Excitement fills the air as children don costumes and makeup before they head out the door with their friends and family on Halloween night for some candy and fun.
Parades and parties are a typical staple in many people’s Halloween celebrations but how exactly did these traditions start in the first place?
One piece of the puzzle is a woman that some have dubbed as the mother of Halloween, Mrs. Elizabeth Krebs orf Hiawatha, Kansas.
Why are parades and parties a part of Halloween?
In the early 1900s, Halloween used to be celebrated much differently than what we see today.
The children and teenagers during this time would typically go out on Halloween night and “wreak havoc on people’s property at that time,” according to WBALTV.
“Mrs. Krebs decided to try to direct that energy another way,” director of the Brown County, Kansas, Historical Society Eric Oldham reportedly said.
Fox 17 West Michigan reported that professor James Palmitessa said Krebs has been remembered for organizing the very first Halloween party and parade in order to prevent kids from destroying neighborhood property on Halloween.
As founder of the Hiawatha Garden Club, Krebs got the town involved and set up the party to distract the children and teens from destroying the town’s gardens as they typically would, according to Hiawatha World Online.
Though some reportedly dubbed her ideas as “foolish” eventually other communities and later on “the Chamber of Commerce, stepped in to assist and help sponsor the events,” now known as the parade or “the frolic” due to their growth over time.
“So in Kansas and other places, Halloween became something more of festivities, Halloween parties for people to put on costumes and parades, and music and food,” Palmitessa said.
Where is the biggest Halloween parade in the United States?
USA Today reported that one of the largest Halloween gatherings to this day takes place in New York City for their Village Halloween Parade.
This particular parade reportedly began with Ralph Lee, a Greenwich Village puppeteer, starting the event “as a neighborhood house-to-house walk for his children and their friends.”
Though this viral neighborhood is not a parade, Utah has been on the social media map this Halloween season due to its “Barbie”-themed neighborhoods, according to the Deseret News.
“We’re all excited,” homeowner in the “Barbie”-themed neighborhood, Jamie Paladini said. “We all love what we’ve created. We just want it to be safe and, you know, a good experience for everyone.”