Once little more than a folksy celebration by school-aged children dressed in homemade costumes, Halloween has morphed over the years into one of the glitziest, most popular holidays on the calendar, second only to Christmas in the amount of money spent on decorations. Halloween has grown so popular in recent years that many retailers consider it to have replaced Thanksgiving as the launch of a holiday season that now stretches past New Year's to Super Bowl weekend. Like its yuletide cousin, Halloween is now steeped in trappings, warm wishes of the season and commercial opportunity. Coldwell Banker real estate agent Wendy Crawford sends her customers Halloween cards. Even the airwaves are filled with TV's Halloween specials.
Retailers are ecstatic.
People of our age group have grown up with really good, positive associations with Halloween. Their moms made them costumes. They remember the parties at school. We're not willing to let go of that. Although two of her three children have moved away, she still trims her home with spider webs and festoons the mantel with glittering pumpkins.