Joyeux Halloween

Ellen Feldman’s otherwise comprehensive article on Halloween (October 2001) failed to mention that this Americanized version of a European holiday has come full circle. For the last several years, Halloween has been celebrated, with all its trappings, in France. It is somewhat startling to see Parisian shops adorned with and selling pumpkins, witches’ costumes, spiders and their webs, Halloween candies, et cetera. Apparently there is no religious connotation, merely an effort to promote still another holiday with which to stimulate sales. What can we anticipate will be their next appropriation? Thanksgiving Day? American Independence Day?