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Halloween's Mutation: From Humble Holiday to Retail Monstrosity
万圣节的演变：从不起眼的节日变为零售业的巨怪
On Nov. 1, 1876, The New York Times declared Halloween "departed," destined for the grave. In 2024, consumers are expected to spend $11.6 billion celebrating the holiday, up from $3.3 billion in 2005. Perhaps it is time to eat some crow.
1876年11月1日，《纽约时报》宣称万圣节"已死"，注定要被埋葬。2024年，消费者预计将花费116亿美元来庆祝万圣节，而2005年为33亿美元。或许是时候认错道歉了。
Halloween, steeped in tradition, has transformed from a pagan feast to a celebration with lovingly homemade costumes and treats to one of the largest consumer spending holidays in the United States.
万圣节，这个有着深厚传统的节日，已经从异教的盛宴转变为让人们身穿可爱的自制服装、吃糖果的庆祝活动，再转变为美国最大的消费节日之一。
Every October -- or even earlier -- millions of Americans are spending on costumes, decorating their homes and lawns with garish skeletons and spiders and doling out candy bars to little superheroes and witches.
每年10月----甚至更早----数百万美国人就开始购买服装，用俗丽的骷髅和蜘蛛装饰房子和草坪，向小超级英雄和女巫们分发糖果棒。
But how did this holiday with humble origins become an economic juggernaut with growing global appeal? Halloween is a marketer's dream, said Tom Arnold, a finance professor and retail expert at the University of Richmond.
但是这个出身低微的节日是如何变得越来越有全球吸引力和巨大的经济影响力呢？里士满大学的金融学教授和零售专家汤姆·阿诺德说，万圣节是营销人员的梦想。
It falls on the same day every year, Halloween items are largely consumable (candy needs to be replenished every year and kids outgrow costumes), and pop culture trends can help predict which costumes will be the must-haves each season.
它每年都在同一天，万圣节物品大多是消耗品（糖果需要每年补充，孩子们会因为长高而穿不了以前的服装），而且流行文化趋势可以帮助预测每年万圣节哪些服装将是必买的。
Professor Arnold said the 1970s brought mass-manufactured costumes and individually wrapped candy that made the holiday explode in popularity. It also shifted from a more religious holiday to a secular one.
阿诺德教授说，20世纪70年代带来了大规模生产的服装和单独包装的糖果，这使得这个节日的受欢迎程度激增。它也从一个具有宗教色彩的节日转变为一个世俗节日。
Even when consumers are worried about their finances, they'll still open their wallets for holidays like Halloween and Christmas, Professor Arnold said, because "it creates a unique experience at a particular time of the year." "Even during the pandemic, consumers went to great strides to preserve these two holidays," he said.
阿诺德教授说，即使消费者对自己的财务状况感到担忧，他们也仍然会在万圣节和圣诞节等节日打开钱包，因为"这些节日在一年中的特定时间创造了一种独特的体验"。"即使在疫情期间，消费者也不遗余力地让这两个节日不受影响。"他说。
Trick-or-treating came about as a way to distract children who, by 1900, had taken over the holiday. Kids played simple but mischievous pranks, like disassembling and then reassembling a farmer's buggy on a barn roof.
"不给糖就捣蛋"的出现是为了分散孩子们的注意力，到1900年，孩子们已经成为万圣节的主力。孩子们玩一些简单但调皮的恶作剧，比如把农民的马车拆开，再在谷仓屋顶上重新组装起来。
However, as time passed and America began urbanizing, the pranks became very destructive. Communities needed a way to "buy off" gangs of feral children who were terrorizing neighbors by smashing light fixtures, setting tires on fire and even tripping people on sidewalks.
然而随着时间的推移，美国开始城市化，这些恶作剧变得非常具有破坏性。社区需要一种方法来"收买"野蛮的儿童团伙，这些儿童团伙砸碎灯具、点燃轮胎，甚至在人行道上绊倒行人，以此来恐吓邻居。
Neighborhood house-to-house parties were held for kids. This origin of trick-or-treat also provided the basis for today's haunted attractions (think haunted houses and mazes) as people would set up "trails of terror" in their basements or at local parks.
街区为孩子们举办了挨家挨户的派对，"不给糖就捣蛋"的这一起源也为现在的闹鬼景点（想想鬼屋和迷宫）提供了基础，因为人们会在自家的地下室或当地公园设置"恐怖小径"。
