Halloween

Halloween
Halloween
A Jack-o'-lantern
Also called All Hallows’ Eve
All Saints’ Eve
Observed by Around the world
Type Secular, with roots in Christian and Celtic tradition
Date October 31
Observances Costume parties, trick-or-treating in costumes, carving pumpkins, going to haunted houses, bonfires, divination, apple bobbing.
Related to Samhain, All Saints’ Day

Halloween is an annual holiday observed on October 31. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holiday All Saints' Day, but is today largely a secular celebration.

Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, wearing costumes and attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, ghost tours, bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, pranks, telling scary stories, and watching horror films.

Contents

History

Historian Nicholas Rogers, exploring the origins of Halloween, notes that while "some folklorists have detected its origins in the Roman feast of Pomona, the goddess of fruits and seeds, or in the festival of the dead called Parentalia, it is more typically linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain, whose original spelling was Samuin (pronounced sow-an or sow-in)".[1] The name is derived from Old Irish and means roughly "summer's end".[1] A similar festival was held by the ancient Britons and is known as Calan Gaeaf (pronounced Kálan Gái av).

Snap-Apple Night by Daniel Maclise showing a Halloween party in Blarney, Ireland, in 1832. The young children on the right bob for apples. A couple in the center play a variant, which involves retrieving an apple hanging from a string. The couples at left play divination games.

The festival of Samhain celebrates the end of the "lighter half" of the year and beginning of the "darker half", and is sometimes[2] regarded as the "Celtic New Year".[3]

The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the Otherworld became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. The family's ancestors were honoured and invited home while harmful spirits were warded off. It is believed that the need to ward off harmful spirits led to the wearing of costumes and masks. Their purpose was to disguise oneself as a harmful spirit and thus avoid harm. In Scotland the spirits were impersonated by young men dressed in white with masked, veiled or blackened faces.[4][5] Samhain was also a time to take stock of food supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores. Bonfires played a large part in the festivities. All other fires were doused and each home lit their hearth from the bonfire. The bones of slaughtered livestock were cast into its flames.[6] Sometimes two bonfires would be built side-by-side, and people and their livestock would walk between them as a cleansing ritual.

Another common practice was divination, which often involved the use of food and drink.

The name 'Halloween' and many of its present-day traditions derive from the Old English era.[7][8][9]

Origin of name

The word Halloween is first attested in the 16th century and represents a Scottish variant of the fuller All-Hallows-Eve, that is, the night before All Hallows Day. Although the phrase All Hallows is found in Old English (ealra hálȝena mæssedæȝ, the feast of all saints), All-Hallows-Even is itself not attested until 1556.[10]

Symbols

A traditional Irish halloween turnip Jack-o'-lantern from the early 20th century on display in the Museum of Country Life, Ireland

Development of artifacts and symbols associated with Halloween formed over time encompassing customs of medieval holy days as well as contemporary cultures. The souling practice of commemorating the souls in purgatory with candle lanterns carved from turnips, became adapted into the making of jack-o'-lanterns.[11] In traditional Celtic Halloween festivals, large turnips were hollowed out, carved with faces and placed in windows to ward off evil spirits.[5] The carving of pumpkins is associated with Halloween in North America where pumpkins are both readily available and much larger – making them easier to carve than turnips.[12] Many families that celebrate Halloween carve a pumpkin into a frightening or comical face and place it on their doorstep after dark. The American tradition of carving pumpkins preceded the Great Famine period of Irish immigration[13] and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 1800s.[14][15]

Halloween spiders at a row house in Washington, D.C.

The imagery of Halloween is derived from many sources, including national customs, works of Gothic and horror literature (such as the novels Frankenstein and Dracula), and classic horror films (such as Frankenstein and The Mummy).[16] 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, the occult, magic or mythical monsters.[17] Traditional characters include ghosts, witches, skeletons, vampires, werewolves, demons, bats and black cats.[18] The colours black and orange are associated with the celebrations,[19] perhaps because of the darkness of night and the colour of fire, autumn leaves or pumpkins.

Trick-or-treating and guising

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" refers to a (mostly idle) "threat" to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given. In some parts of Scotland children still go guising. In this custom the child performs some sort of trick, i.e. sings a song or tells a ghost story, to earn their treats.

Costumes

Halloween costumes are traditionally modeled after monsters such as ghosts, skeletons, witches, and devils. Over time, the costume selection extended to include popular characters from fiction, celebrities, and generic archetypes such as ninjas and princesses.

Costume sales

Big research conducted a survey for the National Retail Federation in the United States and found that 53.3 percent of consumers planned to buy a costume for Halloween 2005, spending $38.11 on average (up $10 from the year before). They were also expected to spend $4.96 billion in 2006, up significantly from just $3.3 billion the previous year.[20] The troubled economy has caused many Americans to cut back on Halloween spending. In 2009, the National Retail Federation anticipated that American households would decrease Halloween spending by as much as 15% to $56.31. [21]

UNICEF

"Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF" has become a common sight during Halloween in North America. Started as a local event in a Philadelphia suburb 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.[22][23]

Games and other activities

In this Halloween greeting card from 1904, divination is depicted: the young woman looking into a mirror in a darkened room hopes to catch a glimpse of the face of her future husband.

There are several games traditionally associated with Halloween parties. One common game is dunking or apple bobbing, in which apples float in a tub or a large basin of water and the participants must use their teeth to remove an apple from the basin.[24] A variant of dunking involves kneeling on a chair, holding a fork between the teeth and trying to drop the fork into an apple.[25] 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 very sticky face.

Some games traditionally played at Halloween are forms of divination. 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.[26] 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. However, if they were destined to die before marriage, a skull would appear. The custom was widespread enough to be commemorated on greeting cards[27] from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The telling of ghost stories and viewing of 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 the holiday, while new horror films are often released theatrically before the holiday to take advantage of the atmosphere.

Haunted attractions

In front of haunted house during Halloween season, Northern California.

Haunted attractions are entertainment venues designed to thrill and scare patrons. Most attractions are seasonal Halloween businesses. Origins of these paid scare venues are difficult to pinpoint, but it is generally accepted that they were first commonly used by the Junior Chamber International (Jaycees) for fundraising.[28] They include haunted houses, corn mazes, and hayrides,[29] and the level of sophistication of the effects has risen as the industry has grown. Haunted attractions in the United States bring in an estimate $300–500 million each year, and draw some 400,000 customers, although trends suggest a peak in 2005.[28] This increase in interest has led to more highly technical special effects and costuming that is comparable with that in Hollywood films.[30]

Foods

Candy apple

Because the holiday comes in the wake of the annual apple harvest, candy apples (known as toffee apples outside North America), caramel 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 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.[31] While there is evidence of such incidents,[32] they are quite 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.

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. It is 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.

List of foods associated with the holiday:

Around the world

Halloween is not celebrated in all countries and regions of the world, and among those that do the traditions and importance of the celebration vary significantly. Celebration in the United States and Canada has had a significant impact on how the holiday is observed in other nations. This larger North American influence, particularly in iconic and commercial elements, has extended to places such as South America, Europe, to Japan under the auspices of the Japanese Biscuit Association, and other parts of East Asia.[33]

Religious perspectives

See also: All Saints and Samhain

Christianity

Christian attitudes towards Halloween are quite diverse. In the Anglican Church, some dioceses have chosen to emphasize the Christian traditions of All Saints’ Day,[34][35] while some other Protestants celebrate the holiday as Reformation Day, a day to remember the Protestant Reformation.[36][37] Father Gabriele Amorth, a Vatican-appointed 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."[38] In more recent years, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has organized a "Saint Fest" on the holiday.[39] 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.

Many Christians ascribe no negative significance to Halloween, treating it as a purely secular holiday devoted to celebrating "imaginary spooks" and handing out candy. 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.[40] In the Roman Catholic Church Halloween is viewed as having a Christian connection,[41] and Halloween celebrations are common in Catholic parochial schools throughout North America and in Ireland.

Other Christians feel concerned about Halloween, and reject the holiday because they feel it trivializes - or celebrates - paganism, the occult, or other practices and cultural phenomena deemed incompatible with their beliefs.[42] A response among some fundamentalists in recent years has been to use of 'Hell houses', themed pamphlets, or comic-style tracts such as those created by Jack T. Chick in order to make use of Halloween's popularity as an opportunity for evangelism.[39] Some consider Halloween to be completely incompatible with the Christian faith[43] because of its origin as a pagan "Festival of the Dead". For example, Jehovah's Witnesses do not celebrate Halloween because they believe anything that originated from a pagan holiday should not be celebrated by true Christians.[44]

Paganism

Celtic Pagans consider the season a holy time of year.[45] Celtic Reconstructionists, and others who maintain ancestral customs, make offerings to the gods and the ancestors.[45] Some Wiccans feel that the tradition is offensive to Wiccan practitioners for promoting stereotypical caricatures of "wicked witches".[46]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Rogers, Nicholas (2002). "Samhain and the Celtic Origins of Halloween". Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night, pp.11–21. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516896-8.
  2. ↑ Hutton, Ronald (1996). Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-288045-4
  3. ↑ Danaher, Kevin (1972). The Year in Ireland: Irish Calendar Customs, pp.190–232. Dublin: Mercier Press. ISBN 1-85635-093-2
  4. ↑ Campbell, John Gregorson (1900, 1902, 2005). The Gaelic Otherworld. Black, Ronald (Ed.), pp.559–62. Edinburgh: Birlinn. ISBN 1-84158-207-7.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Arnold, Bettina (2001-10-31). "Bettina Arnold – Halloween Lecture: Halloween Customs in the Celtic World". Halloween Inaugural Celebration. University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee: Center for Celtic Studies. http://www.uwm.edu/~barnold/lectures/holloween.html. Retrieved 2007-10-16. 
  6. ↑ O'Driscoll, Robert (ed.) (1981) The Celtic Consciousness New York, Braziller ISBN 0-8076-1136-0 pp.197–216: Ross, Anne "Material Culture, Myth and Folk Memory" (on modern survivals); pp.217–242: Danaher, Kevin "Irish Folk Tradition and the Celtic Calendar" (on specific customs and rituals)
  7. ↑ Salomonsen, Jone (2002). Enchanted Feminism: Ritual, Gender and Divinity Among the Reclaiming Witches of San Francisco, p.190. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-22392-X.
  8. ↑ Ellwood, Robert S; McGraw, Barabara A. (1999). Many Peoples, Many Faiths: Women and Men in The World Religions, p. 31. Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-010735-2
  9. ↑ Christian, Roy (1967). Old English Customs, pp. 40, 110. Hastings House.
  10. ↑ Simpson, John; Weiner, Edmund (1989). Oxford English Dictionary (second ed.). London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-861186-2. OCLC 17648714. 
  11. ↑ Rogers, Nicholas (2002). Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night, pp.29, 57. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516896-8.
  12. ↑ Skal, David J. (2002). Death Makes a Holiday: A Cultural History of Halloween, p.34. New York: Bloomsbury. ISBN 1-58234-230-X.
  13. ↑ Nathaniel Hawthorne, "The Great Carbuncle," in "Twice-Told Tales", 1837: Hide it [the great carbuncle] under thy cloak, say'st thou? Why, it will gleam through the holes, and make thee look like a jack-o'-lantern!
  14. ↑ As late as 1900, an article on Thanksgiving entertaining recommended a lit jack-o'-lantern as part of the festivities. "The Day We Celebrate: Thanksgiving Treated Gastronomically and Socially," The New York Times, November 24, 1895, p. 27. "Odd Ornaments for Table," The New York Times, October 21, 1900, p. 12.
  15. ↑ Skal, David J. (2002). Death Makes a Holiday: A Cultural History of Halloween. New York: Bloomsbury. p. 32. ISBN 1-58234-230-X. The earliest reference to associate carved vegetable lanterns with Halloween in Britain is Ruth Edna Kelley, The Book of Hallowe'en (1919), Chapter 8, which mentions turnip lanterns in Scotland.
  16. ↑ Rogers, Nicholas (2002). "Halloween Goes to Hollywood". Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night, pp. 103–124. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516896-8.
  17. ↑ Simpson, Jacqueline All Saints' Day in Encyclopedia of Death and Dying, Howarth, G and Leeman, O (2001)London Routledge ISBN 0-415-18825-3, p.14 Halloween is closely associated in folklore with death and the supernatural.
  18. ↑ Hal Siemer, "Spooky Halloween: A Celebration of the Dark", QuestMagazine.com, October 1, 2006.
  19. ↑ Heller, Steven. (2005). Halloween: Vintage Holiday Graphics, Taschen Icons series. ISBN 3-8228-4585-X.
  20. ↑ Grannis, Kathy; Scott Krugman (September 20, 2006). "As Halloween Shifts to Seasonal Celebration, Retailers Not Spooked by Surge in Spending". National Retail Federation. http://www.nrf.com/content/default.asp?folder=press/release2006&file=halloween06.htm. Retrieved 31 October 2006. 
  21. ↑ "Halloween - Retail Horror Story?". Orlando Sentinel. October 29, 2009. http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2009-10-24/news/0910230194_1_halloween-headquarters-temporary-halloween-stores-spirit-halloween. 
  22. ↑ Beauchemin, Genevieve; CTV.ca News Staff (2006-05-31). "UNICEF to end Halloween 'orange box' program". CTV. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060530/unicef_orange_060530?s_name=&no_ads=. Retrieved 2006-10-29. 
  23. ↑ "History of the Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF Campaign". UNICEF Canada. 2008. http://www.trickortreatforunicef.ca/tot_history.html. Retrieved 2009-10-25. 
  24. ↑ "Kids-Fun-And-Games.com". Kids-Fun-And-Games.com. http://www.kids-fun-and-games.com/halloween-game.html. Retrieved 2010-08-25. 
  25. ↑ "Halloween Party Game Ideas" Kidzworld.com. Retrieved on 2009-03-17.
  26. ↑ McNeill, F. Marian (1961, 1990) The Silver Bough, Vol. 3. William MacLellan, Glasgow ISBN 0-948474-04-1 pp.11–46
  27. ↑ "Vintage Halloween Cards". Vintage Holiday Crafts. http://vintageholidaycrafts.com/vintage-halloween-women/. Retrieved 2009-10-28. 
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Associated Press (2005-10-30). "Haunted house business getting frightfully hard". MSNBC.com. MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9855272/. Retrieved 2008-11-18. 
  29. ↑ Greg Ryan (2008-09-17). "A Model of Mayhem". Hudson Valley Magazine. http://www.hvmag.com/Hudson-Valley-Magazine/October-2008/A-Model-of-Mayhem/. Retrieved 2008-10-06. 
  30. ↑ Wilson, Craig (2006-10-12). "Haunted houses get really scary". USAToday.com. http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2006-10-11-haunted-house-main_x.htm. 
  31. ↑ Rogers, Nicholas (2002). "Razor in the Apple: Struggle for Safe and Sane Halloween, c. 1920–1990," Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night, pp. 78–102. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516896-8.
  32. ↑ "Urban Legends Reference Pages: Pins and Needles in Halloween Candy". Snopes.com. http://www.snopes.com/horrors/mayhem/needles.asp. Retrieved 2008-10-31. 
  33. ↑ Rogers, Nicholas (2002). Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night, p.164. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516896-8.
  34. ↑ "Bishop Challenges Supermarkets to Lighten up Halloween". The Church of England. http://www.cofe.anglican.org/news/pr9106.html. Retrieved 2009-10-28. 
  35. ↑ "Halloween and All Saints Day". newadvent.org. n.d.. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01315a.htm. Retrieved 2006-10-22. 
  36. ↑ "Reformation Day". http://www.monergism.com/directory/link_category/MP3-Audio--Multimedia/Holiday-Sermons/Reformation-Sunday/. Retrieved 2009-10-22 
  37. ↑ "Reformation Day: What, Why, and Resources for Worship". The General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church. 2005-10-21. http://www.gbod.org/worship/default.asp?act=reader&item_id=15084&loc_id=9,612,32,52. Retrieved 2006-10-22. 
  38. ↑ Gyles Brandreth, "The Devil is gaining ground" The Sunday Telegraph (London), March 11, 2000.
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 "Salem 'Saint Fest' restores Christian message to Halloween". www.rcab.org. n.d.. http://www.rcab.org/Pilot/2004/ps041105/saintfest.html. Retrieved 2006-10-22. 
  40. ↑ "Feast of Samhain/Celtic New Year/Celebration of All Celtic Saints November 1". All Saints Parish. n.d.. http://allsaintsbrookline.org/celtic/samhain.html. Retrieved 2006-11-22. 
  41. ↑ Halloween’s Christian Roots AmericanCatholic.org. Retrieved on October 24, 2007.
  42. ↑ Halloween: Satan's New Year (2006) by Billye Dymally, Halloween: Counterfeit Holy Day (2005) by Kele Gershom, and Halloween: What's a Christian to Do? (1998) by Steve Russo. An opposing viewpoint is found in The Magic Eightball Test: A Christian Defense of Halloween and All Things Spooky (2006) by Lint Hatcher.
  43. ↑ ""Trick?" or "Treat?"—Unmasking Halloween". The Restored Church of God. n.d.. http://www.thercg.org/articles/totuh.html. Retrieved 2007-09-21. 
  44. ↑ "Not Everyone Celebrates Halloween, by Samantha Robinson". Daily Egyptian at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL. http://newshound.de.siu.edu/fall02/stories/storyReader$1024. Retrieved 2009-10-28. 
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 "A to Z of Halloween". The Limerick Leader. 2009-10-29. http://www.limerickleader.ie/features/A-to-Z-of-Halloween.5779425.jp. Retrieved 2009-10-29. 
  46. ↑ Reece, Kevin (2004-10-24). "School District Bans Halloween". KOMO News. http://www.komonews.com/news/archive/4136266.html. Retrieved 2006-09-14. 

Further reading

External links


Related information

Halloween
Main Jack-o-lantern
Traditions
Apple bobbing · Food · Ghost tours · Costumes · Jack-o'-lantern · Trick-or-treating
Events
Bonfire · Brooke Hills Spooktacular · Fear Fest · Halloween Horror Nights · Halloween Spooktacular (Orlando) · Halloween Spooktacular (San Diego) · Halloween in the Castro · Haunted attraction · Headless Horseman Hayride · Howl-O-Scream (San Antonio) · Howl-O-Scream (Tampa Bay) · Howl-O-Scream (Williamsburg) · Movie World's Halloween Fright Nights · Knott's Halloween Haunt · New York's Village Halloween Parade · Pumpkin Fest · Pumpkin queen · Rutland Halloween Parade · Shocktoberfest · Spinning tunnel · State Street Halloween Party (Madison) · Terror Behind the Walls · The Great Pumpkin · Fright Fest · Fort Fright
Disney Parks
Halloween Screams · Haunted Mansion Holiday · HalloWishes · Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party · Mickey's Halloween Treat · Disney's Nightmare in the sky · Glow in the Park Halloween Parade · Main Street Haunted Hotel · Demon Jungle · Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy
Media
Television · Films · Books · Music: Albums · Songs
Related days and times
All Saints · Allantide · Beggars Night · Day of the Dead · Devil's Night · Eid il-Burbara · Hop-tu-Naa · Koroksun · Mischief night · Samhain
Holidays, observances, and celebrations in the United States
Days
Arbor Day • Ash Wednesday • Carl Garner Federal Lands Cleanup Day • Child Health Day • Christmas Eve • Christmas Day • Cinco de Mayo • Columbus Day • Confederate Memorial Day • Constitution Day • Courir de Mardi Gras • César Chávez Day • Earth Day • Easter Monday • Easter Sunday • Father's Day  • Festivus • Flag Day • Gold Star Mothers Day • Good Friday • Groundhog Day • Halloween • Independence Day • Thomas Jefferson's birthday • Juneteenth • Labor Day • Lee-Jackson Day • Leif Erikson Day • Lincoln's Birthday • Lyndon Baines Johnson Day • Mardi Gras • Martin Luther King, Jr. Day • May Day (Law Day / Loyalty Day) • Memorial Day • Mother's Day • National Aviation Day • National Day of Prayer • National Defense Transportation Day • National Freedom Day • National Grandparents Day • National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day • Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day • New Year's Day • New Year's Eve • Palm Sunday • Pan American Aviation Day • Parents' Day • Patriot Day • Patriots' Day • Peace Officers Memorial Day • Reagan Day • Robert E. Lee Day • Rosh Hashanah • Saint Joseph's Day • Saint Patrick's Day • Stephen Foster Memorial Day • Susan B. Anthony Day • Thanksgiving • Truman Day • National Maritime Day • Valentine's Day • Veterans Day • Walpurgis Night • Washington's Birthday • Presidents Day • White Cane Safety Day • Women's Equality Day • Wright Brothers Day • Yom Kippur
Weeks
(or multiple weeks)
Chinese New Year • Constitution Week • Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust • Hanukkah • Honor America Days • Kwanzaa • National Flag Week • National Forest Products Week • National Friendship Week • National Poison Prevention Week • National Safe Boating Week • National School Lunch Week • National Transportation Week • Passover • Police Week • Save Your Vision Week
Months
American Heart Month • Asian Pacific American Heritage Month • Black History Month • Cancer Control Month • Child Abuse Prevention Month • Confederate History Month • Gay and Lesbian Pride Month • Jewish American Heritage Month • National Breast Cancer Awareness Month • National Disability Employment Awareness Month • National Hispanic Heritage Month • National Nutrition Month • Ramadan • Steelmark Month • Women's History Month