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Halloween Traditions Across the World
Most of us are familiar with pumpkins and trick-or-treating – but did you know that Halloween can also be marked by having a picnic near an ancestors’ gravestone, or by hiding away all your kitchen knives?
With Halloween just around the corner, Hamiltons Removals – one of the leading moving companies in East Anglia – realise how important it is to be aware of local customs and practices for people who are moving to a new country. Here, we look at how the tradition of Halloween started, and at some of the more unusual celebrations held in Europe and across the world.
Where Did it All Start?
Halloween originally began as a way of honouring the dead, and particularly martyrs and saints. Many of the modern customs have their roots in ancient Celtic harvest festivals.
The word itself is a contracted form of All Hallows’ Eve. Many countries, particularly those with a strong religious tradition, leave their celebrations until All Hallows’ Day on November 1. To make things even more complicated, other countries mark All Souls’ Day on November 2 instead.
The USA and Canada
If you are moving house to the USA or Canada, then trick or treating is the commonest tradition. Children dress up in spooky costumes and call from house to house saying ‘trick or treat’ in the hope of being given some sweets. Many people assume that the practice spread from the USA and Canada to the UK, but the idea of dressing up in costumes and calling at strangers’ homes in search of food began in Britain and Ireland in the 16th century. Modern US trick or treating only started in the 1920s.
Both countries follow the tradition of lighting jack o’lanterns, usually by putting candles inside carved or hollowed-out pumpkins, to add to the general air of spookiness. Depending on who you believe, this either represents a ghost or evil spirit, or is a way of scaring off vampires or the undead.
Mexico and Spain
In Mexico and Spain, the closest equivalent to Halloween is celebrated on All Souls’ Day, or the Day of the Dead, as they call it. People dress up to look like their ancestors and build altars in their own homes, decorated with flowers, candles and other offerings, such as their loved one’s favourite food.
Some brave people even spend it in the cemetery with picnics, music and spend the night there. The day is also marked in other south American countries, including Brazil, Peru, as well as parts of the USA with a large Mexican community.
Austria
In Austria, it is common practice to leave bread, water and a lighted lamp on a bedside table on Halloween, in the belief that this welcomes all dead souls back to earth. This is a tradition largely kept alive by the older generation as children are more likely to go trick-or-treating.
Austria’s Catholic population also goes to special church services on All Hallows’ Day and decorate their ancestors’ graves. This is part of a week of commemorations known as All Souls’ Week.
France
If you are moving to France, any Halloween celebrations there are usually kept low-key as the whole tradition is seen as an American import. People do use October 31 as an excuse to dress up and go to a party, either at a friend’s house, or a restaurant, bar or club. Costumes tend to be scary rather than cute.
Italy
The Italians also tend to avoid lighting pumpkins or trick-or-treating as these are viewed as too American. They mark All Saints’ Day with a special mass, while All Souls’ Day Italians place flowers on their ancestors’ tombs.
Any celebrations on October 31 tend to have local or regional roots. For instance, in the north-western village of Triora, many of the women dress up as witches and there is a spectacular display of pumpkins. This is because in the 16th century, 200 local women went on trial accused of causing plagues and bad weather, as well as killing farm livestock and new-born babies.
Germany
Germans don’t go in for many of the usual Halloween traditions for two principal reasons. They don’t like the way it’s become commercialised, and because they celebrate St Martin’s Day less than two weeks later, on November 11. This has many similar customs to Halloween, such as lantern processions, bonfires and special foods.
However, many Germans will hide all the knives in their houses on the night of either October 31 or November 1. Tradition has it that spirits come to your house on either of these nights, so all knives are securely stashed away so any ghostly visitors can’t hurt themselves – or the homeowner.
Hamiltons Removals – A Leading East Anglian Moving Company
Hamiltons Removals is one of the leading East Anglian moving companies who can help you with commercial or domestic removals to Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia and many other international destinations.
We can ship your items at a competitive price, either as part of an individual consignment, or a groupage service where containers are shared with other people who are also on the move. Smaller items can be sent via airfreight.
If you are planning a move abroad and need a removals service, use our contacts page or call us on 01379 855203.
Five Unusual Facts about the Norfolk Coast
Say ‘Norfolk’ and many things come to mind – the Broads, the Royal estate at Sandringham, or the famous people who have connections to the county, from Lord Nelson to Stephen Fry.
But Norfolk, and its coastline in particular, has plenty of hidden gems and unusual claims to fame. Hamiltons Removals, who are based in Norfolk and offer removals to all parts of the county, including north Norfolk and Norwich, have compiled these five coastal curiosities.
Albert Einstein Once Stayed Here
The famous Jewish scientist best-known for his theory of relativity was worried about persecution by the Nazis. He stayed in a small hut in Roughton Heath, near Cromer, for around six weeks in 1933 thanks to Oliver Locker-Sampson, an anti-fascist MP with business interests in the resort.
The scientist, who was well-guarded during his time in north Norfolk, soon moved to the USA. However, his stay in the county has been commemorated by a blue plaque at the New Inn in Roughton, and by a sculpture which has been on display at various museums in the UK and abroad.
It Boasts the World’s Oldest Football Stand…
Great Yarmouth Town play at the Wellesley Road recreation ground and play in the Thurlow Nunn Eastern Counties League Premier Division. Not very interesting, perhaps – but did you know the club boasts what is thought to be the world’s oldest football stand still in use today?
The club’s grandstand was first opened in 1892, only shutting during the 1990s for health and safety reasons. It reopened in 2010 and is now Grade II listed because it is of special architectural and historic interest.
…and the Oldest Human Settlement in Britain
A man who was talking his dog for a walk by the sea at Happisburgh, near North Walsham, spotted a hand axe lying on the mud. He rang Norwich Castle Museum – where it is now on display – to tell them of his find. Since the initial find, which was uncovered in the year 2000, archaeologists have found many more similar tools there.
The collection is believed to be around 700,000 years old, meaning that humans had been present in Britain at least 200,000 years earlier than previous estimates.
Hats Off to Holkham Hall
Gamekeepers on the Holkham Hall estate kept getting their top hats knocked off by low-hanging branches while out horse riding and looking for poachers. The estate, on the north Norfolk coast between Blakeney and Burnham Market, was then owned by the Earl of Leicester and is still in the family today.
A relation of the Earl’s commissioned his hat-makers, James Lock to come up with something sturdier. The company’s chief hatter Thomas Bowler got the job and in 1849 invented the headgear which still bears his name today. Legend has it that the prototype was jumped on several times to assess its durability. It passed the test with flying colours.
Fish Fingers Were Invented Here
Fish fingers were first produced in this country at the Bird’s Eye factory in Great Yarmouth. Developed in 1955 by Mr HAJ Scott, the first ones were sold for 1s 8d. Apparently, they were originally going to be called battered cod pieces, until the term fish finger – voted for by female employees – was used instead.
Some of the initial fish fingers contained herring rather than cod. Production at Great Yarmouth stopped in 1986 and was moved to the company’s factory in Lowestoft, just over the border in Suffolk.
North Norfolk Removals from Hamiltons
Hamiltons Removals can help with commercial or domestic removals to all parts of East Anglia, including North Norfolk, Norwich, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. We also have two self-storage sites in south Norfolk – at Harleston and Aldeby – if you ever need to store some possessions away during house moves.
If you would like to talk to any of our friendly, professional members of staff then call us on 01379 854810, or follow this link and fill in the form to receive an online quote.