In the early 1800s immigrants from all over Europe started coming into this country. These people were from a wide variety of ethnicbackgrounds and they settled both in the northern and the southern states.
These immigrants all had their different ways of celebrating what we today call Halloween. All these different ways combined is what becamethe start of the American version of Halloween.
During the first half of the 1800s Halloween was celebrated much like in the old countries where the neighbors would share stories of the dead,dance, sing and tell each other's fortunes. By this time Halloween was not yet celebrated everywhere in America.
The Irish immigrants that flooded this country during the second half of the 1800s are the ones who really helped make the celebration of Halloweenpopular across the USA. Bringing with them the Irish and English traditions of dressing up in costumes.
In costumes they would go from house to house asking for food or money.Later on this was to become what we know as the tradition of ?trick or treat.?
By the beginning of the 1900s Halloween had lost most of its superstitiousand religious overtones because parents were encouraged to take anything scary out of the celebration and direct it more towards games and foods of the season as well as festive costumes.
Around 1940 ?trick or treating? was brought back as a part of Halloween, mainly because it was an inexpensive way for the whole community to share in the celebration.
Today Halloween is the second largest commercial holiday in the United States.About $ 7 billion is spent each year on Halloween.
