Well here we go once again heading into the holiday season. All aboard everyone, our first stop will be Halloween. This colorful, festive and ghoulish day is celebrated by children and adults alike making it one of the biggest holidays for gatherings and parties.
And to make your parties extra special, we have just what you need to share with your little princess or pirate’s classmates, the monster’s and zombies at your office, and the rest of your frightening friends.
Cookies, cakes, cake pops, cupcakes and more! Pumpkin is one of our favorite fall flavors as well as Pumpkin with Maple Cream Cheese, Pumpkin Smores, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip and Pumpkin Latte cupcakes!
So get creative with not only your costume, but with the refreshments too. We are accepting Halloween orders. Call us at (513) 984-1100
Enjoy these fun facts about Halloween from Conversation Starters:
1. What is the name of the Celtic harvest festival that many people believe Halloween is based on?
Samhain (Pronounced SAH-win or SOW-in)
There is some debate as to how many Samhain traditions made their way into the Christian holiday of Halloween. This is because the Celtic people had an oral rather than written tradition and so much about the life of druids and the traditions of the Celtic people has been lost.
Halloween is the eve of All Saints Day and we do know that All Saints Day was moved from May 13th to coincide with Samhain, which was held around October 31st to November 1st. By moving the Christian holiday to the date of a pagan festival converted pagans could keep celebrating their traditional holidays while still being Christians. So it wouldn’t be surprising if newly converted pagans incorporated their old traditions into the Christian holiday.
2. What is a hallow?
A saint or a holy person
Hallow when used as an adjective means holy and as a noun it means someone who is holy. You can see why All Saint’s Eve is also known as All Hallow’s Eve.
3. In what year will the next full moon occur during Halloween?
2020
The last Halloween that had a full moon was in 2001 and the next full moon on Halloween after 2020 won’t occur until 2039.
4. What item is banned only during Halloween from 12am October 31st to 12pm November 1st in Hollywood California?
Silly string
5. What popular fall festival activity did the Romans bring to Britain when they invaded?
Bobbing for apples (a.k.a apple ducking, duck apple, dooking)
Another variation was also played where apples were hung from strings and contestants would have to try and bite into them.
6. The word Halloween is a contraction of what Christian holiday?
All Hallow’s Evening (All Hallows’ Even), a.k.a All Hallows’ Eve, All Saint’s Eve, Allhalloween
In Scots “eve” is “even”. The “v” was eventually dropped, as well as the “all” and the “s” in Hallow’s.
So All Hallow’s Even became Halloween. Halloween is the day before All Hallow’s Day (also known as All Saints Day) and is the first day of Allhallowtide which is a three-day celebration for Christian Saints.
7. In the correct spelling of the Halloween, where is the apostrophe placed?
Between the two e’s (Hallowe’en)
The apostrophe shows where the “v” was dropped from (All) Hallow(‘s) E(v)en = Hallowe’en. “Even” in Scots means “Evening”.
8. In what two countries was “guising”, the tradition of dressing up in costumes, and going door for food or coins for Halloween most popular?
Scotland and Ireland
Guising during Hallowmas, the Christian holiday that Halloween kicks off, has been going at least since the 16th century in Scotland. Guising along with souling are thought by many to be the origins of modern day trick-or-treating.
9. When people go house to house while “souling”, what do they ask for?
Soul-cakes
Souling goes back at least to the 15th century and involves people going from house to house singing for soul-cakes during Halloween. Soul-cakes are small round cakes that are baked to commemorate the dead. Even though souling didn’t involve dressing up in costumes (like guising) you can see why many people think it had a strong influence on the trick-or-treating that we do today.
10. In what country was the first written account of children using the phrase “trick or treat” on Halloween?
Canada
Here is the line from the newspaper:
The youthful tormentors were at back door and front demanding edible plunder by the word “trick or treat” to which the inmates gladly responded and sent the robbers away rejoicing.
“‘Trick or Treat’ Is Demand,” Herald (Lethbridge, Alberta), November 4, 1927, p. 5, dateline Blackie, Alberta, Nov. 3.
11. In what decade did trick-or-treating as we know it today start gaining popularity in America?
The 1930s
While there were mentions of souling and guising in the USA earlier than the 1930s it wasn’t until the mid to late 1930s that we started to see the phrase trick-or-treat being used in print in the USA.
12. How many children have been seriously injured or killed from poisoned candy given to them by strangers during Halloween?
Zero
There have been a few cases of family members tampering with candy and blaming it on strangers. There have also been numerous false alarms where an illness was thought to be caused from Halloween candy but later was discovered to be something else entirely. Also there have been a tiny number of instances of sharp objects put into candy by strangers. But luckily no one has ever been seriously hurt by one of those objects.