HALLOWEEN CUPCAKE COOKIE JAR 8.5" Whimsy Home Magenta candy canister cute RARE
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HALLOWEEN CUPCAKE COOKIE JAR 8.5" Whimsy Home Magenta candy canister cute RARE. Check out our store for more great used, vintage, and new items! FOR SALE: An enchanting cupcake-shaped, Halloween-themed ceramic canister WHIMSY HOME BY MAGENTA HALLOWEEN CUPCAKE COOKIE JAR (8.5") DETAILS: From the source who brought us Rae Dunn! Add a touch of spooky charm to your kitchen with the Whimsy Home by Magenta Halloween Cupcake Cookie Jar. Measuring 8.5 inches tall , this adorable ceramic canister is perfect for storing your favorite Halloween treats, from small cookies to candy and everything in between. The whimsical design features a glossy orange frosting lid adorned with a hand-painted spider web and a creepy-crawly spider. The thick gasket on the lid ensures that your treats stay fresh and secure, while also making it easy to lift and replace. The beautiful glossy black ceramic base resembles a cupcake wrapper, adding to the charm of this unique piece. Whether you use it to store homemade goodies or everyday kitchen essentials like coffee beans or tea bags, this cookie jar is sure to become a beloved addition to your home. Not just for the kitchen, this versatile piece can also be used as a decorative accent on a mantel or as part of a centerpiece. Halloween enthusiasts will love displaying it year-round, storing all sorts of fun trinkets and treasures. Magenta's Whimsy Home collection is known for its whimsical and eccentric offerings, and this Halloween cupcake cookie jar is no exception. Magenta is
also well-known for introducing Rae Dunn's products to homes across the
globe, and this piece is a perfect example of their commitment to
offering unique and stylish home decor items. For easy maintenance, hand wash is recommended, and please be aware that the cookie jar may get hot in the microwave. A must-have for the Halloween fanatic! Makes a great gift for the Halloween enthusiast and collector, especially those who love sweet treats and/or love to bake. Fill with that special someone's favorite treats and gift them a "cupcake" on a special day. Dimensions & Weight: Height: approx. 8.5" Diameter: approx. 6.25" Compartment Height (black cup): approx. 4.5" Compartment Inner Rim Diameter: approx. 5.625" Weight: approx. 2 lb. 10 oz. CONDITION: In excellent, pre-owned condition. Cookie jar and gasket are very clean. Please see photos. To ensure safe delivery all items are carefully packaged before shipping out. THANK YOU FOR LOOKING. QUESTIONS? JUST ASK. *ALL PHOTOS AND TEXT ARE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF SIDEWAYS STAIRS CO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.* "At Magenta’s design studio and online store, our goal is simply to design, collaborate and curate. We center our home accessories, and lifestyle driven home decor around quality and a clear functional + innovative aesthetic. Our collections are constantly evolving as we explore in home everyday needs and discover new unique artists. As a home accessories lifestyle brand, we understand better living starts at home. Everything we do centers around the principles of design and collaboration, to curate collections for an elevated casual lifestyle. Established in 2002, our passion for creating stylish and memorable pieces continues to grow. Our collaborations with artisans and designers offer a wide range of authentic, sophisticated collections suited for a variety of different types of environments. Magenta’s collections innovate the take on traditional craftsmanship. Effort and imagination, create the modern artistry you see today. A passion for innovation – in both technique and the use of high-quality materials. Each collection is rich in detail and unmatched in quality. Our partners vary around the world, find our corporate products in an array of brick and mortar locations, or shop our boutique to find our newest elevated collections to add allure to your decor. Our product selection includes, seasonal, everyday, Magenta by Rae Dunn, tablewares, drinkware, giftware, pet essentials, home accessories, and more." (magenta-inc.com) "A cupcake (AmE), fairy cake (BrE), or bun (IrE) is a small cake designed to serve one person, which may be baked in a small thin paper or aluminum cup. As with larger cakes, frosting and other cake decorations such as fruit and candy may be applied. History Unfrosted cupcakes The earliest extant description of what is now often called a cupcake was in 1796, when a recipe for "a light cake to bake in small cups" was written in American Cookery by Amelia Simmons.[2][3] The earliest extant documentation of the term cupcake itself was in "Seventy-five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats" in 1828 in Eliza Leslie's Receipts cookbook.[4][5] In the early 19th century, there were two different uses for the term cup cake or cupcake. In previous centuries, before muffin tins were widely available, the cakes were often baked in individual pottery cups, ramekins, or molds and took their name from the cups they were baked in. This is the use of the name that has remained, and the name of "cupcake" is now given to any small, round cake that is about the size of a teacup. While English fairy cakes vary in size more than American cupcake, they are traditionally smaller and are rarely topped with elaborate frosting. The other kind of "cup cake" referred to a cake whose ingredients were measured by volume, using a standard-sized cup, instead of being weighed. Recipes whose ingredients were measured using a standard-sized cup could also be baked in cups; however, they were more commonly baked in tins as layers or loaves. In later years, when the use of volume measurements was firmly established in home kitchens, these recipes became known as 1234 cakes or quarter cakes, so called because they are made up of four ingredients: one cup of butter, two cups of sugar, three cups of flour, and four eggs.[6][7] They are plain yellow cakes, somewhat less rich and less expensive than pound cake, due to using about half as much butter and eggs compared to pound cake. The names of these two major classes of cakes were intended to signal the method to the baker; "cup cake" uses a volume measurement, and "pound cake" uses a weight measurement.[6] Recipes A standard cupcake uses the same basic ingredients as standard-sized cakes: butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. Nearly any recipe that is suitable for a layer cake can be used to bake cupcakes. The cake batter used for cupcakes may be flavored or have other ingredients stirred in, such as raisins, berries, nuts, or chocolate chips. Because their small size is more efficient for heat conduction, cupcakes bake much faster than a normal layered cake.[8] During baking, the volume of the batter initially increases due to the production of carbon dioxide, then decreases upon cooling due to the release of leavening gases.[9] Cupcakes may be topped with frosting or other cake decorations. Elaborately decorated cupcakes may be made for special occasions. They may be filled with frosting, fruit, or pastry cream. For bakers making a small number of filled cupcakes, this is usually accomplished by using a spoon or knife to scoop a small hole in the top of the cupcake. Another method is to just insert the pastry bag in the middle of the cupcake. In commercial bakeries, the filling may be injected using a syringe. Variants A cake in a mug (more commonly known as a mug cake) is a variant that gained popularity on many Internet cooking forums and mailing lists. The technique uses a mug as its cooking vessel and can be done in a microwave oven. The recipe often takes fewer than five minutes to prepare. A cake in a jar a glass jar is used instead of mugs, trays or liners. A butterfly cake is a variant of cupcake,[10][11][12][13] also called fairy cake for its fairy-like "wings".[14] The top of the cake is separated and split in half. A filling (e.g. icing or jam) is placed into the hole. The two halves are placed onto the filling to resemble wings. Other decorations, such as sprinkles and icing sugar, are often added over the cake. Elaborately frosted cupcakes may be made for special occasions such as baby showers, graduations, or holidays.[15] A cake ball or cake pop is an individual portion of cake, round like a chocolate truffle, that is coated in chocolate.[16] These are typically formed from crumbled cake mixed with frosting, rather than being baked as a sphere. A gourmet cupcake is a recent variant of cupcake. Gourmet cupcakes are large and filled cupcakes, based around a variety of flavor themes, such as Tiramisu or Cappuccino. In recent years there has been an increase in stores that sell only gourmet cupcakes.[17] As an alternative to a plate of individual cakes, some bakers place standard cupcakes into a pattern and frost them to create a large design, such as a basket of flowers or a turtle.[18] A cupcake cone is a cupcake baked in an ice cream cone. Pans and liners A cupcake pan, made of tinned steel. Originally, cupcakes were baked in heavy pottery cups. Some bakers still use individual ramekins, small coffee mugs, large tea cups, or other small ovenproof pottery-type dishes for baking cupcakes. Cupcakes are usually baked in muffin tins. These pans are most often made from metal, with or without a non-stick surface, and generally have six or twelve depressions or "cups". They may also be made from stoneware, silicone rubber, or other materials. A standard size cup is 3 inches (76 mm) in diameter and holds about 4 ounces (110 g), although pans for both miniature and jumbo size cupcakes exist.[21] Specialty pans may offer many different sizes and shapes. Cupcakes may be plain cakes without any frosting or other decoration. These were baked on a flat baking sheet in a double layer of paper cupcake liners. Individual patty cases, or cupcake liners, may be used in baking. These are typically round sheets of thin paper pressed into a round, fluted cup shape. Liners can facilitate the easy removal of the cupcake from the tin after baking, keep the cupcake more moist, and reduce the effort needed to clean the pan.[21] The use of liners is also considered a more sanitary option when cupcakes are being passed from hand to hand. Like cupcake pans, several sizes of paper liners are available, from miniature to jumbo. In addition to paper, cupcake liners may be made from very thin aluminum foil or, in a reusable version, silicone rubber. Because they can stand up on their own, foil and silicone liners can also be used on a flat baking sheet, which makes them popular among people who do not have a specialized muffin tin. Some of the largest paper liners are not fluted and are made out of thicker paper, often rolled at the top edge for additional strength, so that they can also stand independently for baking without a cupcake tin. Some bakers use two or three thin paper liners, nested together, to simulate the strength of a single foil cup. Liners, which are also called paper cases, come in a variety of sizes. Slightly different sizes are considered "standard" in different countries. Miniature cases are commonly 27 to 30 millimetres (1.1 to 1.2 in) in diameter at the base and 20 millimetres (0.79 in) tall. Standard-size cases range from 45 to 53 millimetres (1.8 to 2.1 in) in diameter at the base and are 30 to 35 millimetres (1.2 to 1.4 in) tall. Australian and Swedish bakers are accustomed to taller paper cases with a larger diameter at the top than American and British bakers.[22] The cupcone is a cupcake baked directly in an edible, flat-bottomed ice cream cone. Shops A cupcake shop in New Orleans, Louisiana In the early 21st century, a trend for cupcake shops, which are specialized bakeries that sell little or nothing except cupcakes, developed in the United States, playing off of the sense of nostalgia evoked by the cakes. In New York City, cupcake shops like Magnolia Bakery gained publicity in their appearances on popular television shows like HBO's Sex and the City.[23] Crumbs Bake Shop, a publicly traded business running the largest cupcake shop chain in the U.S., reached its peak stock price in 2011. Declining sales, due to competition from locally owned mom-and-pop specialty stores as well as increased competition from grocery stores, caused a sharp decline in the company's prospects and stock price in 2013.[24] Georgetown Cupcake was the first cupcakery to open in Washington, D.C. The cupcake shop gained widespread publicity after the 2010 premier of TLC's DC Cupcakes, a six-part reality show about the shop and its owners, sisters Sophie LaMontagne and Katherine Kallinis.[25] Based in Beverly Hills, California, Sprinkles Cupcakes is owned by Candace Nelson, who is also a star judge on the Food Network's Cupcake Wars, and her husband, Charles Nelson.[26] Sprinkles is the first cupcake shop to debut a cupcake ATM, which could hold up to 350 cupcakes at one time.[27] Themes Periodic Table of Cupcakes Cupcakes are sometimes used to celebrate and illustrate specific events or themes. Popular themes include unicorns and mermaids.[28] Holiday-themed cupcakes, such as reindeer at Christmas, are popular in grocery stores.[28] Among educational themes, a periodic table of cupcakes is a collection of decorated cupcakes arranged in order to represent the atomic elements of the periodic table.[29] The cupcakes are usually frosted with the appropriate atomic number and chemical symbol.[30] The first person to bake and ice a set of cupcakes organized and colored to represent the elements of the periodic table was Ida Freund in 1908.[31] The first woman to hold a post as a university chemistry lecturer in the UK, Freund used the cupcakes as a pedagogical tool to engage and amuse her female students at Cambridge University. Cupcake kits Cupcake kits are kits which provide a set of parts needed to allow an amateur baker to produce a themed batch of cupcakes, often to tie in with themed parties. Examples of themes include princess, pirate, fairies and dinosaurs. Typically kits include appropriately decorated cupcake cases and cupcake toppers, but some kits are available which also include the ingredients needed for baking. Cupcake kits were introduced in 2008 by the partyware company Meri Meri[33] and continue to be popular items in kitchenware stores." (wikipedia.org) "Halloween is a celebration observed on October 31, the day before the feast of All Hallows, also known as Hallowmas or All Saint's Day. The celebrations and observances of this day occur primarily in regions of the Western world, albeit with some traditions varying significantly between geographical areas. Origins Halloween is the eve of vigil before the Western Christian feast of All Hallows (or All Saints) which is observed on November 1. This day begins the triduum of Hallowtide, which culminates with All Souls' Day. In the Middle Ages, many Christians held a folk belief that All Hallows' Eve was the "night where the veil between the material world and the afterlife was at its most transparent".[2] Americas Canada Scottish emigration, primarily to Canada before 1870 and to the United States thereafter, brought the Scottish version of the holiday to each country. The earliest known reference to ritual begging on Halloween in English speaking North America occurs in 1911 when a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario reported that it was normal for the smaller children to go street "guising" on Halloween between 6 and 7 p.m., visiting shops, and neighbours to be rewarded with nuts and candies for their rhymes and songs.[3] Canadians spend more on candy at Halloween than at any time apart from Christmas. Halloween is also a time for charitable contributions. Until 2006 when UNICEF moved to an online donation system, collecting small change was very much a part of Canadian trick-or-treating.[4] Quebec offers themed tours of parts of the old city and historic cemeteries in the area.[5] In 2014 the hamlet of Arviat, Nunavut moved their Halloween festivities to the community hall, cancelling the practice of door-to-door "trick or treating", due to the risk of roaming polar bears.[6][7] In British Columbia it is a tradition to set off fireworks at Halloween.[8] United States In the United States, Halloween did not become a holiday until the 19th century. The transatlantic migration of nearly two million Irish following the Great Irish Famine (1845–1849) brought the holiday to the United States. American librarian and author Ruth Edna Kelley wrote the first book length history of the holiday in the U.S., The Book of Hallowe'en (1919), and references souling in the chapter "Hallowe'en in America": "All Hallowe'en customs in the United States are borrowed directly or adapted from those of other countries. The taste in Hallowe'en festivities now is to study old traditions, and hold a Scotch party, using Robert Burns's poem Halloween as a guide; or to go a-souling as the English used. In short, no custom that was once honored at Hallowe'en is out of fashion now."[9] The main event for children of modern Halloween in the United States and Canada is trick-or-treating, in which children, teenagers, (sometimes) young adults, and parents (accompanying their children) disguise themselves in costumes and go door-to-door in their neighborhoods, ringing each doorbell and yelling "Trick or treat!" to solicit a gift of candy or similar items.[10] Teenagers and adults will more frequently attend Halloween-themed costume parties typically hosted by friends or themed events at nightclubs either on Halloween itself or a weekend close to the holiday. At the turn of the 20th century, Halloween had turned into a night of vandalism, with destruction of property and cruelty to animals and people.[11] Around 1912, the Boy Scouts, Boys Clubs, and other neighborhood organizations came together to encourage a safe celebration that would end the destruction that had become so common on this night. The commercialization of Halloween in the United States did not start until the 20th century, beginning perhaps with Halloween postcards (featuring hundreds of designs), which were most popular between 1905 and 1915.[12] Dennison Manufacturing Company (which published its first Halloween catalog in 1909) and the Beistle Company were pioneers in commercially made Halloween decorations, particularly die-cut paper items.[13][14] German manufacturers specialised in Halloween figurines that were exported to the United States in the period between the two World Wars. Halloween is now the United States' second most popular holiday (after Christmas) for decorating; the sale of candy and costumes is also extremely common during the holiday, which is marketed to children and adults alike. The National Confectioners Association (NCA) reported in 2005 that 80% of American adults planned to give out candy to trick-or-treaters.[15] The NCA reported in 2005 that 93% of children planned to go trick-or-treating.[16] According to the National Retail Federation, the most popular Halloween costume themes for adults are, in order: witch, pirate, vampire, cat, and clown.[17][when?] Each year, popular costumes are dictated by various current events and pop culture icons. On many college campuses, Halloween is a major celebration, with the Friday and Saturday nearest 31 October hosting many costume parties. Other popular activities are watching horror movies and visiting haunted houses. Total spending on Halloween is estimated to be $8.4 billion. Events Many theme parks stage Halloween events annually, such as Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando, Mickey's Halloween Party and Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Disneyland Resort and Magic Kingdom respectively, and Knott's Scary Farm at Knott's Berry Farm. One of the more notable parades is New York's Village Halloween Parade. Each year approximately 50,000 costumed marchers parade up Sixth Avenue.[19] Salem, Massachusetts, site of the Salem witch trials, celebrates Halloween throughout the month of October with tours, plays, concerts, and other activities.[20] A number of venues in New York's lower Hudson Valley host various events to showcase a connection with Washington Irving's Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Van Cortlandt Manor stages the "Great Jack o' Lantern Blaze" featuring thousands of lighted carved pumpkins.[21] Some locales have had to modify their celebrations due to disruptive behavior on the part of young adults. Madison, Wisconsin hosts an annual Halloween celebration. In 2002, due to the large crowds in the State Street area, a riot broke out, necessitating the use of mounted police and tear gas to disperse the crowds.[22] Likewise, Chapel Hill, site of the University of North Carolina, has a downtown street party which in 2007 drew a crowd estimated at 80,000 on downtown Franklin Street, in a town with a population of just 54,000. In 2008, in an effort to curb the influx of out-of-towners, mayor Kevin Foy put measures in place to make commuting downtown more difficult on Halloween.[23] In 2014, large crowds of college students rioted at the Keene, New Hampshire Pumpkin Fest, whereupon the City Council voted not to grant a permit for the following year's festival,[24] and organizers moved the event to Laconia for 2015.[25] Brazil Main article: Saci Day The Brazilian non-governmental organization named Amigos do Saci created Saci Day as a Brazilian parallel in opposition to the "American-influenced" holiday of Halloween that saw minor celebration in Brazil. The Saci is a mischievous evil character in Brazilian folklore. Saci Day is commemorated on October 31, the same day as Halloween, and is an official holiday in the state of São Paulo. Despite official recognition in São Paulo and several other municipalities throughout the country, few Brazilians celebrate it.[26][27] Dominican Republic In the Dominican Republic it has been gaining popularity, largely due to many Dominicans living in the United States and then bringing the custom to the island. In the larger cities of Santiago or Santo Domingo it has become more common to see children trick-or-treating, but in smaller towns and villages it is almost entirely absent, partly due to religious opposition. Tourist areas such as Sosua and Punta Cana feature many venues with Halloween celebrations, predominantly geared towards adults.[28] Mexico (Día de Muertos) Observed in Mexico and Mexican communities abroad, Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos) celebrations arose from the syncretism of indigenous Aztec traditions with the Christian Hallowtide of the Spanish colonizers. Flower decorations, altars and candies are part of this holiday season. The holiday is distinct from Halloween in its origins and observances, but the two have become associated because of cross-border connections between Mexico and the United States through popular culture and migration, as the two celebrations occur at the same time of year and may involve similar imagery, such as skeletons. Halloween and Día de Muertos have influenced each other in some areas of the United States and Mexico, with Halloween traditions such as costumes and face-painting becoming increasingly common features of the Mexican festival. Asia China The Chinese celebrate the "Hungry Ghost Festival" in mid-July, when it is customary to float river lanterns to remember those who have died. By contrast, Halloween is often called "All Saints' Festival" (Wànshèngjié, 萬聖節), or (less commonly) "All Saints' Eve" (Wànshèngyè, 萬聖夜) or "Eve of All Saints' Day" (Wànshèngjié Qiányè, 萬聖節前夕), stemming from the term "All Hallows Eve" (hallow referring to the souls of holy saints). Chinese Christian churches hold religious celebrations. Non-religious celebrations are dominated by expatriate Americans or Canadians, but costume parties are also popular for Chinese young adults, especially in large cities. Hong Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park (Halloween Bash) host annual Halloween shows. Mainland China has been less influenced by Anglo traditions than Hong Kong and Halloween is generally considered "foreign". As Halloween has become more popular globally it has also become more popular in China, however, particularly amongst children attending private or international schools with many foreign teachers from North America.[32] Hong Kong Traditional "door-to-door" trick or treating is not commonly practiced in Hong Kong due to the vast majority of Hong Kong residents living in high-rise apartment blocks. However, in many buildings catering to expatriates, Halloween parties and limited trick or treating is arranged by the management. Instances of street-level trick or treating in Hong Kong occur in ultra-exclusive gated housing communities such as The Beverly Hills populated by Hong Kong's super-rich and in expatriate areas like Discovery Bay and the Red Hill Peninsula. For the general public, there are events at Tsim Sha Tsui's Avenue of the Stars that try to mimic the celebration.[33] In the Lan Kwai Fong area of Hong Kong, known as a major entertainment district for the international community, a Halloween celebration and parade has taken place for over 20 years, with many people dressing in costume and making their way around the streets to various drinking establishments.[34] Many international schools also celebrate Halloween with costumes, and some put an academic twist on the celebrations such as the "Book-o-ween" celebrations at Hong Kong International School where students dress as favorite literary characters. Japan Halloween arrived in Japan mainly as a result of American pop culture. In 2009 it was celebrated only by expats.[35] The wearing of elaborate costumes by young adults at night has since become popular in areas such as Amerikamura in Osaka and Shibuya in Tokyo, where, in October 2012, about 1700 people dressed in costumes to take part in the Halloween Festival.[36] Celebrations have become popular with young adults as a costume party and club event.[37] Trick-or-treating for Japanese children has taken hold in some areas. By the mid-2010s, Yakuza were giving snacks and sweets to children.[38] Philippines The period from 31 October through 2 November is a time for remembering dead family members and friends. Many Filipinos travel back to their hometowns for family gatherings of festive remembrance.[39] Trick-or-treating is gradually replacing the dying tradition of Pangangaluluwâ, a local analogue of the old English custom of souling. People in the provinces still observe Pangangaluluwâ by going in groups to every house and offering a song in exchange for money or food. The participants, usually children, would sing carols about the souls in Purgatory, with the abúloy (alms for the dead) used to pay for Masses for these souls. Along with the requested alms, householders sometimes gave the children suman (rice cakes). During the night, various small items, such as clothing, plants, etc., would "mysteriously" disappear, only to be discovered the next morning in the yard or in the middle of the street. In older times, it was believed that the spirits of ancestors and loved ones visited the living on this night, manifesting their presence by taking an item.[40] As the observation of Christmas traditions in the Philippines begins as early as September, it is a common sight to see Halloween decorations next to Christmas decorations in urban settings.[citation needed] Saudi Arabia Starting 2022, Saudi Arabia began to celebrate Halloween in the public in Riyadh under its Vision 2030[41] Singapore Around mid-July Singapore Chinese celebrate "Zhong Yuan Jie / Yu Lan Jie" (Hungry Ghosts Festival), a time when it is believed that the spirits of the dead come back to visit their families.[42] In recent years, Halloween celebrations are becoming more popular, with influence from the west.[43] In 2012, there were over 19 major Halloween celebration events around Singapore.[44] SCAPE's Museum of Horrors held its fourth scare fest in 2014.[45] Universal Studios Singapore hosts "Halloween Horror Nights".[46] South Korea The popularity of the holiday among young people in South Korea comes from English academies and corporate marketing strategies, and was influenced by Halloween celebrations in Japan and America.[47] Despite not being a public holiday, it is celebrated in different areas around Seoul, especially Itaewon and Hongdae.[48] Taiwan Traditionally, Taiwanese people celebrate "Zhong Yuan Pudu Festival", where spirits that do not have any surviving family members to pay respects to them, are able to roam the Earth during the seventh lunar month. It is known as Ghost Month.[49] While some have compared it to Halloween, it has no relations and the overall meaning is different. In recent years, mainly as a result of American pop culture, Halloween is becoming more widespread amongst young Taiwanese people. Halloween events are held in many areas across Taipei, such as Xinyi Special District and Shilin District where there are many international schools and expats.[50] Halloween parties are celebrated differently based on different age groups. One of the most popular Halloween event is the Tianmu Halloween Festival, which started in 2009 and is organised by the Taipei City Office of Commerce.[51] The 2-day annual festivity has attracted more than 240,000 visitors in 2019. During this festival, stores and businesses in Tianmu place pumpkin lanterns outside their stores to identify themselves as trick-or-treat destinations for children. Oceania Australia Halloween display in Sydney, Australia Non-religious celebrations of Halloween modelled on North American festivities are growing increasingly popular in Australia despite not being traditionally part of the culture.[53] Some Australians criticise this intrusion into their culture.[54][55] Many dislike the commercialisation and American pop-culture influence.[55][56] Some supporters of the event place it alongside other cultural traditions such as Saint Patrick's Day.[57] Halloween historian and author of Halloween: Pagan Festival to Trick or Treat, Mark Oxbrow says while Halloween may have been popularised by depictions of it in US movies and TV shows, it is not a new entry into Australian culture.[58] His research shows Halloween was first celebrated in Australia in Castlemaine, Victoria, in 1858, which was 43 years before Federation. His research shows Halloween traditions were brought to the country by Scottish miners who settled in Victoria during the Gold Rush. Because of the polarised opinions about Halloween, growing numbers of people are decorating their letter boxes to indicate that children are welcome to come knocking. In the past decade, the popularity of Halloween in Australia has grown.[59] In 2020, the first magazine dedicated solely to celebrating Halloween in Australia was launched, called Hallozween,[60] and in 2021, sales of costumes, decorations and carving pumpkins soared to an all-time high[61] despite the effect of the global COVID-19 pandemic limiting celebrations. New Zealand In New Zealand, Halloween is not celebrated to the same extent as in North America, although in recent years non-religious celebrations have become more common.[62][63] Trick-or-treat has become increasingly popular with minors in New Zealand, despite being not a "British or Kiwi event" and the influence of American globalisation.[64] One criticism of Halloween in New Zealand is that it is overly commercialised - by The Warehouse, for example.[64] Europe A jack-o'-lantern in Finland Over the years, Halloween has become more popular in Europe and has been partially ousting some older customs like the Rübengeistern [de] (English: turnip ghosts, beet spirit), Martinisingen, and others.[65] France Halloween was introduced to most of France in the 1990s.[66] In Brittany, Halloween had been celebrated for centuries and is known as Kalan Goañv (Night of Spirits). During this time, it is believed that the spirits of the dead return to the world of the living led by the Ankou, the collector of souls.[67] Also during this time, Bretons bake Kornigou, a pastry shaped like the antlers of a stag.[citation needed] Germany Halloween was not generally observed in Germany prior to the 1990s, but has been increasing in popularity. It has been associated with the influence of United States culture, and "Trick or Treating" (German: Süßes sonst gibt's Saures) has been occurring in various German cities, especially in areas such as the Dahlem neighborhood in Berlin, which was part of the American zone during the Cold War. Today, Halloween in Germany brings in 200 million euros a year, through multiple industries.[68] Halloween is celebrated by both children and adults. Adults celebrate at themed costume parties and clubs, while children go trick or treating. Complaints of vandalism associated with Halloween "Tricks" are increasing, particularly from many elderly Germans unfamiliar with "Trick or Treating".[69] Greece In Greece, Halloween is not celebrated widely and it is a working day, with little public interest, since the early 2000s. Recently, it has somewhat increased in popularity as both a secular celebration; although Carnival is vastly more popular among Greeks. For very few, Halloween is[when?] considered the fourth most popular festival in the country after Christmas, Easter, and Carnival. Retail businesses, bars, nightclubs, and certain theme parks might organize Halloween parties. This boost in popularity has been attributed to the influence of western consumerism. Since it is a working day, Halloween is not celebrated on 31 October unless the date falls on a weekend, in which case it is celebrated by some during the last weekend before All Hallow's Eve, usually in the form of themed house parties and retail business decorations. Trick-or-treating is not widely popular because similar activities are already undertaken during Carnival. The slight rise in popularity of Halloween in Greece has led to some increase in its popularity throughout nearby countries in the Balkans and Cyprus. In the latter, there has been an increase in Greek-Cypriot retailers selling Halloween merchandise every year.[70] Ireland On Halloween night, adults and children dress up as various monsters and creatures, light bonfires, and enjoy fireworks displays; Derry in Northern Ireland is home to the largest organized Halloween celebration on the island, in the form of a street carnival and fireworks display. Games are often played, such as bobbing for apples, in which apples, peanuts, other nuts and fruits, and some small coins are placed in a basin of water.[73] Everyone takes turns catching as many items possible using only their mouths. Another common game involves the hands-free eating of an apple hung on a string attached to the ceiling. Games of divination are also played at Halloween.[74] Colcannon is traditionally served on Halloween.[73] 31 October is the busiest day of the year for the Emergency Services.[75] Bangers and fireworks are illegal in the Republic of Ireland; however, they are commonly smuggled in from Northern Ireland where they are legal.[76] Bonfires are frequently built around Halloween.[77] Trick-or-treating is popular amongst children on 31 October and Halloween parties and events are commonplace. October Holiday occurs on the last Monday of October and may fall on Halloween. Its Irish names are Lá Saoire i Mí Dheireadh Fómhair or Lá Saoire Oíche Shamhna, the latter translating literally as 'Halloween holiday'. Italy In Italy, All Saints' Day is a public holiday. On 2 November, Tutti i Morti or All Souls' Day, families remember loved ones who have died. These are still the main holidays.[78] In some Italian tradition, children would awake on the morning of All Saints or All Souls to find small gifts from their deceased ancestors. In Sardinia, Concas de Mortu (Head of the deads), carved pumpkins that look like skulls, with candles inside are displayed.[79][80][81] Halloween is, however, gaining in popularity, and involves costume parties for young adults.[82] The traditions to carve pumpkins in a skull figure, lighting candles inside, or to beg for small gifts for the deads e.g. sweets or nuts, also belong to North Italy.[83] In Veneto these carved pumpkins were called lumère (lanterns) or suche dei morti (deads' pumpkins).[84] Poland Since the fall of Communism in 1989, Halloween has become increasingly popular in Poland. Particularly, it is celebrated among younger people. The influx of Western tourists and expats throughout the 1990s introduced the costume party aspect of Hallowe'en celebrations, particularly in clubs and at private house parties. Door-to-door trick or treating is not common. Pumpkin carving is becoming more evident, following a strong North American version of the tradition. Poland is the biggest pumpkin producer in the European Union[85]. Romania Romanians observe the Feast of St. Andrew, patron saint of Romania, on 30 November. On St. Andrew's Eve ghosts are said to be about. A number of customs related to divination, in other places connected to Halloween, are associated with this night.[86] However, with the popularity of Dracula in western Europe, around Halloween the Romanian tourist industry promotes trips to locations connected to the historical Vlad Tepeș and the more fanciful Dracula of Bram Stoker. One of the most successful Halloween Parties in Transylvania takes place in Sighișoara, the citadel where Vlad the Impaler was born. This party include magician shows, ballet show and The Ritual Killing of a Living Dead[87] The biggest Halloween party in Transylvania take place at Bran Castle, aka Dracula's Castle from Transylvania.[88] Both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches in Romania discourage Halloween celebrations, advising their parishioners to focus rather on the "Day of the Dead" on 1 November, when special religious observances are held for the souls of the deceased.[89] Opposition by religious and nationalist groups, including calls to ban costumes and decorations in schools in 2015, have been met with criticism.[90][91][92] Halloween parties are popular in bars and nightclubs.[93] Russia In Russia, most Christians are Orthodox, and in the Orthodox Church, Halloween is on the Saturday after Pentecost, and therefore 4 to 5 months before western Halloween. Celebration of western Halloween began in the 1990s around the downfall of the Soviet regime, when costume and ghoulish parties spread in night clubs throughout Russia. Halloween is generally celebrated by younger generations and is not widely celebrated in civic society (e.g. theaters or libraries). In fact, Halloween is among the Western celebrations that the Russian government and politicians—which have grown increasingly anti-Western in the early 2010s—are trying to eliminate from public celebration.[94][95][96] Spain In Spain, celebrations involve eating castanyes (roasted chestnuts), panellets (special almond balls covered in pine nuts), moniatos (roast or baked sweet potato), Ossos de Sant cake and preserved fruit (candied or glazed fruit). Moscatell (Muscat) is drunk from porrons.[97] Around the time of this celebration, it is common for street vendors to sell hot toasted chestnuts wrapped in newspaper. In many places, confectioners often organise raffles of chestnuts and preserved fruit. The tradition of eating these foods comes from the fact that during All Saints' night, on the eve of All Souls' Day in the Christian tradition, bell ringers would ring bells in commemoration of the dead into the early morning. Friends and relatives would help with this task, and everyone would eat these foods for sustenance.[98] Other versions of the story state that the Castanyada originates at the end of the 18th century and comes from the old funeral meals, where other foods, such as vegetables and dried fruit were not served. The meal had the symbolic significance of a communion with the souls of the departed: while the chestnuts were roasting, prayers would be said for the person who had just died.[99] The festival is usually depicted with the figure of a castanyera: an old lady, dressed in peasant's clothing and wearing a headscarf, sitting behind a table, roasting chestnuts for street sale. In recent years, the Castanyada has become a revetlla of All Saints and is celebrated in the home and community. It is the first of the four main school festivals, alongside Christmas, Carnestoltes and St George's Day, without reference to ritual or commemoration of the dead.[100] Galicia is known to have the second largest Halloween or Samain festivals in Europe and during this time, a drink called Queimada is often served.[citation needed] Sweden On All Hallow's Eve, a Requiem Mass is widely attended every year at Uppsala Cathedral, part of the Lutheran Church of Sweden.[101] Throughout the period of Allhallowtide, starting with All Hallow's Eve, Swedish families visit churchyards and adorn the graves of their family members with lit candles and wreaths fashioned from pine branches.[101] Among children, the practice of dressing in costume and collecting candy gained popularity beginning around 2005.[102] The American traditions of Halloween have however been met with skepticism among the older generations, in part due to conflicting with the Swedish traditions on All Hallow's Eve and in part due to their commercialism.[103] In Sweden, All Saint's Day/ All Hallow's Eve is observed on the Saturday occurring between October 31 and November 6, whereas Halloween is observed on October 31, every year. Switzerland In Switzerland, Halloween, after first becoming popular in 1999, is on the wane, and is most popular with young adults who attend parties. Switzerland already has a "festival overload" and even though Swiss people like to dress up for any occasion, they do prefer a traditional element, such as in the Fasnacht tradition of chasing away winter using noise and masks.[104][105] United Kingdom and Crown dependencies England See also: Mischief Night and Allantide In the past, on All Souls' Eve families would stay up late, and little "soul cakes" were eaten. At the stroke of midnight, there was solemn silence among households, which had candles burning in every room to guide the souls back to visit their earthly homes and a glass of wine on the table to refresh them. The tradition of giving soul cakes that originated in Great Britain and Ireland was known as souling, often seen as the origin of modern trick or treating in North America, and souling continued in parts of England as late as the 1930s, with children going from door to door singing songs and saying prayers for the dead in return for cakes or money.[106] Trick or treating and other Halloween celebrations are extremely popular, with shops decorated with witches and pumpkins, and young people attending costume parties.[107] Scotland The name Halloween is first attested in the 16th century as a Scottish shortening of the fuller All-Hallow-Even, that is, the night before All Hallows' Day.[108] Dumfries poet John Mayne's 1780 poem made note of pranks at Halloween "What fearfu' pranks ensue!". Scottish poet Robert Burns was influenced by Mayne's composition, and portrayed some of the customs in his poem Halloween (1785).[109] According to Burns, Halloween is "thought to be a night when witches, devils, and other mischief-making beings are all abroad on their baneful midnight errands".[110] Among the earliest record of Guising at Halloween in Scotland is in 1895, where masqueraders in disguise carrying lanterns made out of scooped out turnips, visit homes to be rewarded with cakes, fruit and money.[111] If children approached the door of a house, they were given offerings of food. The children's practice of "guising", going from door to door in costumes for food or coins, is a traditional Halloween custom in Scotland.[3] These days children who knock on their neighbours doors have to sing a song or tell stories for a gift of sweets or money.[112] A traditional Halloween game includes apple "dooking",[113] or "dunking" or (i.e., retrieving one from a bucket of water using only one's mouth), and attempting to eat, while blindfolded, a treacle/jam-coated scone hanging on a piece of string. Traditional customs and lore include divination practices, ways of trying to predict the future. A traditional Scottish form of divining one's future spouse is to carve an apple in one long strip, then toss the peel over one's shoulder. The peel is believed to land in the shape of the first letter of the future spouse's name.[114] In Kilmarnock, Halloween is also celebrated on the last Friday of the month, and is known colloquially as "Killieween".[115] Isle of Man See also: Hop-tu-Naa Halloween is a popular traditional occasion on the Isle of Man, where it is known as Hop-tu-Naa. Elsewhere Saint Helena In Saint Helena, Halloween is actively celebrated, largely along the American model, with ghosts, skeletons, devils, vampires, witches and the like. Imitation pumpkins are used instead of real pumpkins because the pumpkin harvesting season in Saint Helena's hemisphere is not near Halloween. Trick-or-treating is widespread. Party venues provide entertainment for adults." (wikipedia.org) "Rae Dunn (born 1962 or 1963),[1][2] is an American ceramist best known for her eponymous brand of ceramic wares and pottery. Early life Rae Dunn was born in Fresno, California, where she grew up.[3][4] Her brand's about page describes her as a classical pianist and painter.[5] Dunn began taking piano lessons at the age of four.[1] In her youth, Dunn and her siblings were in a band named "The Dunns".[6] She earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from her hometown Fresno State in Industrial Design before moving to San Francisco in the 1980s.[4][6] While in San Francisco, Dunn worked in retail, graphic design, and fashion, and also opened a French bistro in Pacific Heights with her then-fiancé.[4] Working with clay Dunn later found a passion for clay art while working as a waitress in 1994.[4][5] Her waitressing job allowed her free time during the day, which she used to go exploring.[4] Then in her 30s, while walking in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, Dunn came across the Sharon Art Studio.[1] The public space offered workshops and classes; Dunn signed up for a clay art class after flipping a coin.[6] Dunn's work is "strongly influenced by the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi".[1][5] Country Living described Dunn's art style as "simple, cozy, and organic."[1] In 1995, she began to pursue ceramics full-time and founded her eponymous brand.[4] Her ceramic work was featured in Martha Stewart Living.[1] In 2013, Dunn opened her own studio and gallery.[7] Brand Main article: Rae Dunn (brand) After deciding to pursue ceramic art as a full-time career, she founded her eponymous brand of ceramic wares in 1995.[4] She later secured a licensing deal with Magenta, Inc. and since 2003, the ceramics manufacturer has mass-produced her line of wares.[4][6][8] The brand gained increased popularity in the 2010s due to a confluence of the "farmhouse chic" trend and rise of social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook.[8][9] The brand's wares are known for featuring simple designs and one- or two-word phrases, like "yum" or "family" emblazoned on them.[2][9][10] These phrases are also labeled with the brand's signature font, a "delicate, unadorned, hand-crafted" typeface.[2][11] White or cream-colored ceramic mugs and containers have been cited by media outlets as among the brand's most popular.[2][12] Products from the brand have been cited to be considerably coveted, with shoppers of the brand lining up early prior to a store's opening in order to acquire products.[9][13] Dunn's brand has attracted a cult following, with shoppers being nicknamed "Rae Dunners" and "Rae Dunn Women" and labeled as "rabid" and "feral" by media outlets.[1][12][14] Additionally, "a voraciously focused secondary market of resellers, traders, and collectors has grown around the brand."[8] Dunn herself has acknowledged the following behind her brand, referring to it as a "weird phenomenon" that she never intended to cause.[2] She also expressed being sad and upset about resellers, stating "I wish I could sell more of my handmade stuff. But when I do it, I know that people are buying it and reselling it for hundreds of dollars more," adding "I feel like I'm just being used."[2] Other ventures Since launching her brand, Dunn has ventured into writing. She has authored three books.[1] Personal life Dunn is married and resides in the San Francisco Bay Area,[1] having been based in Berkeley and Emeryville.[7][4] She also has annual residencies in France. Dunn has been cited as "shy", "quiet", and "an introvert" in her personal life.[1][2] Bibliography Wilma's World: Good Advice from a Good Dog (2015) France: Inspiration du Jour (2017) In Pursuit of Inspiration: Trust Your Instincts and Make More Art (2019)" (wikipedia.org) "Cookie jars are utilitarian or decorative ceramic or glass jars often found in American and Canadian kitchens. In the United Kingdom, they are known as biscuit barrels[1] or biscuit jars.[2] If they are cans made out of tinplate, they are called biscuit tins.[3] While used to store actual cookies or biscuits, they are sometimes employed to store other edible items like candy or dog treats, or non-edible items like currency (in the manner of a piggy bank). Other uses Sometimes the phrase "keep your hands out of the cookie jar" is a way of telling someone to stay out of other people's business, even when doing so seems lucrative. In financial reporting, "cookie jar accounting" is the practice of increasing reserves during good years and eating them up during bad years. This process of income smoothing is totally ethical, but non-disclosure - especially to consistently reach performance targets - is illegal. In computer programming, a "cookie jar" is an area of memory set aside for storing cookies. Popular culture "Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar?" is an elementary school song. The American band Gym Class Heroes wrote a song called "Cookie Jar" which was released as a single in 2008. Jack Johnson (musician) wrote a song called "Cookie Jar" which was released on the album On and On (2003) South Korean girl group Red Velvet released their debut Japanese EP titled #Cookie Jar in 2017 along with its lead single of the same name." (wikipedia.org) "A biscuit, in most English speaking countries, is a flour-based baked and shaped food item. Biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be savoury, similar to crackers. Types of biscuit include sandwich biscuits, digestive biscuits, ginger biscuits, shortbread biscuits, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate-coated marshmallow treats, Anzac biscuits, biscotti, and speculaas. In most of North America, nearly all hard sweet biscuits are called "cookies" and savoury biscuits are called "crackers", while the term "biscuit" is used for a soft, leavened quick bread similar to a less sweet version of a scone. Variations in meaning of biscuit In most of the English-speaking world, a "biscuit" is a small, hard baked product that would be called either a "cookie" or a "cracker" in the United States and sometimes in Canada. "Biscuits" in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and Ireland are usually hard and may be savoury or sweet, such as chocolate biscuits, digestives, hobnobs, ginger nuts, rich tea, shortbread, bourbons, and custard creams. The term "cookie" typically refers to only one type of biscuit (the sweeter baked dough typically containing chocolate chips or raisins); however, it may also locally refer to specific types of biscuits or breads.[1] In the United States and some parts of Canada, a "biscuit" is a quick bread, somewhat similar to an unsweetened scone, but with a texture more 'fluffy and flaky' vs. 'sturdy and crumbly'.[2] Biscuits may be referred to as either "baking powder biscuits"[3] or "buttermilk biscuits" if buttermilk is used rather than milk as a liquid, as buttermilk is not only flavorful but acidic (allowing use of baking soda vs. baking powder which is a mixture of baking soda with an acidifier and buffer). A Southern regional variation using the term "beaten biscuit" (or in New England "sea biscuit") is closer to hardtack than soft dough biscuits.[4] In Canada, the term "biscuit" can simultaneously refer to what is commonly identified as a biscuit in either the United Kingdom or the United States. The Canadian Oxford Dictionary describes each word in reference to the other; "biscuit" can mean "Brit. a cookie", whilst "cookie" can mean "N. Amer. a small sweet biscuit". "Tea biscuit" is also a standard Canadianism for the "North American" biscuit....Etymology The modern-day difference in the English language regarding the word "biscuit" is remarked on by British cookery writer Elizabeth David in English Bread and Yeast Cookery, in the chapter "Yeast Buns and Small Tea Cakes" and section "Soft Biscuits". She writes, It is interesting that these soft biscuits (such as scones) are common to Scotland and Guernsey, and that the term biscuit as applied to a soft product was retained in these places, and in America, whereas in England it has completely died out. The Old French word bescuit is derived from the Latin words bis (twice) and coquere, coctus (to cook, cooked), and, hence, means "twice-cooked".[7][n 1] This is because biscuits were originally cooked in a twofold process: first baked, and then dried out in a slow oven.[8] This term was then adapted into English in the 14th century during the Middle Ages, in the Middle English word bisquite, to represent a hard, twice-baked product[9] (see the German Zwieback). It finally evolved into biscuit to follow the modern french spelling.[9] The Dutch language from around 1703 had adopted the word koekje ("little cake") to have a similar meaning for a similar hard, baked product.[10] The difference between the secondary Dutch word and that of Latin origin is that, whereas the koekje is a cake that rises during baking, the biscuit, which has no raising agent, in general does not (see gingerbread/ginger biscuit), except for the expansion of heated air during baking.[citation needed] Another cognate Dutch form is beschuit, which is a circular and brittle grain product usually covered by savoury or sweet toppings and eaten at breakfast. When continental Europeans began to emigrate to colonial North America, the two words and their "same but different" meanings began to clash. The words cookie or cracker became the words of choice to mean a hard, baked product. Further confusion has been added by the adoption of the word biscuit for a small leavened bread popular in the United States. According to the American English dictionary Merriam-Webster, a cookie is a "small flat or slightly raised cake".[10] A biscuit is "any of various hard or crisp dry baked product" similar to the American English terms cracker or cookie,[9] or "a small quick bread made from dough that has been rolled out and cut or dropped from a spoon".[9] In a number of other European languages, terms derived from the Latin bis coctus refer instead to yet another baked product, similar to the sponge cake; e.g. Spanish bizcocho, German Biskuit, Russian бисквит (biskvit), Polish biszkopt. In modern Italian usage, the term biscotto is used to refer to any type of hard twice-baked biscuit, and not only to the cantuccini as in English-speaking countries. It is the same for the modern french term biscuit....Modern "hard" biscuits Most modern biscuits can trace their origins back to either the hardtack ship's biscuit or the creative art of the baker: Ship's biscuit derived: Digestive, rich tea, hobnobs, Garibaldi. Baker's art: Biscuit rose de Reims Biscuits today can be savoury (crackers) or sweet. Most are small, at around 5 cm (2.0 in) in diameter, and flat. Sandwich-style biscuits consist of two biscuits sandwiching a layer of "creme" or icing, such as the custard cream, or a layer of jam (as in the biscuits that are known as "Jammie Dodgers" in the United Kingdom). Dunking a biscuit Sweet biscuits are commonly eaten as a snack food, and are, in general, made with wheat flour or oats, and sweetened with sugar or honey. Varieties may contain chocolate, fruit, jam, nuts, ginger, or even be used to sandwich other fillings. The digestive biscuit and rich tea have a strong identity in British culture as the traditional accompaniment to a cup of tea and are regularly eaten as such.[28] Some tea drinkers dunk biscuits in tea, allowing them to absorb liquid and soften slightly before consumption.[29] Chocolate digestives, rich tea, and Hobnobs were ranked the UK's top three favourite dunking biscuits in 2009.[29] In a non-dunking poll the Chocolate Hobnob was ranked first with custard creams coming third. Savoury biscuits or crackers (such as cream crackers, water biscuits, oatcakes, or crisp breads) are usually plainer and commonly eaten with cheese following a meal. Many savoury biscuits also contain additional ingredients for flavour or texture, such as poppy seeds, onion or onion seeds, cheese (such as cheese melts), and olives. Savoury biscuits also usually have a dedicated section in most European supermarkets, often in the same aisle as sweet biscuits. The exception to savoury biscuits is the sweetmeal digestive known as the "Hovis biscuit", which, although slightly sweet, is still classified as a cheese biscuit.[32] Savoury biscuits sold in supermarkets are sometimes associated with a certain geographical area, such as Scottish oatcakes or Cornish wafer biscuits. In general, the British, Australians, South Africans, New Zealanders, Indians, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, Singaporeans, Nigerians, Kenyans, and Irish use the British meaning of "biscuit" for the sweet biscuit. The terms biscuit and cookie are used interchangeably, depending on the region and the speaker, with biscuits usually referring to hard, sweet biscuits (such as digestives, Nice, Bourbon creams, etc.) and cookies for soft baked goods (i.e. chocolate chip cookies).[citation needed] In Canada, biscuit is now used less frequently, usually with imported brands of biscuits or in the Maritimes; however, the Canadian Christie Biscuits referred to crackers.[citation needed] The British meaning is at the root of the name of the United States' most prominent maker of cookies and crackers, the National Biscuit Company, now called Nabisco." (wikipedia.org) "A cookie (American English) or biscuit (British English) is a baked snack or dessert that is typically small, flat, and sweet. It usually contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of oil, fat, or butter. It may include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips, or nuts. Most English-speaking countries call crunchy cookies "biscuits", except for the United States and Canada, where "biscuit" refers to a type of quick bread. Chewier biscuits are sometimes called "cookies" even in the United Kingdom.[3] Some cookies may also be named by their shape, such as date squares or bars. Biscuit or cookie variants include sandwich biscuits, such as custard creams, Jammie Dodgers, Bourbons and Oreos, with marshmallow or jam filling and sometimes dipped in chocolate or another sweet coating. Cookies are often served with beverages such as milk, coffee or tea and sometimes dunked, an approach which releases more flavour from confections by dissolving the sugars,[4] while also softening their texture. Factory-made cookies are sold in grocery stores, convenience stores and vending machines. Fresh-baked cookies are sold at bakeries and coffeehouses. Terminology Traditional American Christmas cookie tray In many English-speaking countries outside North America, including the United Kingdom, the most common word for a crisp cookie is "biscuit".[3] The term "cookie" is normally used to describe chewier ones.[3] However, in many regions both terms are used. The container used to store cookies may be called a cookie jar. In Scotland, the term "cookie" is sometimes used to describe a plain bun.[5] Cookies that are baked as a solid layer on a sheet pan and then cut, rather than being baked as individual pieces, are called bar cookies in American English or traybakes in British English .[3] Etymology The word cookie dates from at least 1701 in Scottish usage where the word meant "plain bun", rather than thin baked good, and so it is not certain whether it is the same word. From 1808, the word "cookie" is attested "...in the sense of "small, flat, sweet cake" in American English. The American use is derived from Dutch koekje "little cake", which is a diminutive of "koek" ("cake"), which came from the Middle Dutch word "koke".[6] Another claim is that the American name derives from the Dutch word koekje or more precisely its informal, dialect variant koekie[7] which means little cake, and arrived in American English with the Dutch settlement of New Netherland, in the early 1600s.[8] According to the Scottish National Dictionary, its Scottish name may derive from the diminutive form (+ suffix -ie) of the word cook, giving the Middle Scots cookie, cooky or cu(c)kie.[9] There was much trade and cultural contact across the North Sea between the Low Countries and Scotland during the Middle Ages, which can also be seen in the history of curling and, perhaps, golf.[citation needed] Description A dish of assorted cookies, including sandwich cookies filled with jam Cookies baking in an oven Cookies are most commonly baked until crisp or else for just long enough to ensure a soft interior. Other types of cookies are not baked at all, such as varieties of peanut butter cookies that use solidified chocolate rather than set eggs and wheat gluten as a binder.[10] Cookies are produced in a wide variety of styles, using an array of ingredients including sugars, spices, chocolate, butter, peanut butter, nuts, or dried fruits. A general theory of cookies may be formulated in the following way. Despite its descent from cakes and other sweetened breads, the cookie in almost all its forms has abandoned water as a medium for cohesion. Water in cakes serves to make the batter as thin as possible, the better to allow bubbles—responsible for a cake's fluffiness—to form. In the cookie the agent of cohesion has become some form of oil. Oils, whether in the form of butter, vegetable oils, or lard, are much more viscous than water and evaporate freely at a far higher temperature. Thus a cake made with butter or eggs in place of water is much denser after removal from the oven. Rather than evaporating as water does in a baking cake, oils in cookies remain. These oils saturate the cavities created during baking by bubbles of escaping gases. These gases are primarily composed of steam vaporized from the egg whites and the carbon dioxide released by heating the baking powder. This saturation produces the most texturally attractive feature of the cookie, and indeed all fried foods: crispness saturated with a moisture (namely oil) that does not render soggy the food it has soaked into. History Thumbprint cookies Cookie-like hard wafers have existed for as long as baking is documented, in part because they survive travel very well, but they were usually not sweet enough to be considered cookies by modern standards.[11] Cookies appear to have their origins in 7th century AD Persia, shortly after the use of sugar became relatively common in the region.[2][1] They spread to Europe through the Muslim conquest of Spain. By the 14th century, they were common in all levels of society throughout Europe, from royal cuisine to street vendors.[12] The first documented instance of the figure-shaped gingerbread man was at the court of Elizabeth I of England in the 16th century. She had the gingerbread figures made and presented in the likeness of some of her important guests.[13] With global travel becoming widespread at that time, cookies made a natural travel companion, a modernized equivalent of the travel cakes used throughout history. One of the most popular early cookies, which traveled especially well and became known on every continent by similar names, was the jumble, a relatively hard cookie made largely from nuts, sweetener, and water. Cookies came to America through the Dutch in New Amsterdam in the late 1620s. The Dutch word "koekje" was Anglicized to "cookie" or cooky. The earliest reference to cookies in America is in 1703, when "The Dutch in New York provided...'in 1703...at a funeral 800 cookies...'"[14] The modern form of cookies, which is based on creaming butter and sugar together, did not appear commonly until the 18th century.[15] The Industrial Revolution in Britain and the consumers it created saw cookies (biscuits) become products for the masses, and firms such as Huntley & Palmers (formed in 1822), McVitie's (formed in 1830) and Carr's (formed in 1831) were all established.[16] The decorative biscuit tin, invented by Huntley & Palmers in 1831, saw British cookies exported around the world.[16] In 1891, Cadbury filed a patent for a chocolate-coated cookie. Classification Cookie dough ready to be put in the oven Cookies are broadly classified according to how they are formed or made, including at least these categories: Bar cookies consist of batter or other ingredients that are poured or pressed into a pan (sometimes in multiple layers) and cut into cookie-sized pieces after baking. In British English, bar cookies are known as "tray bakes".[3] Examples include brownies, fruit squares, and bars such as date squares. Drop cookies are made from a relatively soft dough that is dropped by spoonfuls onto the baking sheet. During baking, the mounds of dough spread and flatten. Chocolate chip cookies (Toll House cookies), oatmeal raisin (or other oatmeal-based) cookies, and rock cakes are popular examples of drop cookies. This may also include thumbprint cookies, for which a small central depression is created with a thumb or small spoon before baking to contain a filling, such as jam or a chocolate chip.[17] In the UK, the term "cookie" often refers only to this particular type of product. Filled cookies are made from a rolled cookie dough filled with a fruit, jam or confectionery filling before baking. Hamantashen are a filled cookie. Molded cookies are also made from a stiffer dough that is molded into balls or cookie shapes by hand before baking. Snickerdoodles and peanut butter cookies are examples of molded cookies. Some cookies, such as hermits or biscotti, are molded into large flattened loaves that are later cut into smaller cookies. No-bake cookies are made by mixing a filler, such as cereal or nuts, into a melted confectionery binder, shaping into cookies or bars, and allowing to cool or harden. Oatmeal clusters and rum balls are no-bake cookies. Pressed cookies are made from a soft dough that is extruded from a cookie press into various decorative shapes before baking. Spritzgebäck is an example of a pressed cookie. Refrigerator cookies (also known as icebox cookies) are made from a stiff dough that is refrigerated to make the raw dough even stiffer before cutting and baking. The dough is typically shaped into cylinders which are sliced into round cookies before baking. Pinwheel cookies and those made by Pillsbury are representative. Rolled cookies are made from a stiffer dough that is rolled out and cut into shapes with a cookie cutter. Gingerbread men are an example. Sandwich cookies are rolled or pressed cookies that are assembled as a sandwich with a sweet filling. Fillings include marshmallow, jam, and icing. The Oreo cookie, made of two chocolate cookies with a vanilla icing filling, is an example. Other types of cookies are classified for other reasons, such as their ingredients, size, or intended time of serving: Breakfast cookies are typically larger, lower-sugar cookies filled with "heart-healthy nuts and fiber-rich oats" that are eaten as a quick breakfast snack.[18] Low-fat cookies or diet cookies typically have lower fat than regular cookies.[19] Raw cookie dough is served in some restaurants, though the eggs may be omitted since the dough is eaten raw, which could pose a salmonella risk if eggs were used. Cookie Dough Confections in New York City is a restaurant that has a range of raw cookie dough flavors, which are scooped into cups for customers like ice cream.[20] Skillet cookies are big cookies that are cooked in a cast-iron skillet and served warm, while they are still soft and chewy. They are either eaten straight from the pan or cut into wedges, often with vanilla ice cream on top.[21] Supersized cookies are large cookies such as the Panera Kitchen Sink Cookie.[22] These very large cookies are sold at grocery stores, restaurants and coffeeshops. Vegan cookies can be made with flour, sugar, nondairy milk and nondairy margarine. Aquafaba icing can be used to decorate the cookies. Cookie cakes are made in a larger circular shape usually with writing made of frosting. Reception Leah Ettman from Nutrition Action has criticized the high calorie count and fat content of supersized cookies, which are extra large cookies; she cites the Panera Kitchen Sink Cookie, a supersized chocolate chip cookie, which measures 5 1/2 inches in diameter and has 800 calories.[22] For busy people who eat breakfast cookies in the morning, Kate Bratskeir from the Huffington Post recommends lower-sugar cookies filled with "heart-healthy nuts and fiber-rich oats".[18] A book on nutrition by Paul Insel et al. notes that "low-fat" or "diet cookies" may have the same number of calories as regular cookies, due to added sugar.[19] Popular culture There are a number of slang usages of the term "cookie". The slang use of "cookie" to mean a person, "especially an attractive woman" is attested to in print since 1920.[6] The catchphrase "that's the way the cookie crumbles", which means "that's just the way things happen" is attested to in print in 1955.[6] Other slang terms include "smart cookie" and "tough cookie." According to The Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms, a smart cookie is "someone who is clever and good at dealing with difficult situations."[23] The word "cookie" has been vulgar slang for "vagina" in the US since 1970.[24] The word "cookies" is used to refer to the contents of the stomach, often in reference to vomiting (e.g., "pop your cookies", a 1960s expression, or "toss your cookies", a 1970s expression).[24] The expression "cookie cutter", in addition to referring literally to a culinary device used to cut rolled cookie dough into shapes, is also used metaphorically to refer to items or things "having the same configuration or look as many others" (e.g., a "cookie cutter tract house") or to label something as "stereotyped or formulaic" (e.g., an action movie filled with "generic cookie cutter characters").[25] "Cookie duster" is a whimsical expression for a mustache. Cookie Monster is a Muppet on the children's television show Sesame Street. He is best known for his voracious appetite for cookies and his famous eating phrases, such as "Me want cookie!", "Me eat cookie!" (or simply "COOKIE!"), and "Om nom nom nom" (said through a mouth full of food).[26][27][28][29] Cookie Clicker is a game where you click a cookie." (wikipedia.org) "Biscotti (/bɪˈskɒti/, Italian: [biˈskɔtti]; lit. 'biscuits'), known also as cantucci (Italian: [kanˈtuttʃi]), are Italian almond biscuits that originated in the Tuscan city of Prato. They are twice-baked, oblong-shaped, dry, crunchy,[1] and may be dipped in a drink, traditionally Vin Santo. Name Cantuccio is an old Italian word that literally means 'little place', 'nook', or 'corner' but that, in the past, was also used to indicate a little piece of bread with a lot of crust (usually the first and last slices of the loaf, the "corners"). The word biscotto, used in modern Italian to refer to a biscuit (or cookie) of any kind, originates from the medieval Latin word biscoctus, meaning 'twice-cooked'. It characterised oven-baked goods that were baked twice, so they became very dry and could be stored for long periods of time. Such non-perishable food was particularly useful during journeys and wars, and twice-baked breads were a staple food of the Roman legions.[2] The word biscotto, in this sense, shares its origin with the British English (via Old French) word biscuit,[3] which refers to what American English speakers call a "cookie". In modern Italian, the word biscotto refers to any cookie or cracker, just as does the British use of the word biscuit (the number of bakings and the degree of hardness are not relevant to the term). In other countries, the term biscotti, used as a singular, refers only to the specific Italian biscuit known in Italy as cantuccio....North America In North America, where "biscuit" has taken on other meanings, any twice-baked biscuits are likely to be known as biscotti....Recipe Chocolate and pistachio biscotti Following rediscovery of the original recipe by Prato pastry chef Antonio Mattei in the nineteenth century, his variation is what is now accepted as the traditional recipe for biscotti. Mattei brought his cakes to the Exposition Universelle of Paris of 1867, winning a special mention. The mixture is composed exclusively of flour, sugar, eggs, pine nuts, and almonds that are not roasted or skinned. The traditional recipe uses no form of yeast or fat (butter, oil, milk). The barely wet dough is then cooked twice: once in slab form, and again after cutting in sliced form, with the second baking defining how hard the biscotti are. Traditionally in Italy, biscotti di Prato are sold together with another sweet speciality of Prato, the bruttiboni. Served after dessert, they are usually combined with orange juice. Modern variations Biscotti glazed with chocolate Today the regional variations of the original are still adhered to, but the modern mass-manufactured biscotti are in fact closer to cantuccini, variations of biscotti. Modern biscotti recipes often contain nuts (traditional almonds, pine nuts, pistachios, and hazelnuts are popular choices) or spices such as anise or cinnamon. Modern recipes include adding baking powder and spices to the flour. The nuts are then added to allow them to be coated, with the skins being left particularly when using almonds and hazelnuts. Separately, eggs are beaten together, and then any wet flavouring (e.g., almond extract or liquor), before being added to the dry ingredients. Following twice baking (once in long slab form, secondly in cut sliced form), the biscotti may be dipped in a glaze, such as chocolate.[10] Use Since they are very dry, biscotti traditionally are served with a drink, into which they may be dunked. In Italy they are typically served as an after-dinner dessert with a Tuscan fortified wine called Vin Santo. Outside of Italy, they more frequently accompany coffee, including cappuccinos and lattes, or black tea. In Catalonia, carquinyolis are usually served with a small glass of a sweet dessert wine, such as muscat or moscatell. Culture In the Catalan city Vic, "Carquinyoli" is also the name of a ceremonial figure who orchestrates an annual summer festival in honor of the patron saint Albert of Sicily.[11] In Vilanova i la Geltrú, biscotti with almonds are called currutacos and are most typically associated with Palm Sunday, when they are used to ornament the palm leaves that are distributed to worshipers.[12] Biscotti are much used as an ingredient in a variety of traditional dishes.[13] In Catalonia, such dishes include rice with sardines[14] and rabbit with snails.[15] They are also used in sauces with onions (specifically calçots).[16] In coastal Baix Llobregat, biscotti are used in the sauce for a dish of duck stuffed with turnips." (wikipedia.org) "Ceramic art is art made from ceramic materials, including clay. It may take varied forms, including artistic pottery, including tableware, tiles, figurines and other sculpture. As one of the plastic arts, ceramic art is a visual art. While some ceramics are considered fine art, such as pottery or sculpture, most are considered to be decorative, industrial or applied art objects. Ceramic art can be created by one person or by a group, in a pottery or a ceramic factory with a group designing and manufacturing the artware.[1] In Britain and the United States, modern ceramics as an art took its inspiration in the early twentieth century from the Arts and Crafts movement, leading to the revival of pottery considered as a specifically modern craft. Such crafts emphasized traditional non-industrial production techniques, faithfulness to the material, the skills of the individual maker, attention to utility, and an absence of excessive decoration that was typical to the Victorian era.[2] The word "ceramics" comes from the Greek keramikos (κεραμεικός), meaning "pottery", which in turn comes from keramos (κέραμος) meaning "potter's clay".[3] Most traditional ceramic products were made from clay (or clay mixed with other materials), shaped and subjected to heat, and tableware and decorative ceramics are generally still made this way. In modern ceramic engineering usage, ceramics is the art and science of making objects from inorganic, non-metallic materials by the action of heat. It excludes glass and mosaic made from glass tesserae. There is a long history of ceramic art in almost all developed cultures, and often ceramic objects are all the artistic evidence left from vanished cultures, like that of the Nok in Africa over 2,000 years ago. Cultures especially noted for ceramics include the Chinese, Cretan, Greek, Persian, Mayan, Japanese, and Korean cultures, as well as the modern Western cultures. Elements of ceramic art, upon which different degrees of emphasis have been placed at different times, are the shape of the object, its decoration by painting, carving and other methods, and the glazing found on most ceramics. Materials Main articles: Earthenware, Stoneware, Porcelain, and Bone china Different types of clay, when used with different minerals and firing conditions, are used to produce earthenware, stoneware, porcelain and bone china (fine china). Earthenware Earthenware is pottery that has not been fired to vitrification and is thus permeable to water.[4] Many types of pottery have been made from it from the earliest times, and until the 18th century it was the most common type of pottery outside the far East. Earthenware is often made from clay, quartz and feldspar. Terracotta, a type of earthenware, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic,[5] where the fired body is porous.[6][7][8][9] Its uses include vessels (notably flower pots), water and waste water pipes, bricks, and surface embellishment in building construction. Terracotta has been a common medium for ceramic art (see below). Stoneware Stoneware is a vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic made primarily from stoneware clay or non-refractory fire clay.[10] Stoneware is fired at high temperatures.[11] Vitrified or not, it is nonporous;[12] it may or may not be glazed.[13] One widely recognised definition is from the Combined Nomenclature of the European Communities, a European industry standard states "Stoneware, which, though dense, impermeable and hard enough to resist scratching by a steel point, differs from porcelain because it is more opaque, and normally only partially vitrified. It may be vitreous or semi-vitreous. It is usually coloured grey or brownish because of impurities in the clay used for its manufacture, and is normally glazed."...Forms Studio pottery Main article: Studio pottery Studio pottery is pottery made by amateur or professional artists or artisans working alone or in small groups, making unique items or short runs. Typically, all stages of manufacture are carried out by the artists themselves.[22] Studio pottery includes functional wares such as tableware, cookware and non-functional wares such as sculpture. Studio potters can be referred to as ceramic artists, ceramists, ceramicists or as an artist who uses clay as a medium. Much studio pottery is tableware or cookware but an increasing number of studio potters produce non-functional or sculptural items. Some studio potters now prefer to call themselves ceramic artists, ceramists or simply artists. Studio pottery is represented by potters all over the world." (wikipedia.org) "A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature.[1][2] Common examples are earthenware, porcelain, and brick. The earliest ceramics made by humans were brick walls used for building houses and other structures, while pottery objects (pots, vessels, or vases) or figurines made from clay, either by itself or mixed with other materials like silica, hardened and sintered in fire is the common belief of how ceramic was made. Later, ceramics were glazed and fired to create smooth, colored surfaces, decreasing porosity through the use of glassy, amorphous ceramic coatings on top of the crystalline ceramic substrates.[3] Ceramics now include domestic, industrial, and building products, as well as a wide range of materials developed for use in advanced ceramic engineering, such as semiconductors. The word ceramic comes from the Ancient Greek word κεραμικός (keramikós), meaning "of or for pottery"[4] (from κέραμος (kéramos) 'potter's clay, tile, pottery').[5] The earliest known mention of the root ceram- is the Mycenaean Greek ke-ra-me-we, workers of ceramic, written in Linear B syllabic script.[6] The word ceramic can be used as an adjective to describe a material, product, or process, or it may be used as a noun, either singular or, more commonly, as the plural noun ceramics." (wikipedia.org) "Halloween or Hallowe'en[7][8] (less commonly known as Allhalloween,[9] All Hallows' Eve,[10] or All Saints' Eve)[11] is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. It is at the beginning of the observance of Allhallowtide,[12] the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.[3][13][14][15] In popular culture, the day has become a celebration of horror, being associated with the macabre and supernatural.[16] One theory holds that many Halloween traditions were influenced by Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain, which are believed to have pagan roots.[17][18][19][20] Some go further and suggest that Samhain may have been Christianized as All Hallow's Day, along with its eve, by the early Church.[21] Other academics believe Halloween began solely as a Christian holiday, being the vigil of All Hallow's Day.[22][23][24][25] Celebrated in Ireland and Scotland for centuries, Irish and Scottish immigrants took many Halloween customs to North America in the 19th century,[26][27] and then through American influence various Halloween customs spread to other countries by the late 20th and early 21st century.[16][28] Popular Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (or the related guising and souling), attending Halloween costume parties, carving pumpkins or turnips into jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, divination games, playing pranks, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories, and watching horror or Halloween-themed films.[29] Some people practice the Christian observances of All Hallows' Eve, including attending church services and lighting candles on the graves of the dead,[30][31][32] although it is a secular celebration for others.[33][34][35] Some Christians historically abstained from meat on All Hallows' Eve, a tradition reflected in the eating of certain vegetarian foods on this vigil day, including apples, potato pancakes, and soul cakes.[36][37][38][39] Etymology "Halloween" (1785) by Scottish poet Robert Burns, recounts various legends of the holiday. The word Halloween or Hallowe'en ("Saints' evening"[40]) is of Christian origin;[41][42] a term equivalent to "All Hallows Eve" is attested in Old English.[43] The word hallowe[']en comes from the Scottish form of All Hallows' Eve (the evening before All Hallows' Day):[44] even is the Scots term for "eve" or "evening",[45] and is contracted to e'en or een;[46] (All) Hallow(s) E(v)en became Hallowe'en. History Christian origins and historic customs Halloween is thought to have influences from Christian beliefs and practices.[47][48] The English word 'Halloween' comes from "All Hallows' Eve", being the evening before the Christian holy days of All Hallows' Day (All Saints' Day) on 1 November and All Souls' Day on 2 November.[49] Since the time of the early Church,[50] major feasts in Christianity (such as Christmas, Easter and Pentecost) had vigils that began the night before, as did the feast of All Hallows'.[51][47] These three days are collectively called Allhallowtide and are a time when Western Christians honour all saints and pray for recently departed souls who have yet to reach Heaven. Commemorations of all saints and martyrs were held by several churches on various dates, mostly in springtime.[52] In 4th-century Roman Edessa it was held on 13 May, and on 13 May 609, Pope Boniface IV re-dedicated the Pantheon in Rome to "St Mary and all martyrs".[53] This was the date of Lemuria, an ancient Roman festival of the dead.[54] In the 8th century, Pope Gregory III (731–741) founded an oratory in St Peter's for the relics "of the holy apostles and of all saints, martyrs and confessors".[47][55] Some sources say it was dedicated on 1 November,[56] while others say it was on Palm Sunday in April 732.[57][58] By 800, there is evidence that churches in Ireland[59] and Northumbria were holding a feast commemorating all saints on 1 November.[60] Alcuin of Northumbria, a member of Charlemagne's court, may then have introduced this 1 November date in the Frankish Empire.[61] In 835, it became the official date in the Frankish Empire.[60] Some suggest this was due to Celtic influence, while others suggest it was a Germanic idea,[60] although it is claimed that both Germanic and Celtic-speaking peoples commemorated the dead at the beginning of winter.[62] They may have seen it as the most fitting time to do so, as it is a time of 'dying' in nature.[60][62] It is also suggested the change was made on the "practical grounds that Rome in summer could not accommodate the great number of pilgrims who flocked to it", and perhaps because of public health concerns over Roman Fever, which claimed a number of lives during Rome's sultry summers.[63][47] On All Hallows' Eve, Christians in some parts of the world visit cemeteries to pray and place flowers and candles on the graves of their loved ones.[64] Top: Christians in Bangladesh lighting candles on the headstone of a relative. Bottom: Lutheran Christians praying and lighting candles in front of the central crucifix of a graveyard. By the end of the 12th century, the celebration had become known as the holy days of obligation in Western Christianity and involved such traditions as ringing church bells for souls in purgatory. It was also "customary for criers dressed in black to parade the streets, ringing a bell of mournful sound and calling on all good Christians to remember the poor souls".[65] The Allhallowtide custom of baking and sharing soul cakes for all christened souls,[66] has been suggested as the origin of trick-or-treating.[67] The custom dates back at least as far as the 15th century[68] and was found in parts of England, Wales, Flanders, Bavaria and Austria.[69] Groups of poor people, often children, would go door-to-door during Allhallowtide, collecting soul cakes, in exchange for praying for the dead, especially the souls of the givers' friends and relatives. This was called "souling".[68][70][71] Soul cakes were also offered for the souls themselves to eat,[69] or the 'soulers' would act as their representatives.[72] As with the Lenten tradition of hot cross buns, soul cakes were often marked with a cross, indicating they were baked as alms.[73] Shakespeare mentions souling in his comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593).[74] While souling, Christians would carry "lanterns made of hollowed-out turnips", which could have originally represented souls of the dead;[75][76] jack-o'-lanterns were used to ward off evil spirits.[77][78] On All Saints' and All Souls' Day during the 19th century, candles were lit in homes in Ireland,[79] Flanders, Bavaria, and in Tyrol, where they were called "soul lights",[80] that served "to guide the souls back to visit their earthly homes".[81] In many of these places, candles were also lit at graves on All Souls' Day.[80] In Brittany, libations of milk were poured on the graves of kinfolk,[69] or food would be left overnight on the dinner table for the returning souls;[80] a custom also found in Tyrol and parts of Italy.[82][80] Christian minister Prince Sorie Conteh linked the wearing of costumes to the belief in vengeful ghosts: "It was traditionally believed that the souls of the departed wandered the earth until All Saints' Day, and All Hallows' Eve provided one last chance for the dead to gain vengeance on their enemies before moving to the next world. In order to avoid being recognized by any soul that might be seeking such vengeance, people would don masks or costumes".[83] In the Middle Ages, churches in Europe that were too poor to display relics of martyred saints at Allhallowtide let parishioners dress up as saints instead.[84][85] Some Christians observe this custom at Halloween today.[86] Lesley Bannatyne believes this could have been a Christianization of an earlier pagan custom.[87] Many Christians in mainland Europe, especially in France, believed "that once a year, on Hallowe'en, the dead of the churchyards rose for one wild, hideous carnival" known as the danse macabre, which was often depicted in church decoration.[88] Christopher Allmand and Rosamond McKitterick write in The New Cambridge Medieval History that the danse macabre urged Christians "not to forget the end of all earthly things".[89] The danse macabre was sometimes enacted in European village pageants and court masques, with people "dressing up as corpses from various strata of society", and this may be the origin of Halloween costume parties.[90][91][92][75] In Britain, these customs came under attack during the Reformation, as Protestants berated purgatory as a "popish" doctrine incompatible with the Calvinist doctrine of predestination. State-sanctioned ceremonies associated with the intercession of saints and prayer for souls in purgatory were abolished during the Elizabethan reform, though All Hallow's Day remained in the English liturgical calendar to "commemorate saints as godly human beings".[93] For some Nonconformist Protestants, the theology of All Hallows' Eve was redefined; "souls cannot be journeying from Purgatory on their way to Heaven, as Catholics frequently believe and assert. Instead, the so-called ghosts are thought to be in actuality evil spirits".[94] Other Protestants believed in an intermediate state known as Hades (Bosom of Abraham).[95] In some localities, Catholics and Protestants continued souling, candlelit processions, or ringing church bells for the dead;[49][96] the Anglican church eventually suppressed this bell-ringing.[97] Mark Donnelly, a professor of medieval archaeology, and historian Daniel Diehl write that "barns and homes were blessed to protect people and livestock from the effect of witches, who were believed to accompany the malignant spirits as they traveled the earth".[98] After 1605, Hallowtide was eclipsed in England by Guy Fawkes Night (5 November), which appropriated some of its customs.[99] In England, the ending of official ceremonies related to the intercession of saints led to the development of new, unofficial Hallowtide customs. In 18th–19th century rural Lancashire, Catholic families gathered on hills on the night of All Hallows' Eve. One held a bunch of burning straw on a pitchfork while the rest knelt around him, praying for the souls of relatives and friends until the flames went out. This was known as teen'lay.[100] There was a similar custom in Hertfordshire, and the lighting of 'tindle' fires in Derbyshire.[101] Some suggested these 'tindles' were originally lit to "guide the poor souls back to earth".[102] In Scotland and Ireland, old Allhallowtide customs that were at odds with Reformed teaching were not suppressed as they "were important to the life cycle and rites of passage of local communities" and curbing them would have been difficult.[26] In parts of Italy until the 15th century, families left a meal out for the ghosts of relatives, before leaving for church services.[82] In 19th-century Italy, churches staged "theatrical re-enactments of scenes from the lives of the saints" on All Hallow's Day, with "participants represented by realistic wax figures".[82] In 1823, the graveyard of Holy Spirit Hospital in Rome presented a scene in which bodies of those who recently died were arrayed around a wax statue of an angel who pointed upward towards heaven.[82] In the same country, "parish priests went house-to-house, asking for small gifts of food which they shared among themselves throughout that night".[82] In Spain, they continue to bake special pastries called "bones of the holy" (Spanish: Huesos de Santo) and set them on graves.[103] At cemeteries in Spain and France, as well as in Latin America, priests lead Christian processions and services during Allhallowtide, after which people keep an all night vigil.[104] In 19th-century San Sebastián, there was a procession to the city cemetery at Allhallowtide, an event that drew beggars who "appeal[ed] to the tender recollections of one's deceased relations and friends" for sympathy.[105] Gaelic folk influence An early 20th-century Irish Halloween mask displayed at the Museum of Country Life in County Mayo, Ireland Today's Halloween customs are thought to have been influenced by folk customs and beliefs from the Celtic-speaking countries, some of which are believed to have pagan roots.[106] Jack Santino, a folklorist, writes that "there was throughout Ireland an uneasy truce existing between customs and beliefs associated with Christianity and those associated with religions that were Irish before Christianity arrived".[107] The origins of Halloween customs are typically linked to the Gaelic festival Samhain.[108] Samhain is one of the quarter days in the medieval Gaelic calendar and has been celebrated on 31 October – 1 November[109] in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.[110][111] A kindred festival has been held by the Brittonic Celts, called Calan Gaeaf in Wales, Kalan Gwav in Cornwall and Kalan Goañv in Brittany; a name meaning "first day of winter". For the Celts, the day ended and began at sunset; thus the festival begins the evening before 1 November by modern reckoning.[112] Samhain is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature. The names have been used by historians to refer to Celtic Halloween customs up until the 19th century,[113] and are still the Gaelic and Welsh names for Halloween. Snap-Apple Night, painted by Daniel Maclise in 1833, shows people feasting and playing divination games on Halloween in Ireland.[114] Samhain marked the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or the 'darker half' of the year.[115][116] It was seen as a liminal time, when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld thinned. This meant the Aos Sí, the 'spirits' or 'fairies', could more easily come into this world and were particularly active.[117][118] Most scholars see them as "degraded versions of ancient gods [...] whose power remained active in the people's minds even after they had been officially replaced by later religious beliefs".[119] They were both respected and feared, with individuals often invoking the protection of God when approaching their dwellings.[120][121] At Samhain, the Aos Sí were appeased to ensure the people and livestock survived the winter. Offerings of food and drink, or portions of the crops, were left outside for them.[122][123][124] The souls of the dead were also said to revisit their homes seeking hospitality.[125] Places were set at the dinner table and by the fire to welcome them.[126] The belief that the souls of the dead return home on one night of the year and must be appeased seems to have ancient origins and is found in many cultures.[69] In 19th century Ireland, "candles would be lit and prayers formally offered for the souls of the dead. After this the eating, drinking, and games would begin".[127] Throughout Ireland and Britain, especially in the Celtic-speaking regions, the household festivities included divination rituals and games intended to foretell one's future, especially regarding death and marriage.[128] Apples and nuts were often used, and customs included apple bobbing, nut roasting, scrying or mirror-gazing, pouring molten lead or egg whites into water, dream interpretation, and others.[129] Special bonfires were lit and there were rituals involving them. Their flames, smoke, and ashes were deemed to have protective and cleansing powers.[115] In some places, torches lit from the bonfire were carried sunwise around homes and fields to protect them.[113] It is suggested the fires were a kind of imitative or sympathetic magic – they mimicked the Sun and held back the decay and darkness of winter.[126][130][131] They were also used for divination and to ward off evil spirits.[77] In Scotland, these bonfires and divination games were banned by the church elders in some parishes.[132] In Wales, bonfires were also lit to "prevent the souls of the dead from falling to earth".[133] Later, these bonfires "kept away the devil".[134] photograph A plaster cast of a traditional Irish Halloween turnip (swede, rutabaga) lantern on display in the Museum of Country Life, Ireland[135] From at least the 16th century,[136] the festival included mumming and guising in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man and Wales.[137] This involved people going house-to-house in costume (or in disguise), usually reciting verses or songs in exchange for food. It may have originally been a tradition whereby people impersonated the Aos Sí, or the souls of the dead, and received offerings on their behalf, similar to 'souling'. Impersonating these beings, or wearing a disguise, was also believed to protect oneself from them.[138] In parts of southern Ireland, the guisers included a hobby horse. A man dressed as a Láir Bhán (white mare) led youths house-to-house reciting verses – some of which had pagan overtones – in exchange for food. If the household donated food it could expect good fortune from the 'Muck Olla'; not doing so would bring misfortune.[139] In Scotland, youths went house-to-house with masked, painted or blackened faces, often threatening to do mischief if they were not welcomed.[137] F. Marian McNeill suggests the ancient festival included people in costume representing the spirits, and that faces were marked or blackened with ashes from the sacred bonfire.[136] In parts of Wales, men went about dressed as fearsome beings called gwrachod.[137] In the late 19th and early 20th century, young people in Glamorgan and Orkney cross-dressed.[137] Elsewhere in Europe, mumming was part of other festivals, but in the Celtic-speaking regions, it was "particularly appropriate to a night upon which supernatural beings were said to be abroad and could be imitated or warded off by human wanderers".[137] From at least the 18th century, "imitating malignant spirits" led to playing pranks in Ireland and the Scottish Highlands. Wearing costumes and playing pranks at Halloween did not spread to England until the 20th century.[137] Pranksters used hollowed-out turnips or mangel wurzels as lanterns, often carved with grotesque faces.[137] By those who made them, the lanterns were variously said to represent the spirits,[137] or used to ward off evil spirits.[140][141] They were common in parts of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands in the 19th century,[137] as well as in Somerset (see Punkie Night). In the 20th century they spread to other parts of Britain and became generally known as jack-o'-lanterns.[137] Spread to North America "Halloween Days", article from American newspaper, The Sunday Oregonian, 1916 Lesley Bannatyne and Cindy Ott write that Anglican colonists in the southern United States and Catholic colonists in Maryland "recognized All Hallow's Eve in their church calendars",[142][143] although the Puritans of New England strongly opposed the holiday, along with other traditional celebrations of the established Church, including Christmas.[144] Almanacs of the late 18th and early 19th century give no indication that Halloween was widely celebrated in North America.[26] It was not until after mass Irish and Scottish immigration in the 19th century that Halloween became a major holiday in America.[26] Most American Halloween traditions were inherited from the Irish and Scots,[27][145] though "In Cajun areas, a nocturnal Mass was said in cemeteries on Halloween night. Candles that had been blessed were placed on graves, and families sometimes spent the entire night at the graveside".[146] Originally confined to these immigrant communities, it was gradually assimilated into mainstream society and was celebrated coast to coast by people of all social, racial, and religious backgrounds by the early 20th century.[147] Then, through American influence, these Halloween traditions spread to many other countries by the late 20th and early 21st century, including to mainland Europe and some parts of the Far East.[28][16][148] Symbols At Halloween, yards, public spaces, and some houses may be decorated with traditionally macabre symbols including skeletons, ghosts, cobwebs, headstones, and witches. Development of artifacts and symbols associated with Halloween formed over time. Jack-o'-lanterns are traditionally carried by guisers on All Hallows' Eve in order to frighten evil spirits.[76][149] There is a popular Irish Christian folktale associated with the jack-o'-lantern,[150] which in folklore is said to represent a "soul who has been denied entry into both heaven and hell":[151] On route home after a night's drinking, Jack encounters the Devil and tricks him into climbing a tree. A quick-thinking Jack etches the sign of the cross into the bark, thus trapping the Devil. Jack strikes a bargain that Satan can never claim his soul. After a life of sin, drink, and mendacity, Jack is refused entry to heaven when he dies. Keeping his promise, the Devil refuses to let Jack into hell and throws a live coal straight from the fires of hell at him. It was a cold night, so Jack places the coal in a hollowed out turnip to stop it from going out, since which time Jack and his lantern have been roaming looking for a place to rest.[152] In Ireland and Scotland, the turnip has traditionally been carved during Halloween,[153][154] but immigrants to North America used the native pumpkin, which is both much softer and much larger, making it easier to carve than a turnip.[153] The American tradition of carving pumpkins is recorded in 1837[155] and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century.[156] Decorated house in Weatherly, Pennsylvania The modern imagery of Halloween comes from many sources, including Christian eschatology, national customs, works of Gothic and horror literature (such as the novels Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus and Dracula) and classic horror films such as Frankenstein (1931) and The Mummy (1932).[157][158] Imagery of the skull, a reference to Golgotha in the Christian tradition, serves as "a reminder of death and the transitory quality of human life" and is consequently found in memento mori and vanitas compositions;[159] skulls have therefore been commonplace in Halloween, which touches on this theme.[160] Traditionally, the back walls of churches are "decorated with a depiction of the Last Judgment, complete with graves opening and the dead rising, with a heaven filled with angels and a hell filled with devils", a motif that has permeated the observance of this triduum.[161] One of the earliest works on the subject of Halloween is from Scottish poet John Mayne, who, in 1780, made note of pranks at Halloween; "What fearfu' pranks ensue!", as well as the supernatural associated with the night, "bogles" (ghosts),[162] influencing Robert Burns' "Halloween" (1785).[163] Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn husks, and scarecrows, are also prevalent. Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around Halloween. Halloween imagery includes themes of death, evil, and mythical monsters.[164] Black cats, which have been long associated with witches, are also a common symbol of Halloween. Black, orange, and sometimes purple are Halloween's traditional colors.[165] Trick-or-treating and guising Main article: Trick-or-treating Trick-or-treaters in Sweden Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween. Children go in costume from house to house, asking for treats such as candy or sometimes money, with the question, "Trick or treat?" The word "trick" implies a "threat" to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given.[67] The practice is said to have roots in the medieval practice of mumming, which is closely related to souling.[166] John Pymm wrote that "many of the feast days associated with the presentation of mumming plays were celebrated by the Christian Church."[167] These feast days included All Hallows' Eve, Christmas, Twelfth Night and Shrove Tuesday.[168][169] Mumming practiced in Germany, Scandinavia and other parts of Europe,[170] involved masked persons in fancy dress who "paraded the streets and entered houses to dance or play dice in silence".[171] Girl in a Halloween costume in 1928, Ontario, Canada, the same province where the Scottish Halloween custom of guising was first recorded in North America In England, from the medieval period,[172] up until the 1930s,[173] people practiced the Christian custom of souling on Halloween, which involved groups of soulers, both Protestant and Catholic,[96] going from parish to parish, begging the rich for soul cakes, in exchange for praying for the souls of the givers and their friends.[70] In the Philippines, the practice of souling is called Pangangaluluwa and is practiced on All Hallow's Eve among children in rural areas.[29] People drape themselves in white cloths to represent souls and then visit houses, where they sing in return for prayers and sweets.[29] In Scotland and Ireland, guising – children disguised in costume going from door to door for food or coins – is a secular Halloween custom.[174] It is recorded in Scotland at Halloween in 1895 where masqueraders in disguise carrying lanterns made out of scooped out turnips, visit homes to be rewarded with cakes, fruit, and money.[154][175] In Ireland, the most popular phrase for kids to shout (until the 2000s) was "Help the Halloween Party".[174] The practice of guising at Halloween in North America was first recorded in 1911, where a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, reported children going "guising" around the neighborhood.[176] American historian and author Ruth Edna Kelley of Massachusetts wrote the first book-length history of Halloween in the US; The Book of Hallowe'en (1919), and references souling in the chapter "Hallowe'en in America".[177] In her book, Kelley touches on customs that arrived from across the Atlantic; "Americans have fostered them, and are making this an occasion something like what it must have been in its best days overseas. All Halloween customs in the United States are borrowed directly or adapted from those of other countries".[178] While the first reference to "guising" in North America occurs in 1911, another reference to ritual begging on Halloween appears, place unknown, in 1915, with a third reference in Chicago in 1920.[179] The earliest known use in print of the term "trick or treat" appears in 1927, in the Blackie Herald, of Alberta, Canada.[180] An automobile trunk at a trunk-or-treat event at St. John Lutheran Church and Early Learning Center in Darien, Illinois The thousands of Halloween postcards produced between the turn of the 20th century and the 1920s commonly show children but not trick-or-treating.[181] Trick-or-treating does not seem to have become a widespread practice in North America until the 1930s, with the first US appearances of the term in 1934,[182] and the first use in a national publication occurring in 1939.[183] A popular variant of trick-or-treating, known as trunk-or-treating (or Halloween tailgating), occurs when "children are offered treats from the trunks of cars parked in a church parking lot", or sometimes, a school parking lot.[103][184] In a trunk-or-treat event, the trunk (boot) of each automobile is decorated with a certain theme,[185] such as those of children's literature, movies, scripture, and job roles.[186] Trunk-or-treating has grown in popularity due to its perception as being more safe than going door to door, a point that resonates well with parents, as well as the fact that it "solves the rural conundrum in which homes [are] built a half-mile apart".[187][188] Costumes Main article: Halloween costume Halloween shop in Derry, Northern Ireland, selling masks Halloween costumes were traditionally modeled after figures such as vampires, ghosts, skeletons, scary looking witches, and devils.[67] Over time, the costume selection extended to include popular characters from fiction, celebrities, and generic archetypes such as ninjas and princesses. Dressing up in costumes and going "guising" was prevalent in Scotland and Ireland at Halloween by the late 19th century.[154] A Scottish term, the tradition is called "guising" because of the disguises or costumes worn by the children.[175] In Ireland and Scotland, the masks are known as 'false faces',[41][189] a term recorded in Ayr, Scotland in 1890 by a Scot describing guisers: "I had mind it was Halloween . . . the wee callans (boys) were at it already, rinning aboot wi’ their fause-faces (false faces) on and their bits o’ turnip lanthrons (lanterns) in their haun (hand)".[41] Costuming became popular for Halloween parties in the US in the early 20th century, as often for adults as for children, and when trick-or-treating was becoming popular in Canada and the US in the 1920s and 1930s.[180][190] Eddie J. Smith, in his book Halloween, Hallowed is Thy Name, offers a religious perspective to the wearing of costumes on All Hallows' Eve, suggesting that by dressing up as creatures "who at one time caused us to fear and tremble", people are able to poke fun at Satan "whose kingdom has been plundered by our Saviour". Images of skeletons and the dead are traditional decorations used as memento mori.[191][192] The annual New York Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, is the world's largest Halloween parade, with millions of spectators annually. "Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF" is a fundraising program to support UNICEF,[67] a United Nations Programme that provides humanitarian aid to children in developing countries. Started as a local event in a Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood in 1950 and expanded nationally in 1952, the program involves the distribution of small boxes by schools (or in modern times, corporate sponsors like Hallmark, at their licensed stores) to trick-or-treaters, in which they can solicit small-change donations from the houses they visit. It is estimated that children have collected more than $118 million for UNICEF since its inception. In Canada, in 2006, UNICEF decided to discontinue their Halloween collection boxes, citing safety and administrative concerns; after consultation with schools, they instead redesigned the program.[193][194] The yearly New York's Village Halloween Parade was begun in 1974; it is the world's largest Halloween parade and America's only major nighttime parade, attracting more than 60,000 costumed participants, two million spectators, and a worldwide television audience.[195] Since the late 2010s, ethnic stereotypes as costumes have increasingly come under scrutiny in the United States.[196][197][198] Pet costumes According to a 2018 report from the National Retail Federation, 30 million Americans will spend an estimated $480 million on Halloween costumes for their pets in 2018. This is up from an estimated $200 million in 2010. The most popular costumes for pets are the pumpkin, followed by the hot dog, and the bumblebee in third place.[199] Games and other activities In this 1904 Halloween greeting card, divination is depicted: the young woman, looking into a mirror in a darkened room, hopes to catch a glimpse of her future husband. There are several games traditionally associated with Halloween. Some of these games originated as divination rituals or ways of foretelling one's future, especially regarding death, marriage and children. During the Middle Ages, these rituals were done by a "rare few" in rural communities as they were considered to be "deadly serious" practices.[200] In recent centuries, these divination games have been "a common feature of the household festivities" in Ireland and Britain.[128] They often involve apples and hazelnuts. In Celtic mythology, apples were strongly associated with the Otherworld and immortality, while hazelnuts were associated with divine wisdom.[201] Some also suggest that they derive from Roman practices in celebration of Pomona.[67] Children bobbing for apples at Hallowe'en The following activities were a common feature of Halloween in Ireland and Britain during the 17th–20th centuries. Some have become more widespread and continue to be popular today. One common game is apple bobbing or dunking (which may be called "dooking" in Scotland)[202] in which apples float in a tub or a large basin of water and the participants must use only their teeth to remove an apple from the basin. A variant of dunking involves kneeling on a chair, holding a fork between the teeth and trying to drive the fork into an apple. Another common game involves hanging up treacle or syrup-coated scones by strings; these must be eaten without using hands while they remain attached to the string, an activity that inevitably leads to a sticky face. Another once-popular game involves hanging a small wooden rod from the ceiling at head height, with a lit candle on one end and an apple hanging from the other. The rod is spun round and everyone takes turns to try to catch the apple with their teeth.[203] Image from the Book of Hallowe'en (1919) showing several Halloween activities, such as nut roasting Several of the traditional activities from Ireland and Britain involve foretelling one's future partner or spouse. An apple would be peeled in one long strip, then the peel tossed over the shoulder. The peel is believed to land in the shape of the first letter of the future spouse's name.[204][205] Two hazelnuts would be roasted near a fire; one named for the person roasting them and the other for the person they desire. If the nuts jump away from the heat, it is a bad sign, but if the nuts roast quietly it foretells a good match.[206][207] A salty oatmeal bannock would be baked; the person would eat it in three bites and then go to bed in silence without anything to drink. This is said to result in a dream in which their future spouse offers them a drink to quench their thirst.[208] Unmarried women were told that if they sat in a darkened room and gazed into a mirror on Halloween night, the face of their future husband would appear in the mirror.[209] The custom was widespread enough to be commemorated on greeting cards[210] from the late 19th century and early 20th century. Another popular Irish game was known as púicíní ("blindfolds"); a person would be blindfolded and then would choose between several saucers. The item in the saucer would provide a hint as to their future: a ring would mean that they would marry soon; clay, that they would die soon, perhaps within the year; water, that they would emigrate; rosary beads, that they would take Holy Orders (become a nun, priest, monk, etc.); a coin, that they would become rich; a bean, that they would be poor.[211][212][213][214] The game features prominently in the James Joyce short story "Clay" (1914).[215][216][217] Barmbrack (showing ring found inside) at Halloween in 2020 In Ireland and Scotland, items would be hidden in food – usually a cake, barmbrack, cranachan, champ or colcannon – and portions of it served out at random. A person's future would be foretold by the item they happened to find; for example, a ring meant marriage and a coin meant wealth.[218] Up until the 19th century, the Halloween bonfires were also used for divination in parts of Scotland, Wales and Brittany. When the fire died down, a ring of stones would be laid in the ashes, one for each person. In the morning, if any stone was mislaid it was said that the person it represented would not live out the year.[113] In Mexico, children create altars to invite the spirits of deceased children to return (angelitos).[219] Telling ghost stories, listening to Halloween-themed songs and watching horror films are common fixtures of Halloween parties. Episodes of television series and Halloween-themed specials (with the specials usually aimed at children) are commonly aired on or before Halloween, while new horror films are often released before Halloween to take advantage of the holiday. Haunted attractions Main article: Haunted attraction (simulated) Humorous tombstones in front of a house in California Humorous display window in Historic 25th Street, Ogden, Utah Haunted attractions are entertainment venues designed to thrill and scare patrons. Most attractions are seasonal Halloween businesses that may include haunted houses, corn mazes, and hayrides,[220] and the level of sophistication of the effects has risen as the industry has grown. The first recorded purpose-built haunted attraction was the Orton and Spooner Ghost House, which opened in 1915 in Liphook, England. This attraction actually most closely resembles a carnival fun house, powered by steam.[221][222] The House still exists, in the Hollycombe Steam Collection. It was during the 1930s, about the same time as trick-or-treating, that Halloween-themed haunted houses first began to appear in America. It was in the late 1950s that haunted houses as a major attraction began to appear, focusing first on California. Sponsored by the Children's Health Home Junior Auxiliary, the San Mateo Haunted House opened in 1957. The San Bernardino Assistance League Haunted House opened in 1958. Home haunts began appearing across the country during 1962 and 1963. In 1964, the San Manteo Haunted House opened, as well as the Children's Museum Haunted House in Indianapolis.[223] The haunted house as an American cultural icon can be attributed to the opening of The Haunted Mansion in Disneyland on 12 August 1969.[224] Knott's Berry Farm began hosting its own Halloween night attraction, Knott's Scary Farm, which opened in 1973.[225] Evangelical Christians adopted a form of these attractions by opening one of the first "hell houses" in 1972.[226] The first Halloween haunted house run by a nonprofit organization was produced in 1970 by the Sycamore-Deer Park Jaycees in Clifton, Ohio. It was cosponsored by WSAI, an AM radio station broadcasting out of Cincinnati, Ohio. It was last produced in 1982.[227] Other Jaycees followed suit with their own versions after the success of the Ohio house. The March of Dimes copyrighted a "Mini haunted house for the March of Dimes" in 1976 and began fundraising through their local chapters by conducting haunted houses soon after. Although they apparently quit supporting this type of event nationally sometime in the 1980s, some March of Dimes haunted houses have persisted until today.[228] On the evening of 11 May 1984, in Jackson Township, New Jersey, the Haunted Castle at Six Flags Great Adventure caught fire. As a result of the fire, eight teenagers perished.[229] The backlash to the tragedy was a tightening of regulations relating to safety, building codes and the frequency of inspections of attractions nationwide. The smaller venues, especially the nonprofit attractions, were unable to compete financially, and the better funded commercial enterprises filled the vacuum.[230][231] Facilities that were once able to avoid regulation because they were considered to be temporary installations now had to adhere to the stricter codes required of permanent attractions.[232][233][234] In the late 1980s and early 1990s, theme parks became a notable figure in the Halloween business. Six Flags Fright Fest began in 1986 and Universal Studios Florida began Halloween Horror Nights in 1991. Knott's Scary Farm experienced a surge in attendance in the 1990s as a result of America's obsession with Halloween as a cultural event. Theme parks have played a major role in globalizing the holiday. Universal Studios Singapore and Universal Studios Japan both participate, while Disney now mounts Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party events at its parks in Paris, Hong Kong and Tokyo, as well as in the United States.[235] The theme park haunts are by far the largest, both in scale and attendance.[236] Food Pumpkins for sale during Halloween On All Hallows' Eve, many Western Christian denominations encourage abstinence from meat, giving rise to a variety of vegetarian foods associated with this day.[237] A candy apple Because in the Northern Hemisphere Halloween comes in the wake of the yearly apple harvest, candy apples (known as toffee apples outside North America), caramel apples or taffy apples are common Halloween treats made by rolling whole apples in a sticky sugar syrup, sometimes followed by rolling them in nuts. At one time, candy apples were commonly given to trick-or-treating children, but the practice rapidly waned in the wake of widespread rumors that some individuals were embedding items like pins and razor blades in the apples in the United States.[238] While there is evidence of such incidents,[239] relative to the degree of reporting of such cases, actual cases involving malicious acts are extremely rare and have never resulted in serious injury. Nonetheless, many parents assumed that such heinous practices were rampant because of the mass media. At the peak of the hysteria, some hospitals offered free X-rays of children's Halloween hauls in order to find evidence of tampering. Virtually all of the few known candy poisoning incidents involved parents who poisoned their own children's candy.[240] One custom that persists in modern-day Ireland is the baking (or more often nowadays, the purchase) of a barmbrack (Irish: báirín breac), which is a light fruitcake, into which a plain ring, a coin, and other charms are placed before baking.[241] It is considered fortunate to be the lucky one who finds it.[241] It has also been said that those who get a ring will find their true love in the ensuing year. This is similar to the tradition of king cake at the festival of Epiphany. Halloween-themed foods are also produced by companies in the lead up to the night, for example Cadbury releasing Goo Heads (similar to Creme Eggs) in spooky wrapping.[242] A jack-o'-lantern Halloween cake with a witches hat List of foods associated with Halloween: Barmbrack (Ireland) Bonfire toffee (Great Britain) Candy apples/toffee apples (Great Britain and Ireland) Candy apples, candy corn, candy pumpkins (North America) Chocolate Monkey nuts (peanuts in their shells) (Ireland and Scotland) Caramel apples Caramel corn Colcannon (Ireland; see below) Halloween cake Sweets/candy Novelty candy shaped like skulls, pumpkins, bats, worms, etc. Roasted pumpkin seeds Roasted sweet corn Soul cakes Pumpkin pie Christian observances The Vigil of All Hallows is being celebrated at an Episcopal Christian church on Hallowe'en. On Hallowe'en (All Hallows' Eve), in Poland, believers were once taught to pray out loud as they walk through the forests in order that the souls of the dead might find comfort; in Spain, Christian priests in tiny villages toll their church bells in order to remind their congregants to remember the dead on All Hallows' Eve.[243] In Ireland, and among immigrants in Canada, a custom includes the Christian practice of abstinence, keeping All Hallows' Eve as a meat-free day and serving pancakes or colcannon instead.[244] The Christian Church traditionally observed Hallowe'en through a vigil. Worshippers prepared themselves for feasting on the following All Saints' Day with prayers and fasting.[245] This church service is known as the Vigil of All Hallows or the Vigil of All Saints;[246][247] an initiative known as Night of Light seeks to further spread the Vigil of All Hallows throughout Christendom.[248][249] After the service, "suitable festivities and entertainments" often follow, as well as a visit to the graveyard or cemetery, where flowers and candles are often placed in preparation for All Hallows' Day.[250][251] In England, Light Parties are organized by churches after worship services on Halloween with the focus on Jesus as the Light of the World.[252] In Finland, because so many people visit the cemeteries on All Hallows' Eve to light votive candles there, they "are known as valomeri, or seas of light".[253] Halloween Scripture Candy with gospel tract Today, Christian attitudes towards Halloween are diverse. In the Anglican Church, some dioceses have chosen to emphasize the Christian traditions associated with All Hallow's Eve.[254][255] Some of these practices include praying, fasting and attending worship services.[1][4][5] O LORD our God, increase, we pray thee, and multiply upon us the gifts of thy grace: that we, who do prevent the glorious festival of all thy Saints, may of thee be enabled joyfully to follow them in all virtuous and godly living. Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. —Collect of the Vigil of All Saints, The Anglican Breviary[256] Votive candles in the Halloween section of Walmart Other Protestant Christians also celebrate All Hallows' Eve as Reformation Day, a day to remember the Protestant Reformation, alongside All Hallow's Eve or independently from it.[257] This is because Martin Luther is said to have nailed his Ninety-five Theses to All Saints' Church in Wittenberg on All Hallows' Eve.[258] Often, "Harvest Festivals" or "Reformation Festivals" are held on All Hallows' Eve, in which children dress up as Bible characters or Reformers.[259] In addition to distributing candy to children who are trick-or-treating on Hallowe'en, many Christians also provide gospel tracts to them. One organization, the American Tract Society, stated that around 3 million gospel tracts are ordered from them alone for Hallowe'en celebrations.[260] Others order Halloween-themed Scripture Candy to pass out to children on this day.[261][262] Belizean children dressed up as Biblical figures and Christian saints Some Christians feel concerned about the modern celebration of Halloween because they feel it trivializes – or celebrates – paganism, the occult, or other practices and cultural phenomena deemed incompatible with their beliefs.[263] Father Gabriele Amorth, an exorcist in Rome, has said, "if English and American children like to dress up as witches and devils on one night of the year that is not a problem. If it is just a game, there is no harm in that."[264] In more recent years, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has organized a "Saint Fest" on Halloween.[265] Similarly, many contemporary Protestant churches view Halloween as a fun event for children, holding events in their churches where children and their parents can dress up, play games, and get candy for free. To these Christians, Halloween holds no threat to the spiritual lives of children: being taught about death and mortality, and the ways of the Celtic ancestors actually being a valuable life lesson and a part of many of their parishioners' heritage.[266] Christian minister Sam Portaro wrote that Halloween is about using "humor and ridicule to confront the power of death".[267] In the Roman Catholic Church, Halloween's Christian connection is acknowledged, and Halloween celebrations are common in many Catholic parochial schools, such as in the United States,[268][269] while schools throughout Ireland also close for the Halloween break.[270][271] Many fundamentalist and evangelical churches use "Hell houses" and comic-style tracts in order to make use of Halloween's popularity as an opportunity for evangelism.[272] Others consider Halloween to be completely incompatible with the Christian faith due to its putative origins in the Festival of the Dead celebration.[273] Indeed, even though Eastern Orthodox Christians observe All Hallows' Day on the First Sunday after Pentecost, the Eastern Orthodox Church recommends the observance of Vespers or a Paraklesis on the Western observance of All Hallows' Eve, out of the pastoral need to provide an alternative to popular celebrations.[274] Analogous celebrations and perspectives Judaism Main article: Jews and Halloween According to Alfred J. Kolatch in the Second Jewish Book of Why, in Judaism, Halloween is not permitted by Jewish Halakha because it violates Leviticus 18:3, which forbids Jews from partaking in gentile customs. Many Jews observe Yizkor communally four times a year, which is vaguely similar to the observance of Allhallowtide in Christianity, in the sense that prayers are said for both "martyrs and for one's own family".[275] Nevertheless, many American Jews celebrate Halloween, disconnected from its Christian origins.[276] Reform Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser has said that "There is no religious reason why contemporary Jews should not celebrate Halloween" while Orthodox Rabbi Michael Broyde has argued against Jews' observing the holiday.[277] Purim has sometimes been compared to Halloween, in part due to some observants wearing costumes, especially of Biblical figures described in the Purim narrative.[278] Islam Sheikh Idris Palmer, author of A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam, has ruled that Muslims should not participate in Halloween, stating that "participation in Halloween is worse than participation in Christmas, Easter, ... it is more sinful than congratulating the Christians for their prostration to the crucifix".[279] It has also been ruled to be haram by the National Fatwa Council of Malaysia because of its alleged pagan roots stating "Halloween is celebrated using a humorous theme mixed with horror to entertain and resist the spirit of death that influence humans".[280][281] Dar Al-Ifta Al-Missriyyah disagrees provided the celebration is not referred to as an 'eid' and that behaviour remains in line with Islamic principles.[282] Hinduism Hindus remember the dead during the festival of Pitru Paksha, during which Hindus pay homage to and perform a ceremony "to keep the souls of their ancestors at rest". It is celebrated in the Hindu month of Bhadrapada, usually in mid-September.[283] The celebration of the Hindu festival Diwali sometimes conflicts with the date of Halloween; but some Hindus choose to participate in the popular customs of Halloween.[284] Other Hindus, such as Soumya Dasgupta, have opposed the celebration on the grounds that Western holidays like Halloween have "begun to adversely affect our indigenous festivals".[285] Neopaganism There is no consistent rule or view on Halloween amongst those who describe themselves as Neopagans or Wiccans. Some Neopagans do not observe Halloween, but instead observe Samhain on 1 November,[286] some neopagans do enjoy Halloween festivities, stating that one can observe both "the solemnity of Samhain in addition to the fun of Halloween". Some neopagans are opposed to the celebration of Hallowe'en, stating that it "trivializes Samhain",[287] and "avoid Halloween, because of the interruptions from trick or treaters".[288] The Manitoban writes that "Wiccans don't officially celebrate Halloween, despite the fact that 31 Oct. will still have a star beside it in any good Wiccan's day planner. Starting at sundown, Wiccans celebrate a holiday known as Samhain. Samhain actually comes from old Celtic traditions and is not exclusive to Neopagan religions like Wicca. While the traditions of this holiday originate in Celtic countries, modern day Wiccans don't try to historically replicate Samhain celebrations. Some traditional Samhain rituals are still practised, but at its core, the period is treated as a time to celebrate darkness and the dead – a possible reason why Samhain can be confused with Halloween celebrations."[286] Geography Main article: Geography of Halloween Halloween display in Kobe, Japan The traditions and importance of Halloween vary greatly among countries that observe it. In Scotland and Ireland, traditional Halloween customs include children dressing up in costume going "guising", holding parties, while other practices in Ireland include lighting bonfires, and having firework displays.[174][289][290] In Brittany children would play practical jokes by setting candles inside skulls in graveyards to frighten visitors.[291] Mass transatlantic immigration in the 19th century popularized Halloween in North America, and celebration in the United States and Canada has had a significant impact on how the event is observed in other nations.[174] This larger North American influence, particularly in iconic and commercial elements, has extended to places such as Brazil, Ecuador, Chile,[292] Australia,[293] New Zealand,[294] (most) continental Europe, Finland,[295] Japan, and other parts of East Asia.[16] Cost According to the National Retail Federation, Americans are expected to spend $12.2 billion on Halloween in 2023, up from $10.6 billion in 2022. Of this amount, $3.9 billion is projected to be spent on home decorations, up from $2.7 billion in 2019. The popularity of Halloween decorations has been growing in recent years, with retailers offering a wider range of increasingly elaborate and oversized decorations." (wikipedia.org) "A spider web, spiderweb, spider's web, or cobweb (from the archaic word coppe, meaning "spider")[1] is a structure created by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets, generally meant to catch its prey. Spider webs have existed for at least 100 million years, as witnessed in a rare find of Early Cretaceous amber from Sussex, in southern England.[2] Many spiders build webs specifically to trap and catch insects to eat. However, not all spiders catch their prey in webs, and some do not build webs at all. The term "spider web" is typically used to refer to a web that is apparently still in use (i.e., clean), whereas "cobweb" refers to a seemingly abandoned (i.e., dusty) web.[3] However, the word "cobweb" is also used by biologists to describe the tangled three-dimensional web[4] of some spiders of the family Theridiidae. While this large family is known as the cobweb spiders, they actually have a huge range of web architectures; other names for this spider family include tangle-web spiders and comb-footed spiders....In culture Spider webs play a crucial role in the 1952 children's novel Charlotte's Web. Webs are also featured in many other cultural depictions of spiders. In films, illustration, and other visual arts, spider webs may be used to readily suggest a "spooky" atmosphere, or imply neglect or the passage of time. Artificial "spider webs" are a common element of Halloween decorations. Spider webs are a common image in tattoo art, often symbolizing long periods of time spent in prison, or used simply to fill gaps between other images. Some observers believe that a small spider is depicted on the United States one-dollar bill, in the upper-right corner of the front side (obverse), perched on the shield surrounding the number "1". This perception is enhanced by the resemblance of the background image of intertwining fine lines to a stylized spider web. However, other observers believe the figure is an owl.[51] The World Wide Web is thus named because of its tangled and interlaced structure, said to resemble that of a spider web. Artificial spider webs are used by the superhero Spider-Man to restrain enemies and to make ropes on which to swing between buildings as quick transportation. Some incarnations of the character, such as the version in the Sam Raimi film trilogy and Spider-Man 2099, are shown to be able to produce organic webs. The notable tensile strength of spider webs is often exaggerated in science fiction, often as a plot device to justify the presence of artificially giant spiders.[52][53] Posters used by the women at Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp often featured the symbol of a spider web, meant to symbolise the fragility as well as the perseverance of the protesters.[54] The Quran uses the fragility of the spider's web as a parable, comparing it to the faith of idolators." (wikipedia.org) "Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom,[2] and spinnerets that extrude silk.[3] They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all orders of organisms.[4][5] Spiders are found worldwide on every continent except for Antarctica, and have become established in nearly every land habitat. As of November 2023, 51,673 spider species in 136 families have been recorded by taxonomists.[1] However, there has been debate among scientists about how families should be classified, with over 20 different classifications proposed since 1900.[6] Anatomically, spiders (as with all arachnids) differ from other arthropods in that the usual body segments are fused into two tagmata, the cephalothorax or prosoma, and the opisthosoma, or abdomen, and joined by a small, cylindrical pedicel. However, as there is currently neither paleontological nor embryological evidence that spiders ever had a separate thorax-like division, there exists an argument against the validity of the term cephalothorax, which means fused cephalon (head) and the thorax. Similarly, arguments can be formed against use of the term abdomen, as the opisthosoma of all spiders contains a heart and respiratory organs, organs atypical of an abdomen.[7] Unlike insects, spiders do not have antennae. In all except the most primitive group, the Mesothelae, spiders have the most centralized nervous systems of all arthropods, as all their ganglia are fused into one mass in the cephalothorax. Unlike most arthropods, spiders have no extensor muscles in their limbs and instead extend them by hydraulic pressure. Their abdomens bear appendages that have been modified into spinnerets that extrude silk from up to six types of glands. Spider webs vary widely in size, shape and the amount of sticky thread used. It now appears that the spiral orb web may be one of the earliest forms, and spiders that produce tangled cobwebs are more abundant and diverse than orb-weaver spiders. Spider-like arachnids with silk-producing spigots (Uraraneida) appeared in the Devonian period about 386 million years ago, but these animals apparently lacked spinnerets. True spiders have been found in Carboniferous rocks from 318 to 299 million years ago, and are very similar to the most primitive surviving suborder, the Mesothelae. The main groups of modern spiders, Mygalomorphae and Araneomorphae, first appeared in the Triassic period, before 200 million years ago. The species Bagheera kiplingi was described as herbivorous in 2008,[8] but all other known species are predators, mostly preying on insects and on other spiders, although a few large species also take birds and lizards. It is estimated that the world's 25 million tons of spiders kill 400–800 million tons of prey per year.[9] Spiders use a wide range of strategies to capture prey: trapping it in sticky webs, lassoing it with sticky bolas, mimicking the prey to avoid detection, or running it down. Most detect prey mainly by sensing vibrations, but the active hunters have acute vision, and hunters of the genus Portia show signs of intelligence in their choice of tactics and ability to develop new ones. Spiders' guts are too narrow to take solids, so they liquefy their food by flooding it with digestive enzymes. They also grind food with the bases of their pedipalps, as arachnids do not have the mandibles that crustaceans and insects have. To avoid being eaten by the females, which are typically much larger, male spiders identify themselves to potential mates by a variety of complex courtship rituals. Males of most species survive a few matings, limited mainly by their short life spans. Females weave silk egg-cases, each of which may contain hundreds of eggs. Females of many species care for their young, for example by carrying them around or by sharing food with them. A minority of species are social, building communal webs that may house anywhere from a few to 50,000 individuals. Social behavior ranges from precarious toleration, as in the widow spiders, to co-operative hunting and food-sharing. Although most spiders live for at most two years, tarantulas and other mygalomorph spiders can live up to 25 years in captivity....Spiders in culture Main article: Cultural depictions of spiders Spiders have been the focus of stories and mythologies of various cultures for centuries.[134] Uttu, the ancient Sumerian goddess of weaving, was envisioned as a spider spinning her web.[135][136] According to her main myth, she resisted her father Enki's sexual advances by ensconcing herself in her web,[136] but let him in after he promised her fresh produce as a marriage gift,[136] thereby allowing him to intoxicate her with beer and rape her.[136] Enki's wife Ninhursag heard Uttu's screams and rescued her,[136] removing Enki's semen from her vagina and planting it in the ground to produce eight previously nonexistent plants.[136] In a story told by the Roman poet Ovid in his Metamorphoses, Arachne (Ancient Greek for "spider") was a Lydian girl who challenged the goddess Athena to a weaving contest.[137][138] Arachne won, but Athena destroyed her tapestry out of jealousy,[138][139] causing Arachne to hang herself.[138][139] In an act of mercy, Athena brought Arachne back to life as the first spider.[138][139] Stories about the trickster-spider Anansi are prominent in the folktales of West Africa and the Caribbean.[140] In some cultures, spiders have symbolized patience due to their hunting technique of setting webs and waiting for prey, as well as mischief and malice due to their venomous bites.[141] The Italian tarantella is a dance to rid the young woman of the lustful effects of a spider bite. Web-spinning also caused the association of the spider with creation myths, as they seem to have the ability to produce their own worlds.[142] Dreamcatchers are depictions of spiderwebs. The Moche people of ancient Peru worshipped nature.[143] They placed emphasis on animals and often depicted spiders in their art." (wikipedia.org) "Cake decorating is the art of decorating a cake for special occasions such as birthdays, weddings, baby showers, national or religious holidays, or as a promotional item. It is a form of sugar art that uses materials such as icing, fondant, and other edible decorations. An artisan may use simple or elaborate three-dimensional shapes as a part of the decoration, or on the entire cake. Chocolate is regularly used to decorate cakes as it can be melted and mixed with cream to make a ganache. Cocoa powder and powered sugar are often used in the process and can be lightly dusted as a finishing touch. Cake decoration has been featured on TV channels such as TLC, Food Network, and Discovery Family as a form of entertainment. Cake Boss is a well known TLC program dedicated to the art behind cake decorating....Types A cake may be decorated using small adornments or embellishments made separately, and placed on top of or around the cake, or may be decorated by being covered with a form of icing or paste, either alone or in accompaniment to other decorations. Cake decorations can be made of edible material and food-safe plastics. Present day cake artists frequently use cooled buttercream to make extravagant designs in the form of roses, figures, and other normal decor. Fondant icing Not to be confused with Poured fondant. A fondant rose edible cake decoration Fondant, also known as sugar paste or ready-roll icing, is a soft, opaque paste made of sugar, water, gelatin, vegetable fat or shortening and glycerol. Fondant is typically sold in a variety of colors when bought ready-made; is easy to handle; and provides a smooth, matte and non-stick cake cover. Fondant must be rolled out with corn starch to avoid it sticking to any surfaces. Once smoothed out and thin enough, fondant can be molded into many different shapes, such as flowers or leaves, and may be cut into shapes and applied to a cake to build up decoration. Though primarily used to cover cakes, it is also used to create individual decorations to accompany cakes, consisting only of fondant with no cake inside. As a relatively heavy form of decoration in comparison to traditional knife-spread frosting, extensive fondant application may weigh a cake down considerably, requiring a suitably sturdy cake base for support. Often times in the form of rods, especially on tiered fondant cakes. Fondant remains soft once sculpted, unlike other forms of icing, which may harden when exposed to air. Royal icing Royal icing is a sweet white icing made by whipping fresh egg whites (or powdered egg whites, meringue powder) with icing sugar. Royal icing produces well-defined icing edges especially when decorating cookies and is ideal for piping intricate writing, borders, scroll work and lacework on cakes. It dries very hard and preserves indefinitely if stored in a cool or dry place, but is susceptible to soften and wilt in high humidity. Marzipan Marzipan, a sweet almond paste, is often used for modeling cake decorations and sometimes used as cake cover, much like fondant. However, marzipan is more commonly used as a confection in candy and chocolate. Gum paste A bow made from gum paste Gum paste, also known as florist paste, is an edible, brittle material that dries quickly and can be sculpted to make cake decorations such as flowers or molded designs.[7] Modeling chocolate Modeling chocolate is a chocolate paste made by melting chocolate and combining it with corn syrup, glucose syrup or golden syrup. The chocolate is formed into a variety of shapes and structures that cannot be easily accomplished with other softer edible materials such as buttercream frosting, marzipan or fondant. Modeling chocolate can be made from white, dark, semi-sweet or milk chocolate. Often stacked on or around the cake for a decorative finish. Edible ink printing Edible ink printing is also used in decorating cakes. After breakthroughs in nontoxic inks and printing materials in the early 1990s,[8] it became possible to print images and photographs onto edible sheets for use on cakes. The process uses pre-printed images printed with edible food colors, which are then applied to various confectionery products such as cookies, cakes or pastries. Designs made with edible ink can be created with a specialty printer, which transfers an image onto a thin, edible paper, made of starches and sugars. Originally introduced as a specialty service provided by bakeries, this technology can now be used by home consumers using the specialized paper, ink and printers. Modern day use of edible ink printing is mainly for themed cakes, and often to display a real face onto the cakes surface. Buttercream Icing Buttercream is the most common, present day form of decoration. Decorators use it for a thick, creamy outcome and is widely used as a filling when stacking cake. Made by whipping soft butter and adding in cups of powdered sugar. Often combined with a sweet vanilla and cream form, making for a delicious coating. Techniques Decorating a cake usually involves covering it with some form of icing and then using decorative sugar, candy, chocolate or icing decorations to embellish the cake. However, it can be as simple as sprinkling a fine coat of icing sugar or drizzling a glossy blanket of glaze over the top of a cake like a mirror cake style that uses a glaze of gelatin, sugar, water and sometimes chocolate.[9] A cake turntable (or rotating tray) can be used to facilitate the process. Icing decorations can be made by either piping icing flowers and decorative borders or by molding sugar paste, fondant or marzipan flowers and figures. An embossing mat is a tool for cake decoration[10] that creates embossed effects on the top of cakes, cupcakes or similar items. The user presses the mat down into cake dough or icing and the pattern embossed in the mat is transferred to the item.[10] Embossing mats are often made of silicone rubber or similar flexible polymers.[11] Many icing designs can be made by piping tips; these come in many shapes and sizes. Tutorials are often made to model the different designs created by different piping tips. “Naked Cakes” became a popular trend, most notably during 2020. In this decorating style, fillings are used between the cake layers but the outside is left unfrosted or sparsely frosted, with much of the cake itself still visible between and through the frosted areas. Naked cakes are often decorated with icing sugar or fresh flowers on top. Often garnished with fresh fruit, sometimes even in the layers. They were especially popular as new types of wedding and engagement cakes.[12] It may be necessary to secure cake layers in place to prevent sliding or falling, especially for large cakes with several layers. Various forms of wooden skewers or dowels and plastic straws are commonly used for this purpose. Large and complex structures can be made by cutting shapes out of cake and piecing them together (often secured together with many non-edible reinforcements). Pre-formed baking pans make it easy to create cakes in non-traditional shapes. Though while useful for producing multiple cakes of the same general shape, they do not have the endless customizability of hand-cut building blocks. Fondant and marzipan structures can also be used to modify the overall shape of a cake. As an art Cake decorating has become a unique edible art form, with examples ranging from simply decorated single-layer cakes, to complex, multi-layered three-dimensional creation with extensive edible decorations. Cake copyright may apply. In popular culture Food Network's Ace of Cakes features baker and former street-artist, Duff Goldman and his shop, Charm City Cakes.[15] WE's Amazing Wedding Cakes is a television series featuring several cake decorating companies across America and focuses on the crafting and design of the cakes. Cake Wrecks is an entertainment photoblog featuring user-submitted images of "unintentionally silly, sad, creepy or inappropriate" cakes.[16] TLC's Cake Boss features baker Buddy Valastro and his shop called Carlo's Bake Shop in Hoboken, New Jersey. Netflix's Nailed It! is a competition show in which amateur bakers attempt cake decorating. The Great British Bake Off is an amateur baking competition show which often features cake decorating." (wikipedia.org) "Candy, alternatively called sweets or lollies,[a] is a confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, also called sugar confectionery, encompasses any sweet confection, including chocolate, chewing gum, and sugar candy. Vegetables, fruit, or nuts which have been glazed and coated with sugar are said to be candied. Physically, candy is characterized by the use of a significant amount of sugar or sugar substitutes. Unlike a cake or loaf of bread that would be shared among many people, candies are usually made in smaller pieces. However, the definition of candy also depends upon how people treat the food. Unlike sweet pastries served for a dessert course at the end of a meal, candies are normally eaten casually, often with the fingers, as a snack between meals. Each culture has its own ideas of what constitutes candy rather than dessert. The same food may be a candy in one culture and a dessert in another....Classification Sugar candies include hard candies, soft candies, caramels, marshmallows, taffy, and other candies whose principal ingredient is sugar. Commercially, sugar candies are often divided into groups according to the amount of sugar they contain and their chemical structure.[17] Hard-boiled candies made by the vacuum cooking process include stick candy, lemon drops and horehound drops. Open-fire candy, like molasses taffy and cream taffy, is cooked in open kettles and then pulled. Pan work candies include nuts and other candies like jelly beans and sugar-coated almonds, made by coating with sugar in revolving copper kettles. Gum work candy is cooked in large kettles fashioned for melting and molded, dried and sugared like gum drops. They are soaked for a time in sugar syrup to allow crystals to form.[18] Sugar candies can be classified into noncrystalline and crystalline types. Noncrystalline candies are homogeneous and may be chewy or hard; they include hard candies, caramels, toffees, and nougats. Crystalline candies incorporate small crystals in their structure, are creamy that melt in the mouth or are easily chewed; they include fondant and fudge.[19] In 2022, flavorless candy was developed that was hard but not sweet....Chocolate is sometimes treated as a separate branch of confectionery.[21] In this model, chocolate candies like chocolate candy bars and chocolate truffles are included. Hot chocolate or other cocoa-based drinks are excluded, as is candy made from white chocolate. When chocolate is treated as a separate branch, it also includes confections whose classification is otherwise difficult, being neither exactly candies nor exactly baked goods, like chocolate-dipped foods, tarts with chocolate shells, and chocolate-coated cookies....Production Main article: Candy making White disk-shaped candies Sugar candy is made by dissolving sugar in water or milk to form a syrup, which is boiled until it reaches the desired concentration or starts to caramelize. Candy comes in a wide variety of textures, from soft and chewy to hard and brittle. The texture of candy depends on the ingredients and the temperatures that the candy is processed at. The final texture of sugar candy depends primarily on the concentration of sugar. As the syrup is heated, it boils, water evaporates, the sugar concentration increases and the boiling point rises. A given temperature corresponds to a particular sugar concentration. These are called sugar stages. In general, higher temperatures and greater sugar concentrations result in hard, brittle candies, and lower temperatures result in softer candies.[22] Once the syrup reaches 171 °C (340 °F) or higher, the sucrose molecules break down into many simpler sugars, creating an amber-colored substance known as caramel. This should not be confused with caramel candy, although it is the candy's main flavoring. A booth selling candy Most candies are made commercially. The industry relies significantly on trade secret protection, because candy recipes cannot be copyrighted or patented effectively, but are very difficult to duplicate exactly. Seemingly minor differences in the machinery, temperature, or timing of the candy-making process can cause noticeable differences in the final product...Packaging Individually wrapped butterscotch candies. A box of chocolates, usually given as a gift. Candy wrapper or sweets wrapper is a common term for this packaging.[24] Purposes of packaging Packaging preserves aroma and flavor and eases shipping and dispensation. Wax paper seals against air, moisture, dust, and germs, while cellophane is valued by packagers for its transparency and resistance to grease, odors and moisture. In addition, it is often resealable. Polyethylene is another form of film sealed with heat, and this material is often used to make bags in bulk packaging. Plastic wraps are also common. Aluminum foils wrap chocolate bars and prevent a transfer of water vapor while being lightweight, non-toxic and odor proof. Vegetable parchment lines boxes of high-quality confections like gourmet chocolates. Cardboard cartons are less common, though they offer many options concerning thickness and movement of water and oil. Packages are often sealed with a starch-based adhesive derived from tapioca, potato, wheat, sago, or sweet potato. Occasionally, glues are made from the bones and skin of cattle and hogs for a stronger and more flexible product, but this is not as common because of the expense. Cultural significance Candy is the source of several cultural themes. Adults worry that other people will use candy to poison or entice children into harmful situations. Stranger danger warnings include telling children not to take candy from strangers, for fear of the child being abducted. Poisoned candy myths persist in popular culture, especially around trick-or-treating at Halloween, despite the rarity of actual incidents.[43] The phrase like taking candy from a baby is a common simile, and means that something is very easy to do.[43] A 1959 Swedish dental health campaign encouraged people to reduce the risk of dental problems by limiting consumption of candy to once a week. The slogan, "All the sweets you want, but only once a week", started a tradition of buying candy every Saturday, called lördagsgodis (literally "Saturday candy"). Holidays Association with Halloween This section may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience. Specifically, most of this information applies only to a single country. Please help by removing excessive detail that may be against Wikipedia's inclusion policy. (October 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) To this day, the process of going door to door to receive free candy during Halloween-time has become a major draw for children all across America. Children across the country dress up in costume and go door to door. In turn, the residents of each house graciously buy candy for children and hand it out in small increments. Just as it had been in the mid-1970s, the main form of candy that is passed out is pre-packaged sweets. Parents feel much more easy minded allowing their children to eat pre-packaged candies because of the quality control that comes with each product. As a result, name brand candies have become a staple for Halloween and trick-or-treating up to the present. Some candies continue to be popular with trick-or-treaters, such as Reese's Cups, Kit Kat, and Snickers, which were the top three Halloween candies of 2022.[51] The tradition of handing out treats on Halloween originated from the holiday of All Hallows Day, or All Saints Day, which derives from Christian tradition. On this day, children would travel across town, saying prayers along the way. These children prayed mainly for all people who had died. In between their prayers, these children would also arrive at the doorsteps of people within their town. As a reward for their actions, they were given homemade cakes referred to as soul cakes, made by the homeowners. These soul cakes resembled a form of biscuit and were usually filled with raisins or cinnamon among other ingredients. Many cakes were also given to the poor during this time. The soul cakes gave these children the incentive to pray intensely in exchange for sweets.[52] Halloween candy being sold at a supermarket in Virginia The idea of providing trick-or-treaters with candy was not fully conceptualized until the 1950s. Up until that point many households continued to provide children with soul cakes among other homemade goods. However, it was discovered by numerous candy producers that the holiday of Halloween could be marketed to sell their products. As a result, many households began to buy candy products. The main draw to these candy products were that they were inexpensive, took no time to prepare, and came in bulk. Nevertheless, candy would not completely take over until the 1970s. Up until that point, givers would continue to make treats or package small toys and coins specifically for Halloween.[53] The main cause for the shift from homemade treats to pre-packaged candies was the result of speculation concerning tampered food. Many parents during this time were concerned that their children were being exposed to needles or toxic chemicals within their halloween goods. The lack of packaging made it much easier for a person to put dangerous substances into the food they were planning to give out. These worries were heightened because of a large number of false reports concerning medical attention relating to dangerous halloween treats. As a result, parents became much more likely to allow their children to participate in Halloween festivities when packed candy was introduced. They noticed that it would be much harder for a person to tamper with factory packaged sweets because the seal would be torn. It would be too noticeable if someone tried to affect the product.[54] Judging from recent statistics, it is evident that Halloween candy is still at high demand. In 2021 alone, profits from halloween candy were up to at least "$324 million". From the same report, the demand for halloween candy was "up 59.8% from 2019". From these numbers it can be presumed that Halloween is still a big deal for Americans. An even bigger deal for the American public is the act of receiving candy from trick-or-treating. Candy continues to be a staple for the Halloween season and remains the biggest draw for participation." (wikipedia.org) "Icing, or frosting,[1] is a sweet, often creamy glaze made of sugar with a liquid, such as water or milk, that is often enriched with ingredients like butter, egg whites, cream cheese, or flavorings. It is used to coat or decorate baked goods, such as cakes. When it is used between layers of cake it is known as a filling. Icing can be formed into shapes such as flowers and leaves using a pastry bag. Such decorations are commonplace on birthday and wedding cakes. Edible dyes can be added to icing mixtures to achieve a desired hue. Sprinkles, edible inks or other decorations are often used on top of icing. A basic icing is called a glacé, containing powdered sugar (also known as icing sugar or confectioners' sugar) and water. This can be flavored and colored as desired, for example, by using lemon juice in place of the water. More complex icings can be made by beating fat into powdered sugar (as in buttercream), by melting fat and sugar together, by using egg whites (as in royal icing), by whipping butter into meringue (as in Italian or Swiss meringue buttercream), and by adding other ingredients such as glycerin (as in fondant).[2][3] Some icings can be made from combinations of sugar and cream cheese or sour cream, or by using ground almonds (as in marzipan). Icing can be applied with a utensil such as a knife or spatula, or it can be applied by drizzling or dipping (see glaze), or by rolling the icing out and draping it over the cake. The method of application largely depends on the type and texture of icing being used. Icing may be used between layers in a cake as a filling, or it may be used to completely or partially cover the outside of a cake or other baked product. Apart from its aesthetic functions, icing can also improve the flavour of a cake, as well as preserving it by sealing in moisture." (wikipedia.org)
- Condition: Used
- Condition: In excellent, pre-owned condition. Please see photos and description.
- Pattern: Solid
- Number of Compartments: 1
- Shape: Cupcake
- Lid Type: Lift
- Size: Medium
- Color: Orange
- Material: Ceramic & Porcelain
- Item Length: 6.25"
- Vintage: No
- Brand: Whimsy Home By Magenta
- Type: Cookie Jar
- Original/Licensed Reproduction: Original
- Item Height: 8.5"
- Model: Halloween Cupcake
- Theme: Cupcakes
- Style: Modern
- Features: Microwaveable, Multipurpose, Reusable, With Lid
- Time Period Manufactured: 2010-2019
- Country/Region of Manufacture: China
- Item Width: 6.25"
- Number of Jars Included: 1
PicClick Insights - HALLOWEEN CUPCAKE COOKIE JAR 8.5" Whimsy Home Magenta candy canister cute RARE PicClick Exclusive
- Popularity - 0 watchers, 0.0 new watchers per day, 8 days for sale on eBay. 0 sold, 1 available.
- Best Price -
- Seller - 1,181+ items sold. 0% negative feedback. Great seller with very good positive feedback and over 50 ratings.
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