Trick-or-treaters can thank ancient harvest customs for annual ritual

"Why do we celebrate Halloween? Why do we have holidays?," asked Jose Diaz, 10, a fifth-grader at Mundelein's West Oak Middle School.

Halloween is a carnival of color and candy, the very best of everything for kids. There's suspense as kids dress like monsters, sports figures, celebrities and other characters and race to door to door in search of candy. Celebrated on Oct. 31, Halloween is the day kids rule. Today's party atmosphere has no real meaning, but a long, long time ago, Halloween was a religious event and even before that a harvest feast.

When Penny Chiakulas was a young girl in the 1920s, Halloween was celebrated in pretty much the same way it is now. Chiakulas, who now resides in Arlington Heights, used to dress up in a costume at Halloween, knock on the neighbors' doors in her Indiana hometown, and exchange the words "trick or treat" for a piece of candy.

The only thing different then, she said, was that people were too poor to buy costumes. "Everything was low key. We had a Halloween party at school; we'd get dressed up. It was nothing fancy," she said. Costumes were likely to be an oversized dress from mom or one of dad's old work shirts. Sometimes kids would find a mask that covered their eyes.

Since the time Chiakulas was a girl, Halloween has become more lavish, with fancier and more detailed costumes and even more candy.

We have to go way back to see how Halloween got started. People from ancient times recognized the autumn harvest as a time to celebrate. In what is now Ireland, the festival of Samhain, observed in late fall, was a time to prevent evil spirits from damaging the crops. Bonfires lit up the night skies. People played games like bobbing for apples.

As time went on, people changed their beliefs, but some of the traditions remained the same. Christianity brought the holy days All Saints' and All Souls' which fell at about the same time as Samhain - Nov. 1 and 2. The desire to keep away evil sprits remained, so people dressed in costumes to trick imaginary ghosts and goblins. Treats were given to those who promised to pray for the dead. The evening before All Saints' Day was called All Hallows' Even. Over time, the phrase was combined to make the word Halloween.

Many holidays and traditions were brought to the U.S. with our ancestors.

Typically, holidays are days that people don't have to go to work or school. Some holidays are religious, like Christmas, Rosh Hashana, Ramadan and Dewali. Some are patriotic, like Independence Day and Veterans Day. Some recognize important people, like Dr. Martin Luther King and President Abraham Lincoln. Some recognize workers - Labor Day - and those who died in the military - Memorial Day. There are feasts, festivals and parades from other lands, like Halloween, St. Patrick's Day and Chinese New Year. And while not exactly a holiday, there's another day when sweets are exchanged, this time by sweethearts on St. Valentine's Day.

Check these out

• The Vernon Area Library suggests these titles on Halloween and holidays:

• "Halloween Is," by Gail Gibbons

• "Celebrate Halloween," by Wendy Mass

• "Celebrate!: Holidays Around the World," by Laurie Rozakis

• "The Holiday Handbook," by Carol Barkin

• "The World of Holidays," by Paula Wallace

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