History Of A Holiday
Halloween originally started off as a respectful and peaceful celebration of loved ones lives before their deaths. However, it has now turned into an excuse for children of all ages to dress inappropriately with as much flesh showing as possible or a contest to terrify thoroughly (scare the living crap out of) as many unsuspecting victims as possible.
Historically, Jack-O-Lanterns were created as a good omen or totem directly responsible for scaring away the malicious forces that were rumored to surface on the night before the day of the dead. Now they have turned into an artistic expression of carvings as ghastly or intricate as possible. Now in order to create these masterpieces of knife works of art, hundreds of thousands or poor, defenseless pumpkins are massacred each October in the name of creativity.
Modern Implications
Thousands of websites exist touting designs for carvings. In response to the demand for these living canvases, hundreds of pumpkin patches pop up in late September and early October each year in the United States. Aside from Costume shops, pumpkin patches are on the rise as one of the quintessential short-term industries in rural America. The only seasonal employment that has more outlets is the Christmas tree farms that replace the pumpkin patches once October ends.
Now Christmas Tree farms are pretty basic – a large selection of Christmas trees of various shapes, sizes, varieties, even composition are available – from firs and spruces to plastic trees that come apart and fold like umbrellas to be stored until next year. In several decades of going to Christmas Tree farms, however, modern day pumpkin patches now have activities and attractions that have never been part of the holiday industry before.
Top 10 Things That Can Be Found At A Pumpkin Patch Besides Pumpkins
- ATV pulls
- Bounce Houses
- Inflatable Mazes
- Fishing Games
- Face Painting
- Carnival Fair Food (corn dogs, funnel cake, etc.)
- Pony Rides
- Hay Mazes
- Wagon Rentals
- Slides
The cost to the average consumer to take part in each activity only once is $108 per person not including the actual pumpkin, which can range in price from $3 baby pumpkins to over $50 for the state fair winning monsters that need a seatbelt in the car.
Halloween is no longer a simple time of children traipsing door to door in their best costumes trick-or-treating for candy and teenagers holding costume contests for prizes and is now a full-fledged commercial enterprise. Christmas will soon run in second place to the commercialism of Halloween.
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