Why do we carve vegetables and eat candy on halloween?
October 30, 2014 —
Gerry Bowler’s historical passion is Christmas — he’s written numerous, and great, books on the subject — but he also knows quite a bit about other festivals, such as Halloween. UM Today asked him to explain a few of the peculiarities of this annual event, like why we carve faces into vegetables and why children don costumes and ask strangers for candy, which is usually taboo. Both traditions come from England and Ireland.