Last week I attended a table talk discussing the history of Halloween. I think it’s extremely interesting that Halloween is the second biggest commercial holiday (the first being Christmas), but not at all surprising considering the amount of candy and costumes Americans purchased every year. It also made me think about how America (and other countries too I’m sure) commercializes holidays. For example, Christmas is a holiday of religious significance, and while a lot of families still go to church and celebrates Christmas for what it means, there are plenty of other families who partake only in the getting together with family, exchanging gifts, etc part of Christmas. Similarly, in this table talk, we learned that Halloween had religious significance in the past, but now, it’s simply a “spooky” holiday filled with costumes and candy and a lot of fun for both adults and children.

In my opinion, I think it’s pretty cool that America has Halloween, and it definitely gives everyone an excuse to dress up and have fun, but it’s also pretty cool learning about the history behind it with GRF Seema, because that was something I hadn’t considered much before. But also, through the discussion, I feel like Halloween is a holiday that is actually quite unique in America (I don’t think anyone else enjoys it as much as we does!) and though I’m too busy and probably too old for Halloween festivities nowadays, it’s still cool to see everyone’s different costumes last week.