Bavarian Beer Maids and Jack-O-Lanterns, Fear & Loathing for Halloween [Ice Cream Sundae]
I hope you’re well. It’s already Halloween next week, it’s on a Saturday this year. Do you have plans to celebrate?
I’m sure you know the event is about honouring dead saints, a Christian tradition many scholars agree was influenced from ancient Celtic harvest festivals, marking the end of summer.
During these festivals, such as Gaelic Samhain (end of summer in Gaelic), and from at least the 16th century it was tradition at that time of year for young people to dress up and go from house to house threatening mischief or offering songs in exchange for food and drink, in some parts as the form of a soul cake made to commemorate the dead.
The tradition of Jack-O-Lanterns apparently comes from an old Irish folktale. One day while drunk after an evening of fun, Jack was walking back home, crossed paths with the Devil and managed to trick him into agreeing to never take his soul. He kept on drinking, revelling, living a generally sinful life, so after death he was turned down at the doors of Heaven. He wasn’t going to Hell either and the Devil threw him a live coal straight at him. To stop it from going out, Jack hollowed out a turnip to set the piece of hot coal and prevent it from going out. Since then, Jack and his lantern have been stuck on Earth, looking for a place to rest.
Jack-O-Lanterns were originally carved into turnips and used to frighten evil spirits away in the night. Once on the new continent, American pilgrims apparently found out their local pumpkins were larger and easier to carve than turnips. It has become the fruit of choice to this day. I’ve carved pumpkins for Halloween these past few years and am getting better at it. They’re no prize winners but I’m happy with the results. It’s enjoyable and they look great with candles.
Costume parties are of course another traditional feature of Halloween in the US, as well as in the UK, though I think the British are more likely to have fancy dress parties for whatever reason throughout the year, as they call them.
I was a teen when I made one of my best Halloween party costumes, in the community centre of a village not too far away from where I lived. Being a fan of the fairly recent Addams Family movie at the time (and of the TV series too), I chose to dress as Cousin It. It was probably the most involved preparation I did for a costume (pun intended). It was very simple but not that easy in the end. I found myself a white summer hat with lace-like holes and bought balls of brown threaded cotton and wool. You can imagine cutting and fitting the wool over the hat to full size me, it took hours to have enough to completely cover my body. I added another hat on top, a pair of glasses and job done. I couldn’t see a thing but I remember the costume was a success. On the plus side I could easily remove it to dance later in the evening.
I had several great Halloween parties while I lived in London, a friend there was born on the 31st October so some of those were mixed in with his birthday. He dressed as characters from the Watchmen comic with friends one time. They were brilliant. I’d decided to dress up as The Dude, pretty much as he was in his bathrobe at the beginning of The Big Lebowski. Sunglasses, shorts, and flip flops (instead of sandals, that was a mistake). People recognized the character so that worked out well. I started the party with a group of friends and then we made our way to a second party at my brother’s restaurant.
My best and most outrageous costume to date is most certainly the Bavarian Beer Maid for the Halloween party friends and I organised at my place in Singapore two years ago. I had a big apartment and we were excited about organising a big house party there. I asked for costume inspiration to friends on Facebook, and someone suggested a beer maid, given I was already building the beer amateur & home brewer reputation. I liked the idea, and thinking about it even though it’s a popular option for many men at costume parties, I’d never cross dressed as a woman that I remembered. Apparently young people cross-dressing was a traditional aspect of the celebrations in some parts of Wales and Scotland.
I looked at colourful photos of Oktoberfest in Munich for inspiration online. I also looked at costume websites. I came across this comical one and it was just too perfect and silly to pass up: A Bavarian beer maid costume for men, including a pair of huge plastic fake breasts with taps that one could fill with booze, and have people drink from. In other words, nothing but class. It is as ridiculous at you’re probably picturing it right now, if not more.
We also put a lot of effort in the decoration, including a sort of shrine outside the main door featuring old creepy black and white photos of children, real chicken feet, cobwebs, and candles. We felt having a pig’s liver in a jar would be an important set piece even though most people didn’t see it (it was supposed to be a heart, I’m not sure it would’ve been better). The Jell-O shot syringes delivered delivered by a friend dressed as a nurse and another as a French maid were vastly popular though. The party even had a name: Dr O’s Haunted Mansion, if I remember correctly.
I think it was probably the busiest and most popular party I hosted in Singapore, plus the cops came to stop the music after too many complaints from neighbours. I was trying to be serious talking to the police while of course ridiculously inebriated and having completely forgotten I was wearing a blond wig, a lot of make-up and gigantic fake breasts in my costume. It was a memorable party.
There’s no right or wrong age to have fun at Halloween, laughing in the face of the scary stuff that goes bump in the night. Dressing up for costume parties, carving pumpkins, baking and eating cakes and candy, going trick-or-treating with children, decorating the house with spooky stuff, watching scary movies, remembering the spirits of the dead and departed. There are plenty of options, it would be shame to deprive yourself just because it’s become too commercial an event, or whatever else your reason is.
Have a fantastic Halloween, forward to a friend if you’ve enjoyed reading!
Cheers
Willem
This newsletter was originally published via email on the 25th October 2015. You can sign up to receive Ice Cream Sundae via email via the Ice Cream for Everyone website.
