Masks (or masques) originated in 15th century renaissance Italy and were worn at bals masqués or during Carnival celebrations. Their popularity spread across Europe over the next several centuries. This photo is from a shop window in Venice.
The tradition of wearing masks at Halloween is rooted in the ancient Gaelic festival of Samhain, which celebrates the end of the harvest season. "The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped and the deceased would come back to life and cause havoc such as sickness or damaged crops. The festivals would frequently involve bonfires, where the bones of slaughtered livestock were thrown. Costumes and masks were also worn at the festivals in an attempt to mimic the spirits or placate them." [Source: Wikipedia]
Halloween is a huge deal in America, as we all know, and it has been commercialized like so many other holidays. It was slow to make its way to America because of the Puritan beliefs in which the country was rooted. It was the Irish potato famine in the mid 1800s, and the subsequent migration of two million Irish that brought the holiday to America. But apparently, even then, people did not wear costumes or masks at Halloween in America until after the 1900s, and the tradition of trick-or-treating for candy didn't start until the 1950s, where retailers and marketeers took it, and ran with it.
Now it's pretty much a total Hallmark holiday. But it's damn fun, isn't it?
Here in France, although there are signs of Halloween here and there, it has never really caught on the way it has in the Anglicized countries. So tonight I think we'll be joining up with a group of American ex-pats for a little pub crawl. Not in costume, and not begging door-to-door for candy, but just for the fun of being out and about. Plus tomorrow is a national holiday so everyone will be out enjoying themselves anyway.
Happy Halloween, all!
