THE ORIGIN OF THE HALLOWE’EN TREE

By Philip A. Shreffler

Today, pretty much everybody who genuinely loves Hallowe’en knows what a Hallowe’en Tree is—the festive and macabre equinoctial version of a Christmas tree. Hallowe’en Trees have become so popular that, from variety stores on the low end to Christopher Radko at the high end, increasingly elaborate ornaments have been created expressly for them. But it wasn’t always that way. Back in the last century—in 1971 to be precise—even those whose favorite holiday Hallowe’en was seemed not to have come up with the idea. That is, until by a happy and almost accidental set of circumstances, I did it myself.

Living in suburban St. Louis and having just received my Master’s Degree in English from Washington University, I was embarking on what was to be a thirty-year career as an English professor and a writer. I was twenty-three at …