Thursdy Open Line


There’s an excellent chance that today is an occasion deeply revered by young children and the nation’s candy makers. According to ancient Celtic tradition, Halloween — the evening before All Saints Day — is a time of haunting by ghosts. Halloween has come a long way from pagan practices to “trick or treat!” Today’s prank and costume-filled observance goes back about a century in the U.K., and giving the disguised young visitors to the doorstep some candies has been a major part of  the ritual. This in an important boost to the nation’s more than 1,100 chocolate and cocoa-based manufacturing establishments, along with the more than 400 nonchocolate confectioners. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at <www.census.gov>.