Halloween Two Jack-O-Lanterns on Posts One Happy One Sad Gibson Lines Postcard

Halloween, as depicted on this postcard, reflects the holiday's popularization in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its origins lie in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, marking the end of summer and harvest, and later influenced by Christian observances of All Saints' Day. The carved pumpkins, or jack-o'-lanterns, became a prominent symbol, evolving from Irish and Scottish traditions of carving root vegetables to ward off evil spirits, a practice that transferred to pumpkins upon immigration to America. The inclusion of a serpent or dragon figure may allude to older folklore or symbolic representations often associated with the transition between seasons and the supernatural.

This period saw Halloween shift from a more solemn, superstitious observance to a secular, community-focused holiday primarily celebrated by children with costumes, trick-or-treating, and festive decorations. The advent of postcards provided a novel and popular medium for disseminating holiday greetings and solidifying these emerging Halloween themes and imagery, like those presented here, into the cultural consciousness, establishing many of the visual traditions that continue to define the holiday.