Costumes For Halloween
A Halloween costume for each and every member of the family, even child, is commonplace today, however , it was not always so. Here we look at the history of Halloween outfits, when and why did they begin and what are the origins of this somewhat strange tradition that is celebrated on October the 31st in many western societies.
Although disputed by several historians the wearing of Halloween costumes could have Celtic origins when young men, within Scotland, wore costumes and masks so as to look like the lifeless. In truth the lines between pagan ceremonies, Christian holidays and a sort of superior form of begging have become confused.
Halloween was closely linked to All Saints Day and All Souls time usually held on the 1st and 2nd associated with November respectively. In the 18th one hundred year, like many other social events at that time in the United Kingdom, Halloween night was celebrated by town dwellers with a lot of revelry that included heavy consuming, dancing and most other activities of the bawdy nature. The wearing of outfits, during this period does not seem to have been common exercise.
Victorian morality resulted in the greater debauched elements of Halloween being toned straight down and gradually it became a festival dominated simply by children.
By the late 19th century the practice of 'guising' on Halloween was well recorded, again in Wales. Guising is a corruption of disguising. Children would go from door to door, wearing a disguise or costume, with lanterns, made from turnips, demanding goodies of food or money. Emigration for the new world led to the tradition associated with guising cropping up in North America in 1911.
The dawning from the 20th century saw the use of homemade costumes that harked back to earlier times with children dressed up as pagan as well as gothic characters. It was not until the 1930's in the Unites States that Halloween became commercialised with firms manufacturing costumes for that mass market. It was around this time that trick-or-treating shot to popularity.
Although there are already signs recently that the economic downturn has resulted in a reduction in expenditure on Halloween costumes the overall trend during the last one hundred years has for that practice to become more widespread. Outfits, masks, make up and all another paraphernalia can now be bought via postal mail order, the internet and also the traditional bricks and mortar retail outlet.
Although the early emphasise has been on pagan gods, witches and other great beings, today's costumes reflect every factor of the 21st century. You will find outfits based on characters from the videos, TV, politics, sport and just about every occupation known to humanity. Trick-or-treating continues but the Halloween party picture has become very popular. This gives everybody an excuse to dress up and while youngsters are part of this the inventory of virtually any costume retailer demonstrates that adults have taken in order to Halloween parties with a vengeance.
