Merry Christmas to all!

Disney - Santa Claus is coming to town

White Christmas

Some Christmas carols and songs

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen,
Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen,
but do you recall the most famous reindeer of all?
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, had a very shiny nose.
And if you ever saw it, you would even say it glows.
All the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names;
they never let poor Rudolph join in any reindeer games.

Then one foggy Christmas Eve, Santa came to say:
"Rudolph, with your nose so bright,
won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"
Then how the reindeer loved him,
as they shouted out with glee:
"Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, you'll go down in history."

Frosty the Snowman

Frosty the Snowman, was a jolly happy soul,
With a corncob pipe and a button nose, and two eyes made of coal.

Frosty the Snowman, is a fairytale, they say.
He was made of snow, but the children know he came to life one day.
There must have been some magic in that old silk they found,
For when they placed it on his head, he began to dance around!

Oh, Frosty, the Snowman, was a live as he could be;
and the children say he could laugh and play,
just the same as you and me.

Thumpety thump, thump, thumpety thump, thump,
look at Frosty go.
Thumpety thump, thump, thumpety thump, thump,
over the hills of snow.

Frosty the Snowman, knew the sun was hot that day,
so he said, "Let's run, and we'll have some fun now, before I melt away."

Down to the village, with a broomstick in his hand,
Running here and there, all around the square,
saying', "Catch me if you can."

He led them down the streets of town, right to the traffic cop; and only paused a moment, when he heard him holler, "Stop!"

For Frosty, the Snowman, had to hurry on his way,
But he waved goodbye, saying' "Don't cry, I'll be back again some day."

WHITE CHRISTMAS
Irving Berlin 1942

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten
And children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white

Make a Paper Christmas Tree

Supplies needed:
Green construction paper
Crayons, markers, glitter glue, or tempera paint
Scissors
Clear tape
Optional: Other colors of construction paper, glue, hole punch, stickers    


    Fold a piece of green construction paper in half, then cut it in half.

    Put the two pieces together, and fold them in half again.

    Draw half a Christmas tree opposite the fold.

    Cut along the line - you should get two identical trees.

Fold the trees in half, just barely creasing the center line (this is to mark the center of the tree).   

    Cut a slit along the bottom half of the center of one tree and along the top half of the center of the other tree.

    Slip the two trees together along the slits.

Using clear tape, tape the bottoms and tops together (pieces of tape on the bottom and at the top make the tree stand up well and stop the slit ends from flopping over).   

    Decorate your tree with crayons, markers, glitter glue, or tempera paint. Or you can glue on tiny construction paper decorations or use star stickers. You can cut out tiny paper balls using a hole punch.

Now you have a really nice 3-dimensional Christmas decoration.

    Optional: cut out a small construction paper star and cut a tiny slit in it. Put the star on the top of the tree (and secure it with some tape).   

  For a bigger tree: Start with two pieces of green construction paper, and fold them so they make a long, thin rectangle. Draw a tree opposite the fold. The rest of the instructions are the same.

 Source: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/christmas/papertree/

About Christmas

Origin of Christmas - The Biblical Account
The origin of Christmas is presented beautifully in the well-known biblical account of Luke: "And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:1-11).

Origin of Christmas - The Traditions and Controversies
For today's Christian, the origin of Christmas is, and should be, the birth of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Bible. Nothing more and nothing less. However, most of what we witness on December 25th each year has absolutely nothing to do with that blessed day, which probably occurred in late summer or early fall about 2,000 years ago. In fact, most of the customs and traditions of Christmas actually pre-date the birth of Jesus, and many of them are downright deceptive in their meaning and origin. Here are a few examples:
The date of December 25th probably originated with the ancient "birthday" of the son-god, Mithra, a pagan deity whose religious influence became widespread in the Roman Empire during the first few centuries A.D. Mithra was related to the Semitic sun-god, Shamash, and his worship spread throughout Asia to Europe where he was called Deus Sol Invictus Mithras. Rome was well-known for absorbing the pagan religions and rituals of its widespread empire. As such, Rome converted this pagan legacy to a celebration of the god, Saturn, and the rebirth of the sun god during the winter solstice period. The winter holiday became known as Saturnalia and began the week prior to December 25th. The festival was characterized by gift-giving, feasting, singing and downright debauchery, as the priests of Saturn carried wreaths of evergreen boughs in procession throughout the Roman temples.

Variations of this pagan holiday flourished throughout the first few centuries after Jesus Christ, but it probably wasn't until 336 AD that Emperor Constantine officially converted this pagan tradition into the "Christian" holiday of Christmas.

10th December

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10^th  December 1948 at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris. The Declaration has been translated into at least 375 languages and dialects. The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are entitled. It consists of 30 articles which have been elaborated in subsequent international treaties, regional human rights instruments, national constitutions and laws. The International Bill of Human Rights consists of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its two Optional Protocols. In 1966 the General Assembly adopted the two detailed Covenants, which complete the International Bill of Human Rights.

Commemoration: International Human Rights Day

The adoption of the Universal Declaration is a significant international commemoration marked each year on 10^th December and is known as Human Rights Day or International Human Rights Day. The commemoration is observed by individuals, community and religious groups, human rights organisations, parliaments, governments and the United Nations. Decadal commemorations are often accompanied by campaigns to promote awareness of the Declaration and human rights. 2008 marked the 60th anniversary of the Declaration and was accompanied by year long activities around the theme "Dignity and justice for all of us.

E tu? O que sabes sobre a Declaração Universal dos Direitos do Homem?

Print and paint

Print this turkey and have fun painting it.

Thanksgiving Cooking & Recipes

Delicious Turkey Sandwich

A flavorful rye bread makes this sandwich even more interesting! Recipe By: Executive Chef John Placko for Maple Leaf Foods ThinkFOOD.

Prep Time: 5 min.

Total Time: 10 min.

Ingredients:

4 Slices Dempster's Fruit & Berry Rye Bread
2 lettuce leaves
4 slices leftover Maple Leaf Prime Turkey
Pinch each coarse salt and fresh cracked pepper
2 tbsp (30 mL) crumbled Blue cheese
2 tbsp (30 mL) cranberry sauce

Directions :

Divide turkey between two slices of bread and top each with salt, pepper, blue cheese and lettuce. Spread remaining bread slices with cranberry sauce and top to make sandwiches. Serve immediately.

Chef Placko's secrets for making a good turkey sandwich great!

1. It all starts with the bread. Select bread that won't fall apart, but is soft and moist to absorb the flavour of the fixings. Rye bread is a good option – it will give the sandwich a great taste and texture, and has good nutritional value too. Try Dempster's new Fruit & Berry Rye made with cranberries, raisins and currants. This rye bread variety is also low in fat, a source of fibre and eight essential nutrients.

2. To carve even slices from the turkey breast, slice the breast meat thinly from one side of the breast with a carving knife, starting from the neck end, trying to retain some of the skin on each slice.

3. If you're making the sandwich for later, cover with plastic wrap and chill. Add moist ingredients like cranberry sauce just before eating.

www.newscanada.com

Thanksgiving Day

Date of Thanksgiving Day varies every year and several countries celebrate it in different time of the year. Given here is information on Thanksgiving Day date in US and Canada for the past, present and coming years.

When is Thanksgiving Day in US?
Thanksgiving Day finds its roots in America. It is celebrated with lot of fervor and euphoria on the fourth Thursday in the month of November. For the people in US Thanksgiving is a time for merrymaking, shopping, family reunion, feasts and family dinners. People also take time to thank God for his constant grace and for all the material possessions man enjoys. For many Thanksgiving is also the time to thank near and dear ones and being grateful for their kindness.

Thanksgiving Day in 2010 - November 25
When is Thanksgiving Day in Canada?
Thanksgiving Day in Canada is, however, celebrated on the second Monday in the month of October every year. Canada celebrates Thanksgiving Day a month earlier because autumn season starts early in Canada than in America.

Thanksgiving Day in 2010- October 11


To know more about Thanksgiving Day in the U.S.A. and Canada go to
http://www.thanksgiving-day.org/

Works....works...

Our class, 6^th class F, decided to read about Guy Fawks…..and celebrate the 5^th of November! My name is Jade, I am from South Africa and I loved to read about the most famous traitor in the world: Guy Fawks!

Remember, remember the fifth of November!

Gunpowder Plot 1605

In 1605, thirteen young men planned to blow up
the Houses of Parliament. Among them was
Guy Fawkes, Britain's most notorious traitor.

Some Catholics plotted to blow up the Parliament with King James inside. But Guy Fawks was found in the cellar of Westminster just in time! Guy was tortured and hanged. The king’s escape is celebrated each year with bonfire!

For more than 400 years, bonfires have burned
on November 5th to mark the failed Gunpowder Plot!

Class 6^th F decided to characterise Guy Fawks using the adjectives they learned in class, here are some opinions:

Beatriz Azevedo, 6^th F no.3 said “Guy Fawks was a traitor, but he was brave and strong!”

Rodrigo Rainho, 6^th F no.26  said “I Think Guy Fawks was courageous and interesting. He was good and thoughtful because he defended the Catholics!”

Jade Barros 6^th no.12 said “Guy Fawks was a traitor but seems a hero at the same time. He was strong, determined, stubborn and famous!”

Hello! This is Mrs.Hilda!  My students know how much I love rhymes……here is a rhyme for us to say on the 5^th of November, remember?

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t’was his intent
To blow up King and Parliament.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England’s overthrow;
By God’s providence he was catch’d
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!

Alguns trabalhos sobre o Halloween

A origem do Halloween remonta às tradições dos povos Celtas, que habitaram a Gália e as ilhas da Grã-Bretanha entre os anos 600 A.C. e 800 D.C.
Originalmente, o Halloween não tinha relação com bruxas, era um festival do calendário celta, o festival de Samhain, celebrado entre 30 de Outubro e 2 de Novembro, que marcava o fim do verão ("samhain" significa literalmente "fim do verão" na língua celta). Os Celtas comemoraram o seu ano novo no dia 1 de Novembro. Na noite do dia 31 de Outubro, o Samhain, acreditava-se que os fantasmas dos mortos regressavam à Terra. Além de causar problemas para as plantações, prejudicando as colheitas, os celtas acreditavam que a presença dos espíritos tornava mais fácil para os sacerdotes druidas as previsões feitas sobre o futuro. Para uma civilização totalmente dependente das energias do mundo natural, estas profecias eram uma importante fonte de direcção durante o longo e escuro Inverno.
Para comemorar o evento, os druidas construíam enormes fogueiras sagradas, onde as pessoas se reuniam para queimar oferendas às deidades celtas. Durante a comemoração, os celtas usavam trajes, geralmente constituídos por cabeças de animais e peles, e durante os ritos falavam sobre o futuro através de artes adivinhatórias. Quando a celebração chegava ao fim, eles tinham "reacendido" os seus corações com esperanças e pediam à fogueira sagrada para ajudar a protegê-los durante o Inverno.
Nota-se, portando, que a celebração Celta possuía marcadas diferenças em relação às actuais abóboras ou à famosa frase "Trick or treat", exportada pelos Estados Unidos, que popularizaram a comemoração e tornaram a festa de halloween uma das mais aguardadas do ano.

   Feito por: Alba Andrade, nº2, 5ºA


 Halloween


 Development of artifacts and symbols associated with Halloween formed over time encompassing customs of medieval holy days as well as contemporary cultures. The souling practice of commemorating the souls in purgatory with candle lanterns carved from turnips, became adapted into the making of jack-o'-lanterns  In traditional Celtic Halloween festivals, large turnips were hollowed out, carved with faces, and placed in windows to ward off evil spirits. The carving of pumpkins is associated with Halloween in North America where pumpkins are both readily available and much larger – making them easier to carve than turnips.Many families that celebrate Halloween carve a pumpkin into a frightening or comical face and place it on their doorstep after dark. The American tradition of carving pumpkins preceded the Great Famine period of Irish immigration and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century.
The imagery of Halloween is derived from many sources, including national customs, works of Gothic and horror literature (such as the novels Frankenstein and Dracula), and classic horror films (such as Frankenstein and The Mummy). Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn husks, and scarecrows, are also prevalent. Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around Halloween.
Halloween imagery includes themes of death, evil, the occult, magic, or mythical monsters.^]Traditional characters include ghosts, witches, skeletons, vampires, werewolves, demons, bats, spiders, and cats. Black and orange are the traditional Halloween colors and represent the darkness of night and the color of bonfires, autumn leaves, and jack-o'-lanterns.

Trick-or-treating and guising

Main article: Trick-or-treating

Trick-or-treating in Sweden.

Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween. Children go in costume from house to house, asking for treats such as candy or sometimes money, with the question, "Trick or treat?" The word "trick" refers to a (mostly idle) "threat" to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given. In some parts of Scotland children still go guising. In this custom the child performs some sort of trick, i.e. sings a song or tells a ghost story, to earn their treats.

The practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats on holidays dates back to the Middle Ages and includes Christmas wassailing. Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of souling, when poor folk would go door to door on Hallowmas (November 1), receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day (November 2). It originated in Ireland and Britain, although similar practices for the souls of the dead were found as far south as Italy. Shakespeare mentions the practice in his comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593), when Speed accuses his master of "puling [whimpering or whining] like a beggar at Hallowmas." The custom of wearing costumes and masks at Halloween goes back to Celtic traditions of attempting to copy the evil spirits or placate them, in Scotland for instance where the dead were impersonated by young men with masked, veiled or blackened faces, dressed in white.

American historian and author Ruth Edna Kelley of Massachusetts wrote the first book length history of the holiday in the US; the Book of Hallowe'en (1919), and references souling in the chapter "Hallowe'en in America";

The taste in Hallowe'en festivities now is to study old traditions, and hold a Scotch party, using Burn's poem Hallowe'en as a guide; or to go a-souling as the English used. In short, no custom that was once honored at Hallowe'en is out of fashion now.

Kelley lived in Lynn, Massachusetts, a town with 4,500 Irish immigrants, 1,900 English immigrants, and 700 Scottish immigrants in 1920.In her book, Kelley touches on customs that arrived from across the Atlantic; "Americans have fostered them, and are making this an occasion something like what it must have been in its best days overseas. All Hallowe'en customs in the United States are borrowed directly or adapted from those of other countries".

At the time of substantial transatlantic Scottish and Irish immigration that brought the holiday to North America in the 19th century, Halloween in Scotland and Ireland had a strong tradition of "guising" — Scottish and Irish children disguised in costumes going from door to door requesting food or coins

The earliest known reference to ritual begging on Halloween in English speaking North America occurs in 1911, when a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario reported that it was normal for the smaller children to go street "guising" (see below) on Halloween between 6 and 7 p.m., visiting shops and neighbors to be rewarded with nuts and candies for their rhymes and songs. Another isolated reference to ritual begging on Halloween appears, place unknown, in 1915, with a third reference in Chicago in 1920^.

The earliest known use in print of the term "trick or treat" appears in 1927, from Blackie, Alberta, Canada:

Hallowe’en provided an opportunity for real strenuous fun. No real damage was done except to the temper of some who had to hunt for wagon wheels, gates, wagons, barrels, etc., much of which decorated the front street. The youthful tormentors were at back door and front demanding edible plunder by the word “trick or treat” to which the inmates gladly responded and sent the robbers away rejoicing.

The thousands of Halloween postcards produced between the turn of the 20th century and the 1920s commonly show children but do not depict trick-or-treating. The editor of a collection of over 3,000 vintage Halloween postcards writes, "There are cards which mention the custom [of trick-or-treating] or show children in costumes at the doors, but as far as we can tell they were printed later than the 1920s and more than likely even the 1930s. Tricksters of various sorts are shown on the early postcards, but not the means of appeasing them". Trick-or-treating does not seem to have become a widespread practice until the 1930s, with the first U.S. appearances of the term in 1934, and the first use in a national publication occurring in 1939.

Trabalho realizado por:

 José Emanuel

5 ºA Nº1

Halloween 

   - Origem
    A origem do halloween remonta às tradições dos povos que habitaram a Gália e as ilhas da Grã-Bretanha entre os anos 600 a.C. e 800 d.C. Originalmente, o halloween não tinha relação com bruxas, era um festival celebrado entre 30 de Outubro e 2 de Novembro. A associação da data com as bruxas surgiu na idade média devido a perseguições comandadas por líderes políticos e religiosos que eram julgados pela inquisição, com o objectivo de condenar homens e mulheres curandeiros. Esta designação perpetuou – se e a comemoração do halloween, foi levada ate aos Estados Unidos pelos emigrantes irlandeses, no século XIX, ficando assim conhecido o “dia das bruxas”- uma lenda histórica.

1- Bruxas a celebrar o halloween

         - Actualmente
    Hoje em dia o halloween é festejado de maneira diferente e pouco tem a ver com as suas origens. Além disso foi sendo pouco a pouco incorporada toda uma serie de elementos estranhos, como por exemplo a festa de todos os santos; o costume dos disfarces ;etc… É possível verificar então, que esta festa é uma mistura de tradições trazidas pelos colonos no século XVIII para os Estados Unidos.

  - Curiosidades

    A celebração do 31 de Outubro, tem vindo a ser promovida por diversos grupos neo-pagãos, e em alguns casos assume o carácter de celebração ocultista. Porém, não existe ligação dessa festa com o mal. Na celebração actual do Halloween, podemos notar a presença de muitos elementos ligados ao folclore em torno da bruxaria. As fantasias, enfeites e outros itens comercializados por ocasião dessa festa estão repletos de bruxas, gatos pretos, vampiros, fantasmas e monstros, no entanto isso não reflecte a realidade pagã.

  

  

                                                                                               Trabalho realizado por:

                                                                                                        - Isabel Sousa nº7 5ºA

          Halloween                                                    

            Halloween is an annual holiday observed on October 31, primarily in the United States, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holiday All Saints' Day, but is today largely a secular celebration.
Common Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, wearing costumes and attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, ghost tours, bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions«, committing pranks, telling ghost stories or other frightening tales, and watching horror films.

History

Historian Nicholas Rogers, exploring the origins of Halloween, notes that while "some folklorists have detected its origins in the Roman feast of Pomona, the goddess of fruits and seeds, or in the festival of the dead called Parentalia, it is more typically linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain, whose original spelling was Samuin (pronounced sow-an or sow-in)".The name is derived from Old Irish and means roughly "summer's end". A similar festival was held by the ancient Britons and is known as Calan Gaeaf (pronounced Kálan Gái av).

Snap-Apple Night by Daniel Maclise showing a Halloween party in Blarney, Ireland, in 1832. The young children on the right bob for apples. A couple in the center play a variant, which involves retrieving an apple hanging from a string. The couples at left play divination games.

The festival of Samhain celebrates the end of the "lighter half" of the year and beginning of the "darker half", and is sometimes regarded as the "Celtic New Year".

The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the Otherworld became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. The family's ancestors were honored and invited home while harmful spirits were warded off. It is believed that the need to ward off harmful spirits led to the wearing of costumes and masks. Their purpose was to disguise oneself as a harmful spirit and thus avoid harm. In Scotland the spirits were impersonated by young men dressed in white with masked, veiled or blackened faces. Samhain was also a time to take stock of food supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores. Bonfires played a large part in the festivities. All other fires were doused and each home lit their hearth from the bonfire. The bones of slaughtered livestock were cast into its flames. Sometimes two bonfires would be built side-by-side, and people and their livestock would walk between them as a cleansing ritual.
Another common practice was divination, which often involved the use of food and drink.
The name 'Halloween' and many of its present-day traditions derive from the Old English era.

Origin of name

The word Halloween is first attested in the 16th century and represents a Scottish variant of the fuller All-Hallows-Even ("evening"), that is, the night before All Hallows Day. Up through the early 20th century, the spelling "Hallowe'en" was frequently used, eliding the "v" and shortening the word. Although the phrase All Hallows is found in Old English (ealra hālgena mæssedæg, mass-day of all saints), All-Hallows-Even is itself not attested until 1556.

Symbols

Jack-o'-lanterns in Kobe, Japan

Development of artifacts and symbols associated with Halloween formed over time encompassing customs of medieval holy days as well as contemporary cultures. The souling practice of commemorating the souls in purgatory with candle lanterns carved from turnips, became adapted into the making of jack-o'-lanterns. In traditional Celtic Halloween festivals, large turnips were hollowed out, carved with faces, and placed in windows to ward off evil spirits. The carving of pumpkins is associated with Halloween in North America where pumpkins are both readily available and much larger – making them easier to carve than turnips. Many families that celebrate Halloween carve a pumpkin into a frightening or comical face and place it on their doorstep after dark. The American tradition of carving pumpkins preceded the Great Famine period of Irish immigration and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century.

The imagery of Halloween is derived from many sources, including national customs, works of Gothic and horror literature (such as the novels Frankenstein and Dracula), and classic horror films (such as Frankenstein and The Mummy). Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn husks, and scarecrows, are also prevalent. Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around Halloween.

Halloween imagery includes themes of death, evil, the occult, magic, or mythical monsters. Traditional characters include ghosts, witches, skeletons, vampires, werewolves, demons, bats, spiders, and black cats. Black and orange are the traditional Halloween colors and represent the darkness of night and the color of bonfires, autumn leaves, and jack-o'-lanterns.

Trick-or-treating and guising

Main article: Trick-or-treating

Trick-or-treating in Sweden.

Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween. Children go in costume from house to house, asking for treats such as candy or sometimes money, with the question, "Trick or treat?" The word "trick" refers to a (mostly idle) "threat" to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given. In some parts of Scotland children still go guising. In this custom the child performs some sort of trick, i.e. sings a song or tells a ghost story, to earn their treats.

The practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats on holidays dates back to the Middle Ages and includes Christmas wassailing. Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of souling, when poor folk would go door to door on Hallowmas (November 1), receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day (November 2). It originated in Ireland and Britain, although similar practices for the souls of the dead were found as far south as Italy. Shakespeare mentions the practice in his comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593), when Speed accuses his master of "puling [whimpering or whining] like a beggar at Hallowmas." The custom of wearing costumes and masks at Halloween goes back to Celtic traditions of attempting to copy the evil spirits or placate them, in Scotland for instance where the dead were impersonated by young men with masked, veiled or blackened faces, dressed in white.

American historian and author Ruth Edna Kelley of Massachusetts wrote the first book length history of the holiday in the US; The Book of Hallowe'en (1919), and references souling in the chapter "Hallowe'en in America";

The taste in Hallowe'en festivities now is to study old traditions, and hold a Scotch party, using Burn's poem Hallowe'en as a guide; or to go a-souling as the English used. In short, no custom that was once honored at Hallowe'en is out of fashion now.

Kelley lived in Lynn, Massachusetts, a town with 4,500 Irish immigrants, 1,900 English immigrants, and 700 Scottish immigrants in 1920. In her book, Kelley touches on customs that arrived from across the Atlantic; "Americans have fostered them, and are making this an occasion something like what it must have been in its best days overseas. All Hallowe'en customs in the United States are borrowed directly or adapted from those of other countries".

At the time of substantial transatlantic Scottish and Irish immigration that brought the holiday to North America in the 19th century, Halloween in Scotland and Ireland had a strong tradition of "guising" — Scottish and Irish children disguised in costumes going from door to door requesting food or coins.

The earliest known reference to ritual begging on Halloween in English speaking North America occurs in 1911, when a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario reported that it was normal for the smaller children to go street "guising" (see below) on Halloween between 6 and 7 p.m., visiting shops and neighbors to be rewarded with nuts and candies for their rhymes and songs. Another isolated reference to ritual begging on Halloween appears, place unknown, in 1915, with a third reference in Chicago in 1920.

The earliest known use in print of the term "trick or treat" appears in 1927, from Blackie, Alberta, Canada:

Hallowe’en provided an opportunity for real strenuous fun. No real damage was done except to the temper of some who had to hunt for wagon wheels, gates, wagons, barrels, etc., much of which decorated the front street. The youthful tormentors were at back door and front demanding edible plunder by the word “trick or treat” to which the inmates gladly responded and sent the robbers away rejoicing.

The thousands of Halloween postcards produced between the turn of the 20th century and the 1920s commonly show children but do not depict trick-or-treating. The editor of a collection of over 3,000 vintage Halloween postcards writes, "There are cards which mention the custom [of trick-or-treating] or show children in costumes at the doors, but as far as we can tell they were printed later than the 1920s and more than likely even the 1930s. Tricksters of various sorts are shown on the early postcards, but not the means of appeasing them". Trick-or-treating does not seem to have become a widespread practice until the 1930s, with the first U.S. appearances of the term in 1934, and the first use in a national publication occurring in 1939.

Costumes

Halloween costumes are traditionally modeled after monsters such as ghosts, skeletons, witches, and devils. Over time, the costume selection extended to include popular characters from fiction, celebrities, and generic archetypes such as ninjas and princesses.
Dressing up in costumes and going "guising" was prevalent in Scotland and Ireland at Halloween by the 19th century.^[27] Costuming became popular for Halloween parties in the US in the early 20th century, as often for adults as for children. The first mass-produced Halloween costumes appeared in stores in the 1930s when trick-or-treating was becoming popular in the United States.
What sets Halloween costumes apart from costumes for other celebrations or days of dressing up is that they are often designed to imitate supernatural and scary beings. Costumes are traditionally those of monsters such as vampires, ghosts, skeletons, witches, and devils, or in more recent years such science fiction-inspired characters as aliens and superheroes. There are also costumes of pop culture figures like presidents, athletes, celebrities, or film, television, and cartoon characters. Another popular trend is for women (and in some cases, men) to use Halloween as an excuse to wear sexy or revealing costumes, showing off more skin than would be socially acceptable otherwise.
Halloween costume parties generally fall on, or around, 31 October, often falling on the Friday or Saturday prior to Halloween

Games and other activities

There are several games traditionally associated with Halloween parties. One common game is dunking or apple bobbing, in which apples float in a tub or a large basin of water and the participants must use their teeth to remove an apple from the basin.^[35] A variant of dunking involves kneeling on a chair, holding a fork between the teeth and trying to drop the fork into an apple.^[36] Another common game involves hanging up treacle or syrup-coated scones by strings; these must be eaten without using hands while they remain attached to the string, an activity that inevitably leads to a very sticky face.

Some games traditionally played at Halloween are forms of divination. A traditional Scottish form of divining one's future spouse is to carve an apple in one long strip, then toss the peel over one's shoulder. The peel is believed to land in the shape of the first letter of the future spouse's name.^[37] Unmarried women were told that if they sat in a darkened room and gazed into a mirror on Halloween night, the face of their future husband would appear in the mirror. However, if they were destined to die before marriage, a skull would appear. The custom was widespread enough to be commemorated on greeting cards^[38] from the late 19th century and early 20th century.

The telling of ghost stories and viewing of horror films are common fixtures of Halloween parties. Episodes of television series and Halloween-themed specials (with the specials usually aimed at children) are commonly aired on or before the holiday, while new horror films are often released theatrically before the holiday to take advantage of the atmosphere.

Trabalho realizado por Miguel Valente, n.º 16, 5.ºA