For Halloween, Spend a Ghoulish Night (or Day) @The Smithsonian

From stiletto daggers and sexy witches to devilish hydras and sea serpents, there's no end of scary stuff to spook yourself and your date silly here at the Smithsonian. 

Costumes are encouraged and if you don't feel safe going out on Halloween, stay home and make a virtual appearance

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Halloween Highlights Arise from the Museum Vaults

From the decorations in our homes to the sweets we make (or buy), Halloween is a holiday filled with tricks and treats, fun and, sometimes, a little fright. We've embraced All Hallow's Eve as a night to dress up and join with fiends... I mean friends, to celebrate things that go bump in the night. 

Here at the museum, we have a wonderful collection of objects used at Halloween. See if you recognize any of these pieces from years past. 

To continue reading this post, which 1st appeared in the Oh, Say Can You See? blog of the Smithsonian, click here.

From Homemade Halloween Treats 
to Colorfully Packaged Candies

Object Project interns Caitlin Kearney and Kamilah Stinnett explore the origins of packaged candy, a modern convenience that signaled the shift toward Halloween as a widespread commercial holiday. Object Project, opening July 2015, will explore everyday things that transformed daily life.

Did you know that the average jack-o'-lantern bucket holds about 250 pieces of candy? That's 9,000 calories and about three pounds of sugar, according to the California Milk Processor Board. Good grief! No wonder some parents scramble to ration their kids' Halloween haul.

But the treats that fill those grinning plastic pumpkins on Halloween didn't always come in crinkly wrappers with familiar names like Baby Ruth, introduced in 1920, and M&M's, first sold in 1941. During our time at the museum, we've researched packaged, premade food items for Object Project. The exhibition will give visitors a look at—er, taste of—the history behind objects that have changed daily life, including the social demands and technological advances that brought about these changes.

Tp continue reading this post, which 1st appeared in the Oh, Say Can You See? blog of the Smithsonian, click here.