| Issue #31, October 27, 2006 |
Booooo
A Family Tradition in Hampton Bays Lights the Night Sky
By Alan Michael Braveman
Driving along Montauk highway one night with my wife and son we noticed a strange orange glow emanating from the front of a house. As we drove closer to examine this phenomena it turned out to be hundreds of Halloween decorations set up across a large front yard. It was almost as if some one had raided a store of every Halloween decoration known to man and planted then in front of this singular house.
In Hampton Bays, Cathy Adams spends about three or four weeks decorating her front lawn with hundreds of pieces of Halloween artifacts and paraphernalia, from hand painted pumpkins that her father had created out of wood and paint to large, plastic blow-up ghosts, witches, goblins, skulls and spider webs. The lawn display is an amazing collection that has taken years to assemble, and it keeps growing. When asked why she spends so much time doing this every year Cathy replied, “It’s my job. It is a tradition that I carry on to honor my parents who have both passed away. We always did it as kids and now it is my turn to carry this on. I also do it because it brings so much joy to the children. Last year 347 children rang my bell and cried “trick or treat.” It gave my great joy. I suspect that this year there will be more children then ever before.”
As this reporter strode across the street to take a picture of this incredible sight, a continuous line of slow moving cars drove by to examine the amazing collection and gaze in awe at the magic of the display. From blocks away, the night sky is pierced by the glow of the hundreds of lights, and passersby are drawn to take a closer look at Cathy’s lawn. It is a vista unequaled anywhere else in the Hamptons. It is a sight that gives pleasure to children old and young.
Halloween as practiced by its originators, the Irish Celts in the 5th century B.C., was a celebration of the end of summer, on 31st of October. The Celts had a strong belief in the afterlife and a common belief of the day was that all those who died in the preceding year could come back on the 31st of October to possess the bodies of the living. This was the only hope that these spirits had of an afterlife, but for the living this was a dreaded time. If they did not want to be possessed by the evil spirits they had to extinguish all the fires in the houses and dress up in a ghoulish and frightening manner and parade in the streets. Later, after Rome conquered Ireland, they adopted this pagan feast but replaced the custom of burning human sacrifices with burning effigies. The custom of “Trick or Treat” is believed to have originated in the 9th century from a European practice called “souling.” At that time, November 2nd was called All Saint’s Day, and the early Christians went from door to door begging for “soul cakes,” a small square of bread with currants. The more cakes that were offered, the more prayers were said for the souls of the dead in the house. It was believed at that time that the souls of the dead could not enter heaven until enough prayers had been offered, especially by strangers. In later years the practice changed to leaving plates of fruit and cakes with a few coins on the front porch for the poor. This practice was encouraged by the clergy and if not enough food was left, there was always the opportunity to portray the homeowner as evil or ungodly. A very dangerous practice to happen to anyone in that highly superstitious time.
The practice of carving turnips and planting candles in them to ward the evil spirits was supplanted at the time of the great Potato famine as the Irish emigrated to America and found pumpkins more plentiful then turnips and easier to carve. Hence the usually evil looking “Jack-o-lantern” face became part of the fabric of the Halloween celebration. The holiday was then known as “All Hallow’s Eve.”
Halloween and pumpkins have become a multi billion dollar business in America and the practice of dressing up in an old sheet or a table cloth has given way to an entire industry that makes costumes and sells all the paraphernalia that completes the holiday, the candy, decorations, toys and tools to carve the pumpkins for the often extravagant parties that have popularized the holiday.
The celebration of Halloween today is a far cry from its original intent but still has eerie echoes of its origins.
Cathy Adams said, “When Halloween is over I will take all this down and store it away for next year and begin to decorate the lawn for Christmas. I give myself a December first deadline to set up for Christmas. It gives me insurmountable joy and pleasure to do this every year.”
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