Next to Christmas,Halloween is the most commercialized celeb

Next to Christmas,Halloween is the most commercialized celebration in the United States and Canada.This ancient festival originated far from North America however,and centuries before the first European set foot on the continent.
One of these festivals was called Samhain (pronounced Sha-Von) and it took place on October 31 through to November 1.During this period,it was believed that the boundaries between our world and the world of the dead were weakened,allowing spirits of the recently dead to cross over and possess the living.
In Ireland,they originally also used turnips for their Jack Lanterns,but upon arriving in the new world,they discovered that pumpkins were abundant and easier to carve out.
This yearly festival was adopted by the Roman invaders,who helped to propagate （传播,宣传）it throughout the rest of the world (and at that time,the Roman Empire was the world).The word Halloween itself actually comes from a contraction of All Hallows Eve,or All Saint‘s Day (November 1),which is a Catholic day of observance in honor of saints.
This tradition was later brought to the North American continent by Irish immigrants who were escaping the Potato Famine in their homeland.In addition to the festival itself,the immigrants brought several customs with them,including one of the symbols most commonly associated with Halloween -- the Jack ‘O Lantern.