by Ivy Wang

In Fall, the two big holidays are Halloween and Thanksgiving. We rarely think about the two holidays together, but when you do it’s pretty interesting.

These days Halloween is about the costumes, candy, and pumpkin. But it didn’t start off this way. Halloween originates from an ancient Celtic festival called Samhain. They celebrated their new year on November 1st and that time of year was often associated with death. It was believed that on the night of October 31st, ghosts of the dead returned to earth so the Celts burnt crops and animals as sacrifices and wore costumes. Later Christianity influenced the holiday and November 1nd was declared All Saints’ Day and October 31st became All Hallow’s Eve. Halloween came to America after Irish immigrants brought it over.

Thanksgiving is about being thankful. It is popular for food and families coming together. Thanksgiving originated in 1620 when a group of pilgrims from England settled in Plymouth and formed an alliance with a tribe of Native Americans. In 1621, the two groups shared an autumn harvest feast that was the first Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was celebrated by individuals states until 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln declared it a national Thanksgiving Day.

Thanksgiving represents positives ideals such as togetherness, love, and family. Halloween doesn’t really do that. Halloween is more about kids while Thanksgiving is for people of all ages.

On Thanksgiving people get part of the week of work and school where everyone can enjoy food and time with family. Then the following day is Black Friday where you can shop until you drop. Sadly, for Halloween, you don’t get off work or school.

When it comes to food, Thanksgiving is usually a feast with turkey, potatoes, pie, and various side dishes. Halloween is mainly about candy. But there are also candy apples, pumpkin, and other foods that can be halloween themed. Plus, there is no such thing as too much candy.

In decorations, Halloween definitely wins. There are spooky decorations such as Jack-o-lanterns, lights, and ghosts. On the other hand, Thanksgiving doesn’t have much of its own decorations other than turkey figurines. It’s mainly leftover Halloween decorations and early Christmas decorations.

Between the two fall holidays, my personal favorite is Thanksgiving because we get off of school and there’s lot of good food (and probably Halloween candy still left!). But I want to know which you think is better? Halloween or Thanksgiving?

Vote here! https://goo.gl/LvFVme