Halloween Postcards

We know Halloween has become big business in the last 15 years, the merchandising has exploded!  When I was a child (cue sound of rocking chair creaking) you had your costumes, your jack-o'lanterns, and maybe a candle in the shape of a pumpkin.  That was Halloween. This year I saw some sort of liquid candy that comes in a drip bag like it's blood from the hospital.  Eew.  In a less gooey vein (Get it?  Vein!)  Halloween lovers have been mailing celebratory postcards since the turn of the century.  The last century, not this one.  Guess what?  None of them featured blood.  Go figure.  The macabre and terrifying caption for the postcart at right:

A Hallowe'en merry, a Hallowee'n bright,

Though pumpkins make faces

and ghosts walk a night

Let no noises scare you, and don't start to run

For 'tis but a joke and Hallowe'en fun.

Here are some books to help you bone up on your Halloween lore.  ('Bone' up!  I'm on a roll!)
Death makes a holiday : a cultural history of Halloween
Halloween : customs, recipes, spells
Carving jack-o-lanterns

Source: Country Living; Oct 98, Vol. 21 Issue 10, p94, 2p
as accessed through EbscoHost