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CC & NJ Guy
Exploring Halloween's Enchanting Evolution: Ancient Traditions, Cultural Celebrations, and Spooky Surprises
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Imagine a world where apples bob with ancient tradition and mischievous nights get your heart racing with youthful nostalgia. Journey with us as we uncover the fascinating roots of Halloween, beginning with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain where the boundary between this world and the next was thought to blur. Along the way, we'll reflect on how Roman festivities, like Feralia and Pomona, introduced customs such as bobbing for apples, and share insights from our friend Suzanne, a wise witch who has sprinkled her magic on our discussions in the past.
Picture the chaos of "Goosey Night" and the wonder of childhood costumes made from whatever was at hand. Our conversation transforms into a vibrant exploration of how Halloween evolved, from its spooky origins brought by Irish and Scottish immigrants, to the colorful Dia de los Muertos celebrated in Mexico. Hear our personal tales of trick-or-treating and the cultural mash-up that makes Halloween a unique celebration today, with its blend of traditions, costumes, and candy. From Pope Gregory III's establishment of All Saints Day to the American obsession with Spirit Halloween stores, we cover it all with humor and a touch of nostalgia.
Feel the spirit of Halloween come alive through stories of parades, massive decorations, and the creativity that takes center stage during this festive time. Share a laugh with us as we remember impractical masks and the joy of community gatherings that resemble Mardi Gras in their exuberance. While we touch on the importance of safety when feasting on Halloween treats, the real focus is on the fun and freedom of expression that this holiday has come to represent. So, join us as we celebrate the joy and enduring appeal of Halloween, a holiday that invites everyone to let their imagination run wild.
Hosted by: Cottman, Crawford & The Jersey Guy
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Welcome to Cartman Crawford and the Jersey Guy. I'm, lewis, here with Kenny and your favorite Jersey Guy, tom. Get ready for another round of real talk, crazy stories and everything in between.
Speaker 2Yes.
Speaker 3What's going on, guys? Not much. How are you all? Right so let's go. Yeah, right, talk to me. History of halloween. History of halloween. Yes, this is halloween.
Speaker 1This is history of halloween yes ah, that's the thing,
Speaker 3that's a good movie too great movie.
Speaker 2I just watched that.
Speaker 1I think it was last weekend, maybe. Yeah, it was on and I watched it. I was like this movie is.
Speaker 2We saw it in the movie theater a few weeks ago.
Speaker 1This movie could trip your balls off.
Speaker 2Yeah, if you watch this movie alright, definitely not that I know anything about it, I don't know nothing about it. I had a gummy. I heard it from a friend Right. She said you did.
Speaker 3Oh, it was so good. How was that? It was good. Yeah, yeah, that is awesome, brother. That is awesome, that is fucking funny. All right, so Go ahead.
Speaker 1So the history of Halloween. So we do know its origins and what do you guys normally think? What do you think you remember if you do anything?
Speaker 2On top of your head. I'm just curious, for what? What do you?
Speaker 1mean Like where it started. No, idea. How far back.
Speaker 2No idea. I know it is, as Suzanne says, samhain, which is usually most people pronounce it Samhain Right, but I know it's a big holiday, samhain.
Speaker 3Oh really, that's correct.
Speaker 1She corrected us on that. She did, she actually did.
Speaker 2But I don't know how old it is. I know it's a pagan holiday.
Speaker 1Yes, Halloween has its origins in ancient Celtic festivals particularly Samhain, which has celebrated by the. Celts over 2,000 years. Oh wow, 2,000 years.
Speaker 2Yeah, 2,000 years I think that's Gaelic, so like spelling Ireland, the UK.
Speaker 1Northern France, samhain marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter time, and the Celts associated with death. They believe that on that night, october 31st, the boundary between the living and the dead blurred and spirits could roam on Rome. Earth toward, uh, toward off these spirits. People would light bonfires and wear costumes to disguise themselves. Why disguise themselves? Disguise themselves because they didn't want the spirits to know who they were but ching makes sense.
Speaker 3Hey, I never would have thought that makes sense.
Speaker 1I thought it was like trying to scare the spirits back or whatever no, you don't want them to to know who you are, to recognize you that is great.
Speaker 3I think that's the whole purpose at least one of them. That makes sense. No, that sense. Now, how much of this did you know?
Speaker 2I knew a little bit of that.
Speaker 3I'm sure, if we had, her on right now.
Speaker 1She would be owning us right now. I'm sure she's very good at that.
Speaker 3Yes, I would imagine, by the way, anybody listening.
Speaker 2She's a friend of mine. We had her on the show before if you didn't hear the episodes from maybe last year, but she's a good friend of mine who also happens to be witch yeah, she talked about uh solving for you know, because that would had to do with I think it was around this time last year we had her on.
Speaker 3She's a very nice lady yeah, good friend of mine, yeah, definitely yeah, she was cool as hell. She really was. She's great, but I know that.
Speaker 2Yeah, there's some. I remember hearing some of the history of that before right, I'm sure she would school us if we were here right now, you know.
Speaker 1But we're going, we have the right notes, we know what we're looking at.
Speaker 2We continue the tradition. We're dressing costumes now.
Speaker 3I'm sure that laces out Loving the laces out Loving the laces out.
Speaker 2Love it, love it. That's Ace Ventura. I love it, that's Ace Ventura. Everybody doesn't know Ace is out All right.
Speaker 3So Ben history. Now, what is your favorite? You, tom, because you're like the Halloween. Yeah, what? Is your favorite part of it.
Speaker 2Well, yeah, I am too, Trust me, I am too, but not as much as him. Right, but hang out, hang out.
Speaker 1What's that thought? Because we have some stuff here.
Speaker 3I was going to go back and forth, okay, hang out.
Speaker 1The reason I think this is important to hear this part is to help us understand what you probably wouldn't just talk about. Okay, let's go, so I apologize. Yeah, when the Romans conquered Celtic lands, they combined their festivals with Samhain.
Speaker 2Samhain Samhain.
Speaker 1Thank you, samhain Samhain, one of these or Samhain for realia, a day to honor the dead. Another was festival to honor Pomona, the Roma goddess of fruit and trees. Oh, the apple symbol is Pomona, likely explains the tradition of bobbing for apples. Oh, or bobbing for apples.
Speaker 2I apologize. I should have been wearing my glasses, so I could do it over again torture you so what were you saying?
Speaker 3I'm gonna say so with the history of you know well, just some things. So like bobbing apples for apples is uh, you know, it goes way back yeah, yeah, what's your? Favorite tradition of Halloween, like the pumpkin carving, the dressing up yeah, that was my favorite part.
Speaker 1I couldn't wait for my customer. And you know what?
Speaker 2was fun when I was still in my 20s and doing like the whole bar scene was Halloween yeah, of course people dress up they wear stuff. That's something I didn't know was a thing until I got older and did the bar scene. I was like, wow, halloween is awesome. Yeah, oh man, I had so much fun doing that.
Speaker 1You know dressing up and I recently just did the Heart of Matt Amoris trail.
Speaker 2You get to do it again when you're an adult.
Speaker 1Oh my God, I was part of that. It was awesome, I was part of that.
Speaker 3It was awesome. Your costumes are better when you're older. You know what I mean. You get more creative with them.
Speaker 2Some people do the funny ones. I used to do some funny ones. I'll switch up real quick.
Speaker 3When I was a kid, it was a last minute thing that I wasn't going to dress up, I'm not going to dress up. My grandma was like you're going to dress up now. She just went into the bathroom and got the gauze and made me the mummy and just wrapped me up in the gauze and painted my face. But you know, like my cousin had some leftover halloween makeup and just painted my face, made me look all like that's a good costume. Now she did the old one, the peter laurie, right, um, mummy. So my one my arm was was, uh, wrapped down to my elbow and I can only move up and I'm like right in that one. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm like, oh, it's not this one's right man.
Speaker 3So you know, it's one of those things, but when I got older, well, I never did it. After that, another mummy one. But now you can go and you can get the thicker um heavier uh, it's like a canvas yeah, like a canvas to wrap yourself up in the mummy stuff.
Speaker 1They use it right, each of the right. Yeah, you know.
Speaker 3So the middle east right, yeah, but I have papyrus, that's right right, but you know, I never thought about like I said, because I was never that kind of into halloween, not because I was scared, like I just loved the horror flicks and I loved doing that, but I never had a anything they're like, oh, I want to do. That's why I'm asking you guys, because you said you like the, the dressing up or whatever.
Speaker 2I mean again the candy too. I mean. I mean that was always fun too. I mean we used to hit the same houses up, we changed costumes who went last. No way, if they still like fit us, we go hit the same houses again you know that's funny bro. Yeah, like one of us would just show up with like a like our regular clothes and just a mask on, yeah, I mean and go hit the house, same houses yeah, we used to like.
Speaker 2I remember the first year like someone told us it was like you're gonna get a pillowcase, don't get the trigger.
Speaker 1Yeah, oh, a pillow, yeah, oh, now we're talking.
Speaker 3Yeah, I felt like santa after a while carrying all that candy. Yeah, that's great. When did you stop trick-or-treating me?
Speaker 1I think high school yeah, high school probably 13, 14 really stopped yeah, no yeah, stop.
Speaker 3Once again high school yeah, no, I enjoyed trick-or-treating when I was a kid. That's what we did. Yeah, exactly, I did that both yeah I did both in middle school ages.
Origins and Evolution of Halloween
Speaker 2We did the. You know, we did the Trick-or-treating early. We did the. And it's such a weird my town, I don't know why Some people call it Goosey Night. They call it Cabbage Night in my town. Okay, I don't know thing to my area. I heard some areas other, but anyway that's the night, or goosey night or, you know, devil's night, the night before. You know, you go toilet paper, teepee houses, shaving cream, but then we would get into fights, the kids, but not like fights, like we're actually hitting each other, but we're like shaved. You know, right, someone got the idea of getting like an aerosol can and popping it on the shaving cream so it squirts like oh yeah all kinds of fun stuff nice.
Speaker 3Yeah, throwing eggs too. No, we were more.
Speaker 1We were more, that's not me wow, wow, dude, don't even answer the podcast, don't ever don't ever happen.
Speaker 3We're not taking any callers yeah, yeah, yeah, this is halloween. This is, that was the phone call. Wow, that's great.
Speaker 2That's funny, that's awesome, you needed that.
Speaker 3Yeah, that was great. That was almost scary, bro, talking about Halloween and then the phone rings you like scary movies yes, you want to see something scary.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, that's funny, you got to pull over yeah. That's awesome.
Speaker 3That is freaking hilarious.
Speaker 2What was that on? That was.
Speaker 1Twilight.
Speaker 2Zone the movie right.
Speaker 1With Dan McGrath. Yes, twilight Zone, you want to see something really scary.
Speaker 2Yeah, he's like a zombie.
Speaker 1No, he's got that crazy with the teeth and everything. Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh yeah, it was like ah, that's what it was.
Speaker 3What the yeah that's. But I mean so you think of, now we do it and we're having a good time with it. We do the, you know, doing the trick-or-treating and whatnot. It's almost religious to some people. Yeah, there's different countries, we'll get to that. That's what I was going back to today.
Speaker 1Here's something that's interesting to be able to like. So in the 19th century, halloween traditions were brought to the United States by Irish and Scottish immigrants. It gradually evolved from a night focused on ghost stories and mischief making into a community centered event with trick or treating, costume parties and festive activities. But the thing I wanted to read, which that's pretty interesting, right, this is what I wanted. In the eighth century, pope Gregory III designated November 1st as All Saints Day.
Speaker 1Yes, All Saints Day A time to honor saints and martyrs. Yep, that night before became known as All Halloween Eve and later Halloween. Incorporated many of the Celtic traditions, including bonfires, costumes and feasting.
Speaker 2I know some people say All Hallows Eve.
Speaker 3Yeah, I thought it was All Hallows' Eve. Yeah, I thought it was All Hallows' Eve too. I didn't know, it was All Halloween.
Speaker 2Yeah, so I mean it's interesting the evolution of the holiday Right and how right away.
Speaker 1Religion gets involved. They have to put an All Saints Day in there. It's just interesting, for the time is what I'm saying.
Speaker 3Right. Well, now here's the question Would it be religious? Because if, being a witch, that was part of their thing, was it not? You know what I mean. Like you said that that was yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So then that would be a religion thing. Now, because of you know.
Speaker 1No, I meant. I meant yes, that would be a religious thing. I meant because religion was involved. They had to make all saints stay.
Speaker 3Oh, gotcha, gotcha.
Speaker 1To counter it. To counter it Because it was to counter the pagan religion. That's what I was saying, yeah yeah, yeah, that was blasphemy. Right here go all the saints, and their way is to say we're going to make All Saints Day Right. Okay, we're good to go.
Speaker 3Now that you say that that does make sense, I get it, it does make sense, yeah, yeah yeah, the light bulb went on. Bing, got you. Yeah, no, okay.
Speaker 1Yeah, but it's cool to know this because you don't realize when you were a kid. You take advantage of it. You don't think about where it came from or what it does.
Speaker 2It's just this fun thing we do 2,000 years. What the hell.
Speaker 3Yeah, but it means something more than that we get canned right, but then look at in Spanish, the Dia de los Muertos, day of the Dead. You know what I mean, so it's the same idea.
Speaker 2And it's funny, there's a very specific look for that, right. The makeup's done a very specific way, right, and that's the same idea With the skull over the face kind of makeup.
Speaker 3Yeah, right, and that's that whole thing. That's what I was wearing the other night. Yeah, it was. Yeah, dude, you looked spooky as all get out. I'm telling you that shit right now. You sent the pictures. I was like, oh damn, yeah, it was really good paint. I was like, holy shit, did it look like me at all?
Speaker 1Yes, and no Only because you knew me. That's why.
Speaker 3Right, yeah, like you know, maybe if we were passing in the street I would have had to like double take. You know, if I didn't know you had dressed up like that. It's cool stuff. Yeah, that was really good makeup, bro. You were really eerie. I'm not going to lie, that was some serious shit. I was like whoa, like I the haunted walks and see you come right in children, you know, I mean like with that's just that straight monotone.
Speaker 3Come on in. Children enjoy. Oh yeah, show like yeah, bro, yeah, matter of fact, so sidebar, real quick chitty, chitty, bang bang right way back in the day. Wow, remember the guy who used to come and hunt the kids. Yeah, that's what's what you looked like, that's what you reminded me of. Oh, like it was that kind of spooky.
Speaker 1You went that far back with that one.
Speaker 3Yeah, yeah yeah, dude, when I saw you, I was like whoa. Yeah, so if anybody knows or haven't seen Lou dressed up, if you didn't see on our page, I'll have to post him on Instagram. Yeah, you got to see. That's what the hell he looked like.
Speaker 1Yeah, he came out First time I'd done that in a long time. Yeah, last time I wore makeup is when I went as Kiss. Okay, I was Paul Stanley and it was like a. It was in my old school PS180. It was in and you got all dressed up. Everybody got just like I said. I liked dressing up. I loved Kiss. I just got introduced to it and God, I had maybe 13. I think I was. If I was that old Wow and I was wearing the makeup and everything.
Speaker 3That is awesome, very cool. That is awesome. What was your favorite Halloween outfit Me? Can you remember that far back?
Speaker 2I actually had a skeleton outfit I liked wearing. Yeah, I actually wore it like a couple of years. No kidding.
Speaker 3That's funny, I don't know. I can't think of any favorite one One. I think I would say we won. And I say we I'll tell you in a sec was we had gone to a in Manhattan. My mom took us to my sister and I and my cousin and my sister and I were Raggedy, Ann and Andy Get out, yeah, and we won the contest, that's cool. The best costume contest. Very cool yeah.
Speaker 1At the moment I was like I don't want to wear this shit. We're talking about the history of Halloween. This is what we're talking about. Yeah, I was like I didn't want to watch that.
Speaker 3I didn't want to wear this shit and we won freaking I was always Superman. Yeah.
Speaker 1I played Batman a couple of times.
Speaker 2I had a friend growing up.
Speaker 1And I had the hard mask with the crazy. You know that was the shit. You couldn't wait to get that thing Right, bro. You were pumped when you got that. You know you were. That was great. Yes, you did.
Speaker 2You had it. You bugged out. He was like a vampire every year, like Dracula every year and they ended up being a goth.
Speaker 1No way, and he's like still a goth. Yeah, yeah, yeah, really. So that's what it was. Yeah, I saw him on Facebook a couple times, so he knew what his calling was immediately.
Speaker 3Exactly bro. Now he's just a vampire all the time.
Speaker 1That's freaking hilarious, I got. We're talking about our history of Halloween. We'll jump into again Purim, which is a Jewish holiday.
Speaker 2Yes, and they dress up, but it's a different time of year, right?
Evolution of Halloween Traditions
Speaker 1Look up the story if you need, so you understand what it is, but anyway, I remember. The story I want to tell is that when we were kids, I used to go to Hebrew school with my brother on Sundays and stuff like that, and my mother and my aunt Barbara took uh back to school for their purim day. Right, you could get dressed up and everything, but they didn't have any costumes for me. So they came up with this idea that you remember the cookies that you would get. They were folded like triangles but it had the jelly in it. Oh yes, I can't remember the name. Yeah, yeah, so I'm going to probably get you know eaten for this.
Speaker 1But so they took the big paper, you know, the big white paper. Was it cargo paper? Is that what it's called? A composition book out of a composition book, and they would clip it here and there and they made us and they drew it in with markers and everything like that, and that's what they made us wear when we went to this thing.
Speaker 3Yeah, you know thing?
Speaker 1yeah, we had to, like you know, because they didn't have costumes for us, so they had to yeah, yeah, and tortured my brother, and I wear these cardboard things.
Speaker 3I love it.
Speaker 1That's funny as hell now that's perum, so it's a different holiday. That's nothing to do with halloween, of course but they do dress up they do, they do, but nothing. That's scarier, it's more yeah you know, maybe medieval time or something like that.
Speaker 3That's funny as hell, that is too funny. But yeah, man. So now history again. Now you look at. So they were saying that getting the candy was to mimic the ghost, the spirits coming over, and you had to pay. You know, give them pay homage, give them a oh Jesus.
Speaker 1So we were the ghosts they had to give us candy?
Speaker 3Yeah, they gave us candy, and by doing that it helped.
Speaker 1Yeah, with the ghosts going away and not bothering them.
Speaker 3Right, it's candy you might get the hell out of here, yeah, yeah, and that's crazy, but you know, again, again, it's all the things that people believed were the ghosts in the day and just what it grew into.
Speaker 3Yeah, well, no, this was back in the 19th century, 18th century, that they were doing that because they felt like, because it's that day, between you know, it's the closest, or that, that, like you said, blurred between the living and the dead where the dead could get through right said this way you know, if I give it to them, you know, and we can't tell who they are because their face is a painting that somebody else, that just to keep water off all the evil spirits, yada, yada, blah, blah, blah and all that other good stuff.
Speaker 1Interesting thing is other countries as well. But let me read one more thing. By the mid 20th century, halloween had become A major American holiday, largely secular but still linked to its ancient traditions of spirit costumes and the theme of supernatural. Today, halloween is celebrated with various costumes around the world, including pumpkin carving, linked to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack, and the Jack O' Lantern, trick or treating, haunted attractions and parties.
Speaker 1Yeah, that's pretty interesting stuff, yeah, so everything was about warding off evil yeah, you know what I mean, just how it turned it, what it turned into, yeah, you know and what it is now so no, I mean only some people still believe in the.
Speaker 3You know that it's warding off evil spirits and you know, because you have that one day, you know, I mean some people believe it. You know, now it's like that it's a money maker, you know, think of all the costumes. Yeah, that's your store your store.
Speaker 1I love spirit halloween.
Speaker 3Yeah, I love going in there, man yeah, you know and, like I said, you know if you look at the history of a lot of things you know and I think it's a good one. It's it's, it's. This is one of the. To me it's one of the cool ones, you know, because that's people to be.
Cultural Celebrations of Halloween
Speaker 2But yeah, just to see who you want to be now as an adult I like the mood, I like the uh aesthetics and you know we started putting some stuff in our house. We're like, you know, we're gonna keep this year around yeah, like in my hallway we put us some like we got got these like what do you? Got Stuff, we got like framed art.
Speaker 3They're not shrunken heads, are they? No, no, no. Framed art, like actually, you got the same one.
Speaker 2Like the one of the framed art of, like Michael Myers. Oh, okay, I got one of Ghostface and I got one. This is the best one.
Speaker 1I got the Grady. Uh, it's like at the end of the whole he's already started, he's already making.
Speaker 3It's already started. Yeah, dude, it's just gonna turn into that's insane.
Speaker 1I love it. I love it. Yeah, man, it's awesome that he's like that. Yeah, he found his niche already.
Speaker 3I'm telling you, that's his thing, yeah one of my god sons, uh, he's, he's like seven now, anyway, and he does they. His mom is a horror queen.
Speaker 1Some people love all that horror.
Speaker 3For the wedding topper. She did Chucky and Bride of Chucky. That was their wedding toppers. Nice, the wedding cake topper. I was like yo, you're bugging. She's like it's okay. I'm like ah, she did it in the voice. She sounded just like Bride of Chucky. She did the voice 'm like yo, you know what I'm leaving right now. You know they're scaring me, but yeah, she's into it and he's into it. But he's into it more like he thinks it's just a funny, like he's just whatever, right, you know what I mean? He's not looking to try to put up all the stuff outside like chase, does you know?
Speaker 3but uh, yo listen, halloween, I feel, for a lot of people, is just that day to just be you you know I'm saying like that's when nobody's gonna make fun of you for having that costume or dressing that way, or just knows who.
Speaker 1It is right yeah you know, sometimes, yeah, everybody was dressed differently. Of course, some kid, at least for me, a mask with the hard brumba band, yeah, yeah, yeah, dude, that that was the.
Speaker 3Yeah, that was great, but I wouldn't have traded it, bro.
Speaker 1It was the best. I looked forward to it. I loved it. I know I did because I couldn't wait for it to happen. So, but every generation it changes. And of course now, when you look at the stuff they have in the stores now, you're like, wow, I wish I had this back then.
Speaker 3Forget about it. Yeah, oh, dude, they have some cool ones now. And yeah, I do remember I was Superman when I was going to give you that one, but I'll give it to you.
Speaker 2I was Superman.
Speaker 1I was.
Speaker 2Batman. I did with the mask and whatever. You know what I used to love going into Some of the Halloween stores. I know Spirit doesn't really do it so much this way, but I remember going to these old halloween stores in the 80s and 90s and the masks would be at the top. Yes, look in mass. Well, if you looked at those masks, they were not practical no, no, no, they weren't like they had, like the like they even had, like the um from beetlejuice, when he made himself scary oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3Yeah, they had that big thing like who's gonna wear that.
Speaker 2Yeah, you're not gonna wear that anywhere, you'd be, surprised that would be that thing going to be hot as hell. They're like heavy duty latex.
Speaker 3Yeah, they're super latex, bro.
Speaker 1A lot of that stuff is light, but you can't see through a lot of it, though. We had a couple of masks in the house and it's hard to see through it.
Speaker 2And it would annoy the hell out of me. On like I didn't?
Speaker 3yeah, you know that's much more. You know, seeing those masks, it's hard.
Speaker 1Fascinated by them, yeah, no though, and it's crazy because, like you said, the evolution oh yeah.
Speaker 3Yeah, those costumes, yeah, you can buy them, yeah, but the evolution of the I should give that to the kid grandchildren oh, I got you yeah just to mess with them. But you gotta follow it, you gotta find it. I can buy whatever I write offline. Oh man, then make it happen. I think you should. Well, you know what I'd say wait another year, yeah, so they get like a little older. You know what I mean? Just one more year, yeah. But the mask, the evolution, you look like you're Spirit Halloween.
Speaker 2Yeah, I bought a cool one, just a fun mask to wear, like when I'm trick-or-treating with Chase, just to throw on. Yeah, it's called like Uncle. Bob, or something like that, and it's a bottomless mask. So, and it blends in with your face so like as. I'm talking, it just has the. The only thing like the bottom of my mouth is yeah, right, the only thing that's not.
Speaker 3that's how spooky does it look, bro?
Speaker 1oh, and it fits tight like yeah, it looks like it's not super tight like those ones that they have online, right? What are you talking about? The mask?
Speaker 3one of the masks I bought from the spirit you know it's a fun mask, just right you put it on.
Speaker 1Yeah, no, I just got a regular scope yeah, I got it when I was wearing that makeup. It took me a little while to. I had to keep telling myself they don't, they can't see you right, you know not the real you. Yeah, you know you don't realize, but when you're wearing the makeup it's like part of your face. So it's weird. But it was weird, it was different, it was, but it was fun though. Yeah, yeah, the whole idea that where it came from and how it turned into this.
Speaker 1But people really know what it's about yeah so they just, you know, like there are people who really believe and celebrate on this day oh, I should say halloween, right, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure, you know to contact whatever, do whatever.
Speaker 3Yeah, no, no, see, I'm good, I don't need all that extra shit, I'm all right. Yeah, no, no, I'm good, I'm good, you know, I do, I, I, I'm going to. You know the Mrs. She likes to carve the pumpkins.
Speaker 2Those are fun kit. Probably buy one tomorrow.
Speaker 3We're gonna do that soon because um the thing is like we, we made the mistake last year because chase wanted to do it earlier and by the time halloween came it died.
Speaker 2Yeah, like go mushy and sideways and shit so we're gonna carve them this weekend, so yeah that's what I'm saying.
Speaker 3Yeah, I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna try to get it for her tomorrow or sunday and, uh, buy the whole kit and whatnot and she apologize, am I? Boring you. No.
Speaker 1Let's talk about some countries that do Halloween, but they celebrate it differently. I'll celebrate on November 1st and 2nd this Mexican holiday on his deceased loved ones. Families in Crete.
Speaker 3Ofrendas, yeah, do I Say it again Lou Ofrendas, ofrendas, yeah, it's offerings.
Speaker 1Okay, because it's A-F-R-E-N-D-A-S.
Speaker 3Yes.
Speaker 1Adorned with photos, marigolds, candles and favorite foods Of the deceased. The holiday is festive and colorful celebration Focused on belief that the spirit of the dead Returned to visit Right. That's what that movie Coco.
Speaker 3That was a good idea. That's that. That's basically what it is. That's a fun thing.
Speaker 2Yeah yeah, you're like, you're like celebrating, right, celebrate their lives, yeah yeah.
Speaker 3So, the I don't want to yeah, so I Ireland.
Speaker 1So Ireland we did, ireland, scotland, we know, but I'll read it anyway. Being the birthplace of Halloween, ireland and Scotland celebrate the traditions like bonfires, costumes and trick or treating. In Scotland, children play geising, where they dress up, go door to door and perform songs, jokes and tricks to earn treats.
Speaker 3Yeah. That's good, yeah, make them work for that candy, yeah man.
Speaker 1It's earn treats yeah, that's good. Yeah, we're going to make them work for that candy. Yeah, man, it's good stuff. Yeah, japan, everybody does so different, like we do it different here too. You know, it's crazy how it grew into that Japan doesn't traditionally celebrate Halloween, but the Kawasaki Halloween Parade near Tokyo is one of the biggest events, with thousands of participants in elaborate costumes. Halloween is gaining popularity, with costume parties, themed events and spooky decorations, particularly in the urban areas.
Speaker 3Wow, so it's just growing, yeah, well, that sounds like the parade in the city, in the village, yeah. Have you ever seen that bro? No, Well, that sounds like the the parade in the city, in the village, yeah.
Speaker 1That they had that. Have you ever seen that, bro? No, they got a crazy parade A few times actually.
Halloween Decorations and Festivities
Speaker 3Yeah, they were, yes, they were. I wish to say a couple.
Speaker 1I know if it was a few, but I think it was once or twice.
Speaker 3I know have a parade and everybody it was almost like a I don't want to say not a Mardi Gras, but almost like a Mardi Gras there's just people in there dressed up and they have the little bands playing and doing music and whatnot, as they're walking down, isn't it? Now I will say I'm not sure if it's just gay pride or if it's just a party and everybody getting dressed up.
Speaker 2I'm gonna you might be right yeah, I never got a chance to stay through the whole thing.
Speaker 3Yeah, I went, like you know, for like passing through kind of sort of whatever, but never had a chance to stay and do it because they do a. I believe it's in Waverly Theater still that they do a Little Shop of Horrors, oh yeah it's like they do the parade and Little.
Speaker 1Shop of Horrors, and they.
Speaker 3Yeah, it's like they do the parade and little shop of horrors and they, you know, they do the whole thing and it's the whole idea. It's pretty cool. I've always wanted to do it Because my birthday Is in October, so I was supposed to go and I never had a chance To go and do it when your birthday just passed right.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, october 4th, my mother's is the 29th.
Speaker 3Yeah, couple of days. So yeah, that's why you know so dude it's, it's. Did I explain something Like? You said that like oh.
Speaker 1Oh, she was close to Halloween. She's 29, 30, 31.
Speaker 3Yeah, there you go, do this one. Yeah, no, but the Halloween man listen, it's a fun holiday.
Speaker 1It's a stress reliever man. Yeah, it is.
Speaker 2It allows you to do something, be something, have fun without having to worry about anything else. Right, enjoy yourself. If you can do it, it'd be good.
Speaker 1You know, it's cool too when you have a nice, like, good street to like, we're, we're the street we're on, we don't get many trick-or-treaters, but we go to there's one street and they still trick-or-treat around you.
Speaker 2There's two streets in town.
Speaker 1It is the place to be there and they actually go to door to door there are, so there's no trunk of treats, a couple hours.
Speaker 2It's just like kid, kid, kid. They're all going up and down the street. It's so cool, because you don't really see that too much in a lot of towns.
Speaker 1It's nice to see we did that. I love that one.
Speaker 2I think it's High Street in my town.
Speaker 1That was fun. I had fun doing that. People do their houses, all nice.
Speaker 3They on, some of the people, some of the parent parents, dress up in costume as they're serving the tree. You know, right, it's cool, yeah, you know, yeah, yeah, there's a place in new windsor that they do that and uh, it's funny because a lot of the dads or just the people, dads and moms they would either sit and like look like they were part of the furniture on the porch or they would be in the grass so they would like kind of like fence it up so people couldn't step on the grass, but fence it up with like cobwebs and stuff you know, around a tree, and then the parent or whoever older sibling would be in the tree and like they would paint them the same way and they would just like stick their hand out and grab them Like ah.
Speaker 2I kind of wish for Halloween that we had a house on that street.
Speaker 3Yeah.
Speaker 2Or whatever the two streets are that day, because it's like really cool.
Speaker 3And nobody on your block is willing to go that extra. We're on a dead end, yeah, but that makes it better, because then there's no cars, so everybody has to park up on the corner we used to go to the dead end block.
Speaker 2There's no sidewalks on my street, I understand. It's a dead end there. There's no sidewalks on my street.
Speaker 3It's a dead end there's no sidewalks on the street.
Speaker 2I don't know A lot of people, just don't go down it.
Speaker 3Yeah, no, that's wild man. That would be kind of cool. Yeah, that's what I'm saying Go down the dead end streets and the alleyways and all that other stuff.
Speaker 1The house is on that block. Okay, I'm going.
Speaker 3Yeah, exactly, trick or treat, right, perfect, because you're going in a loop, you start, right, you're going on there, exactly exactly yeah. Yeah, that's what I'm saying, man. I'm surprised that you don't have more people, uh, coming down there, but not if your neighbors don't light up the house the same way. You know, like you do, I like that everybody decorates now too, which is great.
Speaker 1It's nice to see a bunch of them now. They got the giant ones, you know where we grow, we grew two big, blow up huge ones and the big skeletons yeah we have the 12 foot skeleton yeah 12 foot.
Speaker 2What do you store that shit, bro? A lot of people don't you know they actually sell, they donate accessories for people, use them year round. A lot of people that have these 12 foot skeletons. They leave me around. If you buy a 5xl, it uh, 5xl shirts fit it. And I think the same thing with, like, if you buy shorts, you could put a 5XL shorts on it. No kidding, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, okay.
Speaker 2I mean you gotta buy like plus size stuff but it fits it. But they also sell accessories for it. You can buy like sunglasses for it that have like the red, white and blue on them for like Memorial Day. Yeah, that's what they basically have it, so you can accessorize it for all the holidays. You can get like a um, like a like a green hat for st patty's day on right, I think you even get a beard.
Speaker 3So then you know, so they're waterproof, like you don't have to put it away when it's when oh okay, I wouldn't show those are.
Speaker 2Those are like good for outdoor yeah, okay, I thought they were yeah, they need to.
Speaker 1Because, they're going to be in a rain.
Speaker 3Well, I didn't think that they were. I figured you had to run outside and get them. Yeah, people decorate them for all the holidays. It's pretty cool.
Speaker 2It's very nice. The box is huge. I've seen it at Home Depot. It's huge.
Speaker 1You have a couple of blowups. Man, I've been snowman um on the porch, yeah, oh, okay, and I put it in the corner and it was perfect, it was in the porch it was underneath the on, you know, and it was tied down. It looked great there. You could see it from the sheet when you drove by, so you see them on the.
Speaker 3You know it's like it's nice yeah so you know that's a good thing to do. That is awesome. Yeah, I didn't know you could keep all the animatronics out until you have to put them away and stuff every time like the weather's gonna get funky.
Speaker 1Yeah man, that is great or you could just let them lay and then turn them on only when you need them like at night, yeah, if it's really cold.
Speaker 3Then they turn to ice, and then you turn I don't know, break it up and you start hearing it falling off, that's cool.
Speaker 2It would be a cool like animatronic to have. A scary one is the White Walker from the Lord of the Rings Not. Lord of the Rings.
Speaker 3Come on, spit it out, not Lord of the Rings, game of Thrones, game of Thrones. Thank you.
Speaker 1I just saw something today, a scratch off today from Game of Thrones Especially the.
Speaker 2White Walker king.
Speaker 3Yeah, dude man, that would be so groovy. You got to be able to find one somewhere, bro. A scratch off today for the white walker, especially the white walker like king. Yeah, dude man, that would be so groovy. You got to be able to find one somewhere, bro. Maybe that's got to be a. That would be a cool one. That would be a cool one. There's a lot, I think, out of the movies too. There would be a lot of cool stuff that you could make horror flicks. You know, I'm not sorry, just cool looking animatronics.
Speaker 3But you know, we you know we do the animatronics at our house yeah, yeah, you guys love that your kid loves that man.
Speaker 1Yeah, it's good stuff, it's it. Just it's interesting how we do it and how far it's come that now that you could just blow it up and you could do all these things, some people get crazy for like a thousand things on their lawn. It looks like big somebody threw something at it yeah, yeah, um, but let's talk about another country here china.
Speaker 1In August of Hungary goes festival on his deceased ancestors. Food and water are offered and lanterns are lit to guide the spirits. Though not on October 31st, this festival is similar in spirit to Halloween, with focus on appeasing restless souls. Oh okay, that's interesting. Italy, italy, italy celebrates Ogamasante on November 1st, which is actually oh no, I'm sorry with a focus on family and honoring the dead Families. Do you notice how they all have a common thing? Yeah, november 1st.
Speaker 2Or they honor the dead, honor the dead, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They honor the dead, cemeteries decorate. Honor the dead, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1Yeah, they honor the dead.
Speaker 2Cemeteries decorate. I wonder what those dates like. Why is it always like the end of October or beginning of October, beginning of October?
Speaker 3I don't know, isn't that the change? We have to look it up. The solstice.
Speaker 2Is that it Winter solstice? No, because that passed.
Speaker 3The fall solstice. That's what it was, because that's why a lot of the Celtic stuff. Vikings and stuff that's what their whole thing was, so that's why but then you know, it's other cultures so it was a different day for them, right?
Speaker 1there must be a reason for that.
Speaker 3I'm sure that. Well, that's what you said before. So, like you had the, you know some cultures that were that. It was that you know the, the day that the dead can, the spirits can, come back to earth to walk around, and then on november 1st, it's all saints days that they can make sure that spirits go back to what it's supposed to be.
Speaker 3So you know it. That's just the whole idea, the whole thought. You know, and, like you said, we don't want to talk about religion like that, but you know this is what it is, that you know that they did to kind of counteract, for real what they were doing or what they felt the other was.
Speaker 1And what does she always say? It's a spell regardless. Right, just call it prayers. Call it prayers or blessings, or whatever.
Speaker 3I believe she mentioned that it's the same thing, yeah.
Speaker 1It's basically only their version. You know, for some reason they feel safer saying it that way than the way they hear it from other people, Right? So it's interesting.
Speaker 3Yeah.
Speaker 1Yeah, because each culture is different, right? So it depends on you know how you were brought up or what you believe, and you know so yeah, because I mean, even with that, we don't sell, we don't, we're not celebrating. Celebrating halloween, not in the sense that you should right the same way that it was what it was made for what?
Speaker 3people believe that it is, and there was. You know we do it to have a good time to laugh and joke.
Speaker 3You know, like you said, earlier to be who you wouldn't be on a normal, regular day. You know, dress up, however you want to make, you know, do the makeup and just have fun with it. You know there are things that we wouldn't do, that we would do on halloween as a whole, like even. I mean, think about the, the dressing up. You know the, the, the guys turn around and will be that you with the makeup, where that kind of like straight the crazy looking guy, or you know, when we're doing the makeup that we're that uh, that stud. You know, like somebody where, like the muscle suits and stuff like that.
Speaker 1You know what I mean.
Speaker 3You know, like, yeah, I'm the big muscle guy and I'm going to you know this for the night. Everybody wants to be a superhero in some way, shape or form, mostly when we're kids, when you get older, you've got to improvise. You see, he bought a gorilla costume Like in.
Speaker 2What was that Trading Place?
Speaker 3Yeah, you bought one like that. It wasn't super realistic, it was a big, hairy one like that. Yeah, I had a full gorilla costume. That's awesome.
Speaker 2It was funny because that was around the time when, like, the jackass, was really popular oh my friends. We'd fuck around with the costume we were like I was like hanging out in my front, like like area in my house, and I was like you know there's kids in the area oh yeah that's awesome that's awesome you gotta, you gotta, do that man.
Speaker 1Yeah, to have fun with it.
Speaker 3That's the best fun.
Speaker 1You know we can mess with people like that yeah. No, I was just saying. It just goes to show you how Everybody's Culture is different. You know, it's just called the same thing when I was saying what you were saying earlier. But what was I saying? Italy Decorates graves with flowers, holds gatherings. Halloween has gained popularity with the costume parties, but it's still not a widespread as the US.
Speaker 3Yeah or, as in the US, yes.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, it's a big thing here. Yeah, they jumped on that immediately.
Speaker 3Yeah, it's commercialized. You know, it's all about the money. It's about how much money you're going to for it.
Speaker 2How many spirit halloweens pop up all over the place now. Every time a store closes, boom, it's a spirit halloween yeah, dude, it's, it's insane. They took a really cool one by me that used to be an old circuit city or yeah, I don't know if it was a circuit city. What was? The store had like a triangle over the front. It was like a triangle shaped like. I don't know if that it was?
Speaker 1I think it was. Was it red? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 3Well, over here by us, they took the Toys R Us. Oh yeah, they took Circuit.
Speaker 1City out here too. Remember I think we had a Circuit City, I don't even know yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, fitness or whatever, but anyway, that's a good off topic. Yes, that's a good off topic. So every country's doing it different. So what were you saying? Did I interrupt you?
Speaker 3No, we were talking about just different things and just the whole idea of Halloween, like you said before, how it's evolved, how people celebrate it.
Speaker 1Yeah, and you said it was commercialized, right?
Speaker 3Yeah, now it's totally commercialized. Well, not totally, depending on who it is that's celebrating it, it's commercialized. It's all about the money. It's all about buying that mask or having that look Dude. Look at what it is, even for girls, for women, and I feel like a lot of it is their fantasy too. For the girls, it's to be the sexy nurse, you know, to be the sexy nun, to be the um, the sexy doctor, you know everything's like that short miniskirt. I went as a ninja once.
Speaker 1Oh dude that must have had to hold. I had everything. I had the chinese slippers, everything. I was all covered up in the mask and I and you couldn't tell shit who that was. Yeah, behind that, I, it was cool, I had the whole thing, man.
Speaker 3Yeah, that's awesome that was a good one. That was a good costume.
Speaker 1I remember doing that one.
Speaker 3That's fun, that is funny. I don't know if I was a ninja. I don't think I was. Listen, there are a lot of really really cool things, you know costumes, characters to be right, you know, and uh, it sucks because now I feel like I'm too old to wear some of the ones I would have won when I was younger, because I'm not as agile.
Speaker 1No, I think the good thing about being an adult now, or as you're getting older, because you're not a little kid, you don't wear the normal, you know. But then you, you can do good stuff, like my son did far as far as gum.
Speaker 3Right, right, far as gum right right and his friends, they went.
Speaker 1He said I got the, the jacket out of a secondhand store. He found the suitcase yeah, or the box of chocolates, yeah, and it was perfect. I knew it was as soon as I saw the picture of him and all his friends all dressed up.
Speaker 3Yeah, we see like I still want to be a ninja, like I would love to be a ninja I would do a ninja, but I just like I said I'm a samurai I can't run that fast, like I can't do that.
Speaker 3Like running down there and you know, no, you set the dress up, climbing up on the wall or hiding behind the wall, you know, and like disappearing into the dark. It's not about that anymore, I know, that's what I'm saying, like that's the part that I want to do, you know, to be that. You know. Now it's kind of cool.
Speaker 1Like one year. I remember you saying that.
Speaker 3Yeah, and I was Coca-Cola. I was like, yeah, we're not Alkies or nothing, we really weren't. She's not, I was and whatever. But you know it was kind of cool.
Speaker 1Think about the people who literally celebrate this holiday seriously the way that it actually means you know they laugh at us because we're doing it. But it was fun growing up and doing that and I enjoyed it being in Brooklyn and doing that as a kid. You just go to the apartment buildings and we would get candy. Sometimes they would throw money in your bag.
Speaker 3Yeah, the pennies, the quarters, you got lucky.
Speaker 2I'm like I've got money, I want candy.
Speaker 3Yeah, then my mom explained it. But if you count this you can go to the store, Because we had a candy store On our way to school and you could just take it and you could buy whatever candy you want to.
Speaker 2You know what's funny Sometimes, like it's funny. I remember like there was like a house In a different neighborhood and people were like I gotta go to this house Because they give books.
Speaker 3I was like that's cool.
Speaker 1That's a first, but like yeah, they yeah like probably little books yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, I probably want like big books, like you know yeah, shakespeare, and yeah, yeah, read a book, kid, and there'd be some houses that would be given full candy bars yeah
Halloween Candy Safety Tips
Speaker 1those were like the yeah, oh yeah, I remember, come home, I not even like it was loaded man like full size houses it's my parents. They can look at it. Make sure that you know whatever they didn't, that's gone. Yeah, don't gone. Anything that looked like that could have been open before they put it back in Right, right, right, yeah, yeah, no.
Speaker 3Yeah, that's the one thing, that rule of thumb, if it you know just be careful with the candy, I think most people know that. Yeah, listen, help, be careful with the candy. You know, check the kid's candy Right, because when we were kids they had this one dude that was he had got in trouble. I don't know if you heard about that he had. He was putting razor blades in the candy.
Speaker 1Oh, don't talk about that. Yeah, I don't know if that's really true.
Speaker 3Yeah, nope, it was. It was on the news. I had looked that shit up, bro.
Speaker 1All right.
Speaker 2Yep, it was on the news, it was real, it happened one time and then it was like Right right, it didn't happen all over.
Speaker 3It wasn't like one guy did this out in West Bubble Fuck somewhere and that was his. Thing.
Speaker 2And then everybody was like not sealed.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, but you got to get them while they're in the bag, right See yeah.
Speaker 2Got to rule of thumb. Yeah Well, now they sell them in little miniature bags, right, right.
Speaker 1Right, Exactly. So that kind of stuff you couldn't eat, right? You would be like I can't eat that because was with my kids. You know, you just got to follow it down, yeah exactly.
Speaker 3But anyway, that was pretty fast and interesting, yeah, and I think that was a good little every way to finish it off with. So with that, gentlemen, love, peace and hair grease, live long and prosper and go vegan Holla you.
