a large part of the Irish emigration to the US and Canada. [My first wife was a MacAdam from Nova Scotia.]

 

[Foolmewunz]

*sigh*

I can see that you're insisting on being pedantic about this.

Doom was not the first first-person shooter. But it's the earliest one anyone cares about (except perhaps for Wolfenstein but shut up). No-one cares about what Halloween was before it was American. America made it popular, and the thing that people think about when they think about Halloween is the American Halloween.

Today, peoples' recognition of Halloween is almost entirely about the American Halloween. I for one didn't even know about the Scottish connection. I expected that it would have some vaguely European origin, but as far as I - and I take myself as being representative of most people here - am concerned, Halloween is as American as Thanksgiving.

I'm not arguing that it's not "considered" American. Some people like to know the actual history, though.

Or are you happy being from a country full of the progeny of a bunch of convicts, who all carry seven inch hunting knives to fight off crocodiles before they put another shrimp on the barbie?

But your conclusion is wrong. America could go Puritan and ban Halloween and it would not effect that it's now a big party holiday excuse in much of the world. The fact that forty thousand factory workers make their May/June bonuses because of sourcing patterns would not impact the big parties in Shanghai and Beijing that happen every year. It's now an excuse to party in many areas.

 

[gypsyjackson]

lol, it actually goes together pretty well, imo. I actually prefer carrot to pumpkin generally, but when I make this soup I blend it into a thick broth. It's weird, because you can't really single out the taste of either vegetable, they just tend to blend together into a really delicious soup. I love adding a touch of spinach to mine, but I've been told it's not needed.

I first made it because we had a few cooking-pumpkins left over, I'd never eaten much pumpkin before but now I do that soup every year and I love it.

When making pumpkin and carrot soup, remember to use very freshly cut pumpkin. If it has gone even a little bit brown (or has been frozen due to pumpkins being too big for two people to share at once), then you end up with soup that tastes nice, but looks like diarrhoea.

[/marthastewart]

 

[arthwollipot]

But your conclusion is wrong. America could go Puritan and ban Halloween and it would not effect that it's now a big party holiday excuse in much of the world. The fact that forty thousand factory workers make their May/June bonuses because of sourcing patterns would not impact the big parties in Shanghai and Beijing that happen every year. It's now an excuse to party in many areas.

I'm pretty sure that if America suddenly vanished and took all of its pop culture with it, Halloween as we know it would definitely die out. America created it okay America didn't create it but America created it, and American pop culture sustains it. Without America, there wouldn't be the Halloween that we see today. You might see it in some form, but in no way would it be sustained the way it is today. I am absolutely convinced of that.

 

[ComfySlippers]

I'm pretty sure that if America suddenly vanished and took all of its pop culture with it, Halloween as we know it would definitely die out. America created it okay America didn't create it but America created it, and American pop culture sustains it. Without America, there wouldn't be the Halloween that we see today. You might see it in some form, but in no way would it be sustained the way it is today. I am absolutely convinced of that.

Have you been using that smelly paint again?

 

[arthwollipot]

Have you been using that smelly paint again?

The one that makes me think that it might be possible for America and all its works to just vanish like that? I've been painting my shed a nice shade of hypothetical. Do you like it?

 

[ComfySlippers]

The one that makes me think that it might be possible for America and all its works to just vanish like that? I've been painting my shed a nice shade of hypothetical. Do you like it?

I was concerned. You seemed to lose it a bit there.
All seems well though. At ease.

I can now return to wondering why two sailors met at sea to discuss Halloween costumes in June.

 

[Foolmewunz]

The one that makes me think that it might be possible for America and all its works to just vanish like that? I've been painting my shed a nice shade of hypothetical. Do you like it?

Yeah, like what if the aboriginals in Tasmania had the Sopwith Camel. Things'd sure be different, eh?

There is an America. If it ceases to exist right now, do you lose jazz, the blues, rock and roll? Or do all the achievements get to stand? If so, then Halloween will continue on its merry way. It's a secular holiday now, and just as it was dying down in the 18th and 19th centuries only to be revived by the Americans in a new form, it'd likely continue as Harrow Ween in Japan and everybody just loves hip, trendy, Japanese stuff so would happily purloin it rather being victims to the eeeeeevil American Imperialism.

 

[JPK]

Good morning. As an American I can say that America is doing a fine job of making Halloween disappear. At least in the traditional sense that I grew up in, walking door to door dressed up in some costume and getting treats. There are far less kids being allowed to do this thanks to the culture of fear, irrational "stranger danger" and over protective parents who raise veal not young people. Many townships impose all kinds of restrictions on it as well. Sometimes changing the official date to be more appropriate and setting time limits on when you are allowed to "Trick or Treat" Some don't allow for it at all and substitute a parade instead. The last thing me and my friends wanted was our parents to be involved in Halloween. It's bad enough I had to hide my M&M's from them so they wouldn't steal them. I would trade peanut butter cups to my older sister for driving us to some of the more well known "prime treat giver locations".
Having worked on many a haunted house over the years, I really enjoy a nice scary Halloween. It's become much harder to find.

 

[alfaniner]

When making pumpkin and carrot soup, remember to use very freshly cut pumpkin. If it has gone even a little bit brown (or has been frozen due to pumpkins being too big for two people to share at once), then you end up with soup that tastes nice, but looks like diarrhoea.

[/marthastewart]

Isn't pumpkin pie filling from a can always like that? I seem to remember hearing that canned pumpkin is nutritionally better than fresh.

 

[elgarak]

Pumpkins are food. They're delicious. There's no reason we can't play with our food, though. How would we have gotten through Close Encounters of the Third Kind without the mashed-potato-mountain? The great chefs all have someone on staff to carve radishes and tomatoes and watermelons and whatevers.

Yeah, no, I disagree with you on this one.

Yuck!

Even the ones that are meant for eating, not carving.