The View ▶For more on these stories, visittime.com/ideas
DESPITE ITS ORIGINS IN PAGAN AND
Christian tradition, the modern American
Halloween is often a purely secular celebration
centered on candy and costumes. But in
fact, one of the most frivolous aspects of the
holiday has a serious religious past.
Medieval Christian tradition held that
on Hallowtide, the eve of All Saints’ Day, the
poor went to the homes of the wealthy and
offered to pray for the recently departed in
that household; it was believed that more
prayers meant a soul was more likely to be
saved. The rich then rewarded the poor with
food and beer, explains historian Nicholas
Rogers, author ofHalloween: From Pagan
Ritual to Party Night. But after the Protestant
Reformation (coincidentally, Martin Luther
posted his 95 theses on Oct. 31, 1517), the
idea that souls could be saved in this waybegan to lose popularity in many of the new
denominations. Some people kept up the
tradition, but its religious connection faded,
even among Catholics.
By the 1840s, when a wave of Irish and
Scottish immigrants brought the custom to
the U.S., it was basically a secular pastime.
Although the Catholic Irish faced widespread
prejudice from nativist forces in their new
homeland, the celebration, having been
stripped of its Catholic underpinning, quickly
proved to be popular. As those immigrants
began to assimilate, newspapers reported the
custom trending among 19th century college
students. By the 1930s, North America had
a new term for the old tradition:trick-or-
treating.—OLIVIA B. WAXMAN▶For more on these stories, visittime.com/historyHISTORY
How trick-or-treating arrived in AmericaBIG IDEA
An undersea restaurant-laboratory
What’s a better way to see seafood? In an underwater eatery. Architecture firm Snohetta has
unveiled renderings(below) for a restaurant on the southern Norwegian coast called Under that
will also serve as a man-made reef and marine research facility. The entrance chamber will perch
on the shore; the champagne-bar section will plunge below the water; and the main room will
rest 16 ft. beneath the surface and feature a 36-ft.-long window, “like a sunken periscope,” the
firm explained. After the restaurant’s 2019 opening, scientists will use it to study if fish behavior
changes with the seasons. The hope is the building will attract more than patrons: the concrete
exterior will be texturized so mollusks can latch on and create a mussel reef, serving as a natural
water purifier—though the plan didn’t say whether they prefer still or sparkling.—Julia ZorthianPOINT,
COUNTERPOINTSShould tech
companies have
to disclose who
pays for online
election ads?On Oct. 19, Senators
John McCain, Amy
Klobuchar and Mark
Warner introduced a bill
to require Facebook,
Google and others to
keep public records
of electioneering-ad
purchases over $500,
including information
on the buyers. The
tech titans are pushing
back. Here are the
competing arguments.
HISTORY’S VIEW
Foreigners aren’t
allowed to spend
money on U.S. elec-
tions, so TV and radio
networks report who
buys the election ads
they air. In 2006, an
FEC vote decided the
Internet was “unique.”
In 2011 and 2016,
modifying its position,
the FEC tried but failed
to apply stricter rules.TECH’S VIEW
Ahead of the 2016
election, Facebook
and Google each sold
at least $50,
worth of political ads,
possibly to Russian
buyers, but they
insist that most ads
weren’t strictly election
related. Moreover, they
object to regulation
on principle (“paid for
by” messages may
stymie innovation) and
logistics (there are too
many sales to track).CONGRESS’S VIEW
Voting is too important
to risk any lapses in
protection. “We have
to secure our election
systems,” Klobuchar
said. “The next election
is only 383 days
MIR AND SNØHETTA away.”—J.Z.