Category Archives: Posts

Pumpkin Pie Spice

Back in the 1950s, before pumpkin spice flavored everything existed, the spice company McCormick decided to package cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves together into something they called “Pumpkin Pie Spice” that would allow cooks to avoid measuring out their own individual spices for baking. Although this decision was not revolutionary by any means, we […]
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The WPA Federal Art Project

The Federal Art Project (which existed between 1935–43) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. It was created not as a cultural activity but as a relief measure to employ artists, which in turn, resulted in over 200,000 works of art during its existence. The WPA Federal Art […]
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World War II and Trick or Treating

At the time of World War II in the United States, the nation had a lot more to worry about than the somewhat newly conceived notion of trick or treating. Many goods and services were unavailable to citizens on the home front, and in an effort to help alleviate hoarding, price hikes, and angry citizens, […]
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Halloween Greeting Cards

Did you know Halloween greeting cards reached such popularity in the early 1900s, they were rivaled only by Christmas and birthday cards? Although the Halloween card concept was introduced in the 1890s, their popularity reached its peak between 1900 and 1915, eventually losing their dominance in the 30s when home telephones started becoming more commonplace. […]
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All Hallows’ Day

All Saint’s Day or All Hallows’ Day or Hallowmas is a day of remembrance for Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Protestants, and some other Christian faiths. It can be traced to the Pagan Feast of the Lemures, where Romans offered beans to appease the dead, and also the Celtic harvest festival of Samhain (itself similar to the […]
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Soul Cakes

One of the precursors to our modern day ritual of trick or treating is the custom of sharing soul cakes. A soul cake is a small round cake (more so a cookie for us in the United States) which is traditionally made for All Hallows’ Eve, All Saints’ Day, and All Souls’ Day to commemorate […]
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Preserve Halloween

Halloween is an oft-misunderstood time of the year with steep traditions in Gaelic and Celtic lore (among others), conjuring imagery of our world’s veil being lifted and allowing for Aos Si and other remnants of pagan beliefs and nature’s spirits to walk among us. For many, it is and was simply a time to celebrate […]
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