The American History of Halloween really begins with the arrival of the colonists and their traditions they brought…BUT the main ingredient was already here waiting and had a long history already….
Did Colonials celebrate Halloween
First the bad news. Colonial Americans didn’t really celebrate Halloween. They didn’t have jack-o-lanterns or trick or treating or candy… well at least not as we know it all today.
What they DID have were pumpkins and a LOT of them!
Colonial Pumpkins
You can’t tell the story of American History of Halloween without the star…PUMPKINS!!!
Back then pumpkins came in all kinds of variety. They were big and small, bumpity and smooth, just about every shape and color you can think of. Because back then pumpkins, much like the pumpkin spice phenomenon today, were a THING! WAY more of a thing then they are today really…but pumpkins weren’t used in colonial days to decorate the front steps.
They were food… and if we’re being totally honest, our colonial fore fathers would be pretty weirded out at our fall decoration displays which they would probably be seen as a waste of perfectly good food.
Pumpkins older than The Colonies
Pumpkins are one of America’s oldest crops. They were found all over North and South America and have been found at archaeological sites in what is now our American southwest region dating back six thousand years!
Apparently seeds were what they liked best back then and I can’t really argue. I myself am a big fan of roasting our pumpkin seeds although I must admit, I didn’t know that tradition went back so far in time! In This Family, we do it every year.
The kids carve the pumpkins and separate the seeds from the goo. I dry the seeds, sprinkle them with oil and salt and roast them up! They are SO GOOD! (And SO simple that even I cannot screw them up). Josh supervises and Bailey pants and squeaks with anticipation that he might get some of his absolute favorite food, pumpkin.
READ and GET RECIPES for PUMPKIN EVERYTHING
Pumkin Carving
American History of Halloween has to include this! That is indeed an old American tradition. It’s a borrowed tradition from our Irish brethren who carved out radishes and other items to make lanterns. In America, the pumpkins were so plentiful and bigger than a radish so, well, it only made sense to upgrade. Plus, another excuse to get to those seeds!
READ THE LEGEND OF THE JACK O LANTERN HERE
The celebration of Halloween more of how we know it today really started with the large numbers of immigrants from Ireland and Scotland in the mid-1800s. In 1866, “Harper’s Young People” (a children’s magazine) reported “a great sacrifice of pumpkins”was made that for that year’s Halloween celebrations. Pumpkin carving grew more popular and by the 1920s, Halloween was embraced throughout the US. Carving, parties and costumes became the norm, and “trick or treating” soon followed in the mid-1930s.
Pumpkins are Awesome-Everyone Agrees
But you don’t need to take my word for it…. Almost all the first European explorers mentioned the plethora of pumpkins.
Columbus, Cartier, De Soto, and De Vaca all had something to say about them.
Even Captain John Smith noted how indispensable pumpkins were to the indigenous Powhatan nation. (Captain John Smith of Pocohontas legend and Jamestown Virginia fame) Apparently my ancestor and he were chums but that’s another story for another time…
Pumpkin Poetry
Did you know there is even a colonial pumpkin poem??? OH YES! And here it is in all its 1630’s Glory!
Ah yes, behold the power of the pumpkin…inspiring pumpkin prose for four hundred years…
American History of Halloween Modern Times
With the exception of the four hundred year old fave, pumpkin pie, now it seems we Americans have forgotten how to eat pumpkins and use them mostly as decoration but these days with all the pumpkin spice hullabaloo, we are enjoying a bit of a pumpkin revival.
Well, tonight I’ll be eating my roasted pumpkin seeds, and taking our youngest out to trick or treat. It’s a mix of traditions as are most things in what is modern America but that mixture is what keeps our country unique and having fabulous stories to tell. Happy Halloween!!!
A little history, a lot of fun…it’s what we are all about! Come join us on all our adventures and get tons of ideas of how to have your own! Welcome to the family!
Pumpkin isn’t really a thing but I loved it. That poem was cute too and loved the history behind it.