Better finish stocking up on those bags of trick-or-treat candy and put the finishing touches on that masterpiece of a homemade costume, because Halloween is here! Unfortunately, trick-or-treating seems to be something of a dying art, but it's an activity that's available if you know where to look. We generally walk down the block to Pacheco Creek Drive in Novato's Pacheco Valle, where they close the street and many of the houses are decorated, some quite elaborately. Some local shopping centers, like the Village in Corte Madera, offer trick-or-treating tonight for children under somewhat "safer" conditions, although the old myth about tainted Halloween candy is just that—a myth (see Snopes.com for more on that).
For your education and enjoyment, here are a few random Halloween facts:
- Halloween has its origins in ancient Ireland, where it began as the Celtic holiday Samhain.
- The lighted jack-o-lantern originated in Scotland, where they were originally made not from pumpkins but from hollowed-out neeps: turnips or rutabagas.
- The commercialization of Halloween began at the beginning of the 20th century. Trick-or-treating didn't really catch on in the US until the 1950s.
