Halloween Timeline

Halloween Timeline

• 1,000-100 B.C.: The Celts celebrate Samhain on November 1st, painting faces on gourds and their own faces to scare away spirits

• 600 A.D.: In an effort to stop the pagan celebrations, Pope Boniface IV designates November 1st All Saints' Day

• 800 A.D.: Pope Gregory III declares that villagers may dress in costume as saints, and young men must go door to door to beg for food for the poor

• 1500s: Samhain and All Saints' Day become All Hallows' Day, the night before, All Hallows' Evening, Hallow Evening, or Hallowe'en

• 1600s: Considering them Catholic holidays, New England Puritans ban Halloween, Christmas and Easter

• 1840s: The Irish Potato Famine brings Irish Catholics to America, along with their Halloween traditions. Due to the abundance of pumpkins, they carve them into jack o'lanterns instead of turnips

• 1860s: Members of the Catholic and Episcopalian churches campaign to officially sanction Halloween

• 1870: Halloween becomes a popular holiday, along with the idea of "tricking", an excuse to cause mischief

• 1912: The Dennison Manufacturing Co. of Framingham, Massachusetts publishes Halloween "Bogie" books that include party and decoration ideas and Halloween costume patterns

• 1918: Most Halloween celebrations are canceled due to the Spanish Flu Pandemic

• 1921: Anoka, Minnesota becomes the first American city to officially sanction a citywide Halloween celebration

• 1923: New York begins citywide Halloween celebrations

• 1924: Anaheim, California holds its first Halloween parade

• 1925: Los Angeles begins citywide Halloween celebrations

• Present: Halloween is a 2.5 billion dollar industry

Halloween Timeline Additional Resources

• Halloween.com: Halloween History
• HalloweenIsHere.com: Halloween History Customs Origins and Facts
• Halloween: History and Traditions of the Holiday