This week’s analysis topic is Halloween. Halloween is “short for All Hallow Even (All Saints' Eve): October 31 observed especially with dressing up in disguise, trick-or-treating, and displaying jack-o'-lanterns during the evening” (Merriam-Webster, 2008, p. 1). Halloween entered into the United States around the middle of the 1800’s. The popularity of Halloween did not surface until the early 1900’s. The adults embraced this by having dance parties; the children were not involved with this celebration yet. It did not take long for the children to become involved and mischievous.
Halloween is currently a multi-billion dollar industry. Halloween is the “second-biggest decorating holiday of the year” (National Retail Federation, 2006, para. 4). In today’s society Halloween has increased in popularity each year. There are several contributors to the success of Halloween: horror movies, scary television shows (ex. X-Files, Supernatural, and Monster Quest), costume parties, corn mazes, spooky hay rides, haunted houses (real and fake), and of course Halloween candy.
The unfortunate thing during Halloween is the urban legends and myths about the tampering of Halloween candy. Every year you hear about the razor blade in the candy apple, puncture holes on the candy wrappers, and the newest candy flavored meth; “looks and smells like strawberry Pop Rocks candy and comes in other flavors such as chocolate, peanut butter, and cola” (Emery, 2007, p. 1). These are all exaggerated or un-true and their main purpose is to incite fear and panic among parents.
Halloween is one of my favorite holiday seasons. This time of the year is always exciting football season has started, the weather is still pretty comfortable out, the smell of fall is in the air, and the leaves are changing color and falling. At night with the full moon, leaves rustling around, and the Halloween decorations out; this gives the best illusion for October being creepy and scary.
References
As Halloween Shifts to Seasonal Celebration, Retailers Not Spooked by Surge in Spending. (2006, September 20). National Retail Federation News Release: The Voice of Retail Worldwide. Retrieved October 28, 2008, from
http://www.nrf.com/content/?folder=press/release2006&file=halloween06.htm
Emery, D. (2007, October). Halloween Warning: Candy-Flavored Meth. About.com. Retrieved October 31, 2008, from
http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/medical/a/halloween_meth.htm
Halloween. (2008). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved October 28, 2008, from
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Halloween
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1 comment:
Nice job! I too enjoy Halloween. It gives people a chance to dress up (however crazy they feel) and get away with it without being made fun of. I like how you also talked about the tampering of candy. This is still a serious issue and I know many people that take their child's candy to someplace to have it x-rayed. About 10 years ago, my sister and I were trick or treating. We had gotten back and my parents began checking our candy. A piece of my sisters candy had a slight slit in the package and the candy had some kind of white dust. My parents were so disturbed they threw both of our bags of candy out. This isn't something parents and kids should have to deal with!
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