When we think of Halloween traditions, we think of trick-or-treating, carving jack-o-lanterns and going to haunted houses. But the most common tradition of the holiday is of course, the wearing of the costumes!
Did you know that Halloween is one of the oldest holidays and that dressing in costumes for this day dates back thousands of years? The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago celebrated their New Year on November 1st. They believed that on the night before the New Year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. Celtic priests built huge sacred bonfires where people gathered to burn crops as sacrifices to the Celtic Gods. During the celebration they wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins.
Later in history, the Catholic Church wanted to do away with pagan beliefs and tried to turn Halloween into a festival for the saints. They called it “All Souls Day” and the night before was called “All Hallows Eve.” In the 1800′s, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go door-to-door asking for food or money. By the 1920’s Halloween had become completely neighborhood-friendly!
Back then the popular costumes were the mummy, dracula and the jazz inspired flapper. Then in the 1950s the holiday began to focus on the young due to the baby boom of the time. Trick-or-treating was an inexpensive way for an entire community to share in the Halloween celebration. Costumes changed to a more wholesome look with Superman, Batman, ballerinas and Barbie’s. A new American tradition was born and it has continued to grow into the billion dollar holiday it is today!
So you see, the idea of Halloween and the tradition of wearing costumes, whether it be animal skins or a superman cape is a tradition that we will carry on to our children, and they to their children, and so on and so on and so on.
Happy Halloween!
Children love Halloween! They love to dress up in costumes, go to school parties and eat a lot of candy. But the best part of Halloween for children is the trick-or-treating. 
The Labor Day weekend is unofficially known as “the end of summer”. There are parties, family get-togethers, parades, fireworks and lots of Labor Day weekend sales! 
It’s that time of year again when all the kids are getting ready to head back to school. Time for visiting school open houses and stocking up on school supplies. I always love the back to school commercials; my favorite being the dad riding the cart through the store with the Christmas song “It’s the most wonderful time of the year”, playing in the background. It always makes me laugh!