Halloween Capital of the World

The scariest, silliest, sugariest night of the year is finally here. Halloween is spreading around the globe like a zombie outbreak.

From Germany to Japan, young adults are embracing the holiday, particularly its costume parties, as they escape the status quo for a night. Americans take their Halloween pretty seriously, even if many don't know exactly why we carve pumpkins, hang fake ghosts, hand out candy, or dress up like something dragged in by a graveyard cat.

European immigrants brought Halloween to the United States, where different Old World traditions mingled in America's cultural stew. The celebration gained steam with the explosion of Irish immigration to the United States in the 1800s.

Anoka, Minnesota is believed to be the first city in the United States to put on a Halloween celebration to divert its youngsters from Halloween pranks. When Anokans awoke to find their cows roaming Main Street, their windows soaped and their outhouses tipped over, they decided something had to be done.

In 1920, George Green and other Anoka civic leaders suggested the idea of a giant celebration. The idea was adopted by the Anoka Commercial Club and the Anoka Kiwanis Club; both giving their full support. In September of that year, a Halloween committee was organized.

Working hand in hand were businessmen, teachers from the Anoka public and parochial schools, parents, and students. For weeks before the big event, more than a thousand Anoka school children made plans and costumes for the big event.

By the 1930s, the festivities had expanded as had the attendance at the parades. There were over 2,000 costumed children marching down Main Street. It was estimated that 20,000 spectators lined the streets to watch this night-time spectacle. In 1937, 12-year-old, Harold Blair, donning a sweater embellished with a Halloween Capital insignia, carried with him to Washington, D.C. a proclamation naming Anoka the Halloween Capital of the World.