For Halloween, Oct 31st. 2025, and every year. The French call it all saints.
Traditonally a religous festival, saints in the Roman Catholic church, ghosts of everybody. Malevolent or benevolent ghosts.
The Chinese have something similar, visiting graves once a year. That keeps the cemeteries tidy whilst descendants are alive.
Nowadays Halloween is increasingly a commercial and dress up seasonal event.
Orange buckets, top shelf. Decorated drinking mugs, middle shelf. Skeleton costumes and trick or treat texts, lower shelf. Morrisons Supermartet, Hatch End, NW London, England, UK. Photo by Angela Lansbuy. Copyright.
White skeletons are not my thing. I am more of an orange bucket person. (I also like orange pumpkins. Piled up at the entrances to supermarkets in London, England.)
Pumpkins in the USA
I recall driving around the USA in the late 1900s, astonished at the orange stacks of pumpkins, and orange carved pumpkin decorations. I remember trying pumpkin pie, an orange topped flat triangle, a bit like a slide of cheesecake.
Pumpkin Soup In Singapore
In Singapore I had pumpkin soup for the fist time, when I went to a lunch in the American club. There members of the American Women's Association could pay for a seat at a lunch table.
Not being American, (I am British) I could not join the American club and use the swimming pool. However, I could pay a lower fee to join the American Women's Association. This gave me the monthly magazine featuring activities organized by volunteers. I could join in activities such as playing bridge, and seasonal parties, such as Christmas and Halloween.
Now, in 2025, Halloween is a familiar feature in the UK.
Costumes, says the sign.
Let's take a closer look.
Look for a huge choice at all prices before the seasonal dates. Now meetings on Zoom can be enlivened. Then look out for bargains in supermarkets after the magic dates.
Trick Or Treat
Trick or treat is an activity for children, nowadays escaorted by a responsible adult. They knowk at the front doors of houses, and ask the householder, trick or treat? A generous and forewarned householder will have little bags of sweet treats, chocolates, jellies, whatever. You can buy big bags of these in the confectionary sections of big supermarkets and smaller conveneience stores.
When you run out of sweets, or don't want to give, you can ask for a trick.
Suprprise Skeletons
In the old days, that would have been a surprise, maybe opening a coat to show a skeleton.
Sinister Skeletons and Tricks
Later, as the custom spread, and some householders were inundated and annoyed, the tricks grew malicious, such as throwing bad eggs.
Next year, or next hour, annoyed householders took revenge. They tried the trick. By putting inedible onions, unpleasant or dangerous objects in gift bags.
In Singapore when I as there it was illegal to knock on doors. You were not allowed to disturb people. You could not canvass to convert people to another religion.
Nor collecting for charity - nor con people. distraction burglary.
You could not disturb people attending to babies and invalids, shift workers trying to sleep, getting people out of their bath or shower, alarming the elderly and confused.
Welcome Signs
So the next system was for parents of children at the American school to display signs printed by the school saying Trick and Treat welcome. The householders were prepared with treats and suprises, food or stickers, toys saved from cereal packets and McDonalds.
Escorted Children
The children were accompanied by a parent who listed which donated treat goods came from which house. No child disappeared after being invited into the home of a suspect adult.
Just fun all around for those willing and prepared for early evening fun. As the scouts say, be prepared.
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