Halloween News
IT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN - New audio tracks!
Previously thought to be lost to time: this album contains the original session reels for It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. What you will hear on most tracks of this new and improved "best" version of the soundtrack are the musical cues as recorded by Vince and crew before they were edited for the television special, in show order, as well as a selection of alternate takes. |
9.16 Hocus Pocus 2 Trailer - streaming on Disney+ 9/30
IT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN - time and date TBD
Halloween History
Halloween is generally believed to originate from the Celts about 2,000 years ago. The Celts were tribes in England and Northern France. When the Celts first started to settle down into villages, farming and cattle were the two major sources of food. Raising cattle was easy. On May first, you drove the cattle out into your field. On November first, you brought them back into the barn for the winter. Your entire year was two seasons - growing season and winter, life and death, beltane and samhain.
For them, the first of November was Samhain (pronounced "SAW-en"), a festival of the dead, and a joyful harvest festival that marked the end of the summer. During this part of the year, food grew scarce and the plants all died. The day itself was a time for paying homage to the sun god Baal, who provided the people with the ripened grain for use in the upcoming winter. It was believed that on this day, between the old year and the new one, that the dead could walk the earth again. Spirits of those who had died during that year gathered that night, driven out of the bare woods and empty fields. This was not a fearful time as most of them considered the spirits to be guides to help them through life. The spirits returned to their homes, and needed the help of their kin to cross over to the land of the dead. Many people lit fires to guide the good spirits to them and to keep the evil ones away. Relatives would hollow out turnips and gourds and use them to carry the spirits to the proper location.
Evil spirits, witches and goblins also roamed the earth on Samhain. To protect your relative's spirit, you'd paint a scary face on a gourd to chase the evil spirits away. To protect yourself, you'd also disguise yourself by painting your face with hideous paints or donning a wild costume.
In 43 AD, the Roman Empire conquered the Celts. Celts and Romans found themselves living in the same villages. Some believe that the popular customs of Halloween show traces of the Roman harvest festival of Pomona, and of Druidism. These influences are inferred from the use of nuts and apples as traditional Halloween foods, and from the figures of witches, black cats, and skeletons commonly associated with the occasion. The colors of black and orange associated with Halloween today, were originated from this time, representing Death and Harvest.
Pope Boniface 4th felt that as long as the old festivals were still celebrated the church's control wasn't complete. Sometime during the fourth century, as Christianity was getting stronger, the Roman Church in England tried to stop the pagan ritual. Unable to do so, Pope Boniface decided to replace the old festival with a new festival. The church created All Saints' Day; a holy day to honor all saints.
The problem with All Saints' Day was it was a holy day not a festival. Also, being held in May, people simply celebrated both holidays. Two hundred years later, the church had still not succeeded in getting rid of the pagan holiday. Pope Gregory the 3rd had a new idea. He changed the rules so that All Saints' day always fell on the exact day as Samhain. To celebrate All Saints' Day, young men were to go door to door begging for food for the town poor. Villagers were allowed to dress up in costume to represent a saint. Now, instead of dressing up to chase away evil spirits, you dressed up to honor saints.
For the next 700 years, the Church felt it had won the battle because the Celts celebrated All Saints' Day. The Celts, on the other hand, thought they had won because they still had their holiday with the original ceremonies. Neither realized that Samhain and All Saints' Day were blurring into one holiday. By the 1500's, you couldn't separate the two anymore. Of course, by this time, no one called it All Saints' Day. Now, it was All Hallows' Day. The night before All Hallows' Day, was of course, All Hallows' Evening. In the slang of the villagers, it was Hallow Evening, or simply Halloween.
The original festival for the pagan Lord of the Dead became a festival of Christian dead. In the 10th century, the church named Nov. 2nd as All Souls' Day, in memory of all dead souls. Halloween, All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day come so close together and are so similar that in some countries they tend to merge together.
In the late 1800's, nearly 7.4 million immigrants came to America, bringing their European customs with them. Seven hundred thousand Irish Catholics came over during the seven-year potato famine alone. These immigrants may have brought their customs with them, but once they saw how plentiful pumpkins were in the New World, it didn't take them long to start hollowing out jack-o’-lanterns instead of turnips.
In 1921, Anoka, Minnesota celebrated the first official citywide observation of Halloween with a pumpkin bowl, a costumed square dance and two parades. After that, it didn't take Halloween long to go nationwide. New York started celebrating in 1923 and LA in 1925.
For them, the first of November was Samhain (pronounced "SAW-en"), a festival of the dead, and a joyful harvest festival that marked the end of the summer. During this part of the year, food grew scarce and the plants all died. The day itself was a time for paying homage to the sun god Baal, who provided the people with the ripened grain for use in the upcoming winter. It was believed that on this day, between the old year and the new one, that the dead could walk the earth again. Spirits of those who had died during that year gathered that night, driven out of the bare woods and empty fields. This was not a fearful time as most of them considered the spirits to be guides to help them through life. The spirits returned to their homes, and needed the help of their kin to cross over to the land of the dead. Many people lit fires to guide the good spirits to them and to keep the evil ones away. Relatives would hollow out turnips and gourds and use them to carry the spirits to the proper location.
Evil spirits, witches and goblins also roamed the earth on Samhain. To protect your relative's spirit, you'd paint a scary face on a gourd to chase the evil spirits away. To protect yourself, you'd also disguise yourself by painting your face with hideous paints or donning a wild costume.
In 43 AD, the Roman Empire conquered the Celts. Celts and Romans found themselves living in the same villages. Some believe that the popular customs of Halloween show traces of the Roman harvest festival of Pomona, and of Druidism. These influences are inferred from the use of nuts and apples as traditional Halloween foods, and from the figures of witches, black cats, and skeletons commonly associated with the occasion. The colors of black and orange associated with Halloween today, were originated from this time, representing Death and Harvest.
Pope Boniface 4th felt that as long as the old festivals were still celebrated the church's control wasn't complete. Sometime during the fourth century, as Christianity was getting stronger, the Roman Church in England tried to stop the pagan ritual. Unable to do so, Pope Boniface decided to replace the old festival with a new festival. The church created All Saints' Day; a holy day to honor all saints.
The problem with All Saints' Day was it was a holy day not a festival. Also, being held in May, people simply celebrated both holidays. Two hundred years later, the church had still not succeeded in getting rid of the pagan holiday. Pope Gregory the 3rd had a new idea. He changed the rules so that All Saints' day always fell on the exact day as Samhain. To celebrate All Saints' Day, young men were to go door to door begging for food for the town poor. Villagers were allowed to dress up in costume to represent a saint. Now, instead of dressing up to chase away evil spirits, you dressed up to honor saints.
For the next 700 years, the Church felt it had won the battle because the Celts celebrated All Saints' Day. The Celts, on the other hand, thought they had won because they still had their holiday with the original ceremonies. Neither realized that Samhain and All Saints' Day were blurring into one holiday. By the 1500's, you couldn't separate the two anymore. Of course, by this time, no one called it All Saints' Day. Now, it was All Hallows' Day. The night before All Hallows' Day, was of course, All Hallows' Evening. In the slang of the villagers, it was Hallow Evening, or simply Halloween.
The original festival for the pagan Lord of the Dead became a festival of Christian dead. In the 10th century, the church named Nov. 2nd as All Souls' Day, in memory of all dead souls. Halloween, All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day come so close together and are so similar that in some countries they tend to merge together.
In the late 1800's, nearly 7.4 million immigrants came to America, bringing their European customs with them. Seven hundred thousand Irish Catholics came over during the seven-year potato famine alone. These immigrants may have brought their customs with them, but once they saw how plentiful pumpkins were in the New World, it didn't take them long to start hollowing out jack-o’-lanterns instead of turnips.
In 1921, Anoka, Minnesota celebrated the first official citywide observation of Halloween with a pumpkin bowl, a costumed square dance and two parades. After that, it didn't take Halloween long to go nationwide. New York started celebrating in 1923 and LA in 1925.
What to do with those pumpkin seeds?
Plant them next year!
Scoop out seeds Clean with cold water Scrape off pulp Dry w/paper towel Spread out on cookie sheet Let sit (away from heat) 1 week Pick out any cracked seeds Store in envelope, away from heat Seeds only good for 1 year. |
Eat them!
Scoop out seeds Clean the seeds Dry w/paper towel Put in bowl Toss (to taste) with oil, garlic powder, onion powder, salt & cayenne pepper. Bake at 375F for 20 minutes. ENJOY! |
The Story of Jack 'O Lantern
Pumpkins are carved into Jack O'Lanterns for Halloween. We bake them into Pumpkin pie. Tales of terror have used pumpkins to create an eerie atmosphere. How did the pumpkin become associated with Halloween? Well the answer is in the tale of an unfortunate soul named Jack. Here are just a couple of variations of the story.
Legend tells us that a blacksmith named Jack made a pack with the Devil, giving his soul in return for mastery of his trade. One day, a saint named Peter came to Jack and offered him three wishes, hoping that he would choose wisely and save his soul. Jack instead used the tree wishes to trick the devil. When his time on earth was up, neither God nor the Devil would have anything to do with him. So, Jack scooped up some coal from the fires of Hell and placed them in the turnip that he was carrying. He uses the lantern to light his way, and roams the earth until his judgment day.
The jack-o'-lantern once took the form of a carved turnip, the favored vegetable in Europe. The tradition was brought to America in the 1840s by Irish immigrants fleeing their country's potato famine. Since there was a lack of turnips in America and pumpkins were plentiful, the pumpkin was used instead.
According to Irish folklore, a man named Jack, well known for his drunkenness and quick temper, got very drunk at a local pub on All Hallows Eve. As his life began to slip away the Devil appeared to claim Jack's soul. Jack, eager to stay alive, begged the Devil to let him have just one more drink before he died. The Devil agreed. Jack was short of money and asked the Devil if he wouldn't mind assuming the shape of a sixpence so Jack could pay for the drink. After the transaction the Devil could change back.
Seeing how the Devil is quite gullible in almost all of these folk tales, he agreed again to help Jack out and changed himself into a sixpence. Jack immediately grabbed the coin and shoved it into his wallet, which just happened to have a cross-shaped catch on it. The Devil now imprisoned in the wallet screamed with rage and ordered Jack to release him.
Jack agreed to free the Devil from his wallet if the Devil agreed not to bother Jack for a whole year. Again, the Devil agreed to Jack's terms. Realizing he now had a new lease on life, at least for a year, Jack decided to mend his ways. For a time Jack was good to his wife and children and began to attend church and give charity. Eventually Jack slipped back into his evil ways. The next All Hallows Eve, as Jack was heading home, the Devil appeared and demanded that Jack accompany him. Once again Jack, not too eager to die, distracted the devil by pointing to a nearby apple tree. Jack convinced the Devil to get an apple out of the tree and even offered to hoist the Devil up on his shoulders to help him get the apple. The Devil fooled once again by Jack, Climbed into the tree and plucked an apple. Jack took out a knife and carved a cross into the trunk of the tree. Trapped once again the Devil howled to be released, and told Jack he would give him 10 years of peace in exchange for his release. Jack, on the other hand, insisted the Devil never bother Jack again. The Devil agreed and was released.
Almost a year later, Jack's body was unable to keep up with his evil ways and Jack died. When Jack tried to enter Heaven he was told that because of his meanness he would not be allowed into Heaven. When Jack attempted to gain entry into Hell, the Devil, still smarting from years of humiliation refused Jack admission. However, being the kind Devil that he was, the Devil threw Jack a piece of coal to help Jack find his way in the dark of limbo. Jack put the piece of coal into a turnip and it became known as a jack-o’-lantern.
On All Hallows Eve if you look you can still see Jack's flame burning dimly as he searches for a home.
Legend tells us that a blacksmith named Jack made a pack with the Devil, giving his soul in return for mastery of his trade. One day, a saint named Peter came to Jack and offered him three wishes, hoping that he would choose wisely and save his soul. Jack instead used the tree wishes to trick the devil. When his time on earth was up, neither God nor the Devil would have anything to do with him. So, Jack scooped up some coal from the fires of Hell and placed them in the turnip that he was carrying. He uses the lantern to light his way, and roams the earth until his judgment day.
The jack-o'-lantern once took the form of a carved turnip, the favored vegetable in Europe. The tradition was brought to America in the 1840s by Irish immigrants fleeing their country's potato famine. Since there was a lack of turnips in America and pumpkins were plentiful, the pumpkin was used instead.
According to Irish folklore, a man named Jack, well known for his drunkenness and quick temper, got very drunk at a local pub on All Hallows Eve. As his life began to slip away the Devil appeared to claim Jack's soul. Jack, eager to stay alive, begged the Devil to let him have just one more drink before he died. The Devil agreed. Jack was short of money and asked the Devil if he wouldn't mind assuming the shape of a sixpence so Jack could pay for the drink. After the transaction the Devil could change back.
Seeing how the Devil is quite gullible in almost all of these folk tales, he agreed again to help Jack out and changed himself into a sixpence. Jack immediately grabbed the coin and shoved it into his wallet, which just happened to have a cross-shaped catch on it. The Devil now imprisoned in the wallet screamed with rage and ordered Jack to release him.
Jack agreed to free the Devil from his wallet if the Devil agreed not to bother Jack for a whole year. Again, the Devil agreed to Jack's terms. Realizing he now had a new lease on life, at least for a year, Jack decided to mend his ways. For a time Jack was good to his wife and children and began to attend church and give charity. Eventually Jack slipped back into his evil ways. The next All Hallows Eve, as Jack was heading home, the Devil appeared and demanded that Jack accompany him. Once again Jack, not too eager to die, distracted the devil by pointing to a nearby apple tree. Jack convinced the Devil to get an apple out of the tree and even offered to hoist the Devil up on his shoulders to help him get the apple. The Devil fooled once again by Jack, Climbed into the tree and plucked an apple. Jack took out a knife and carved a cross into the trunk of the tree. Trapped once again the Devil howled to be released, and told Jack he would give him 10 years of peace in exchange for his release. Jack, on the other hand, insisted the Devil never bother Jack again. The Devil agreed and was released.
Almost a year later, Jack's body was unable to keep up with his evil ways and Jack died. When Jack tried to enter Heaven he was told that because of his meanness he would not be allowed into Heaven. When Jack attempted to gain entry into Hell, the Devil, still smarting from years of humiliation refused Jack admission. However, being the kind Devil that he was, the Devil threw Jack a piece of coal to help Jack find his way in the dark of limbo. Jack put the piece of coal into a turnip and it became known as a jack-o’-lantern.
On All Hallows Eve if you look you can still see Jack's flame burning dimly as he searches for a home.