How an ancient festival became the neighborhood candy heist

Boo! Did we get ya?

Ahhh… it’s that time of year when the children of the neighborhood vibrate with anticipation. Weeks of scheming and developing effective neighborhood strike plans. Astonishing motivation to master discrete mathematics and solve the traveling salesman problem. Enough planning to take down the Louvre.

With a good plan and solid execution, an enterprising gang of ghouls can collect Snickers, M&M’s, Jujyfruits, Smarties, Kit Kats, Skittles, Twixes, Butterfingers, and Baby Ruths—enough sugar to keep them vibrating until the next attempt.

And one critical rule of any good plan: skip the dentist’s house. They’re only handing out toothbrushes.

How Did We Get Here?

Our modern Halloween celebrations are rooted in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced SAH-win). The Celts marked November 1st as the start of the new year—the end of harvest and the beginning of winter. At this time of year, the boundary between the living and the dead was believed to be at its thinnest. People wore costumes and lit bonfires to ward off wandering spirits, hoping they didn’t trip into our world.

Centuries later, the Catholic Church layered its own observances on top of these ancient traditions. The Church celebrated All Saints’ Day on November 1st. This holiday is also known as All Hallows’ Day, because “hallow” means “holy person” or saint. And because every good holiday deserves an eve, All Hallows’ Eve became a thing.

Now, once each year, children across the land march door to door demanding crinkly, paper-wrapped sugar bombs—and stuffing them into plastic pumpkins.

All Treats, No Tricks

A few weeks ago, we marked the autumn equinox, the traditional start of the harvest season. While the ancients might have considered November 1st the end of harvest, we’re still going strong here at Rootstock.

We don’t recommend being the toothbrush house, but if you are handing out some bosc pears or pink lady apples we might just swing by.