Date: Tue, 1 Nov 1994 21:51:31 -0500

From: Jesse T Sheidlower jester[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]PANIX.COM

Subject: Re: Happy Halloween





I, too, last night was thanked and then wished a Happy Halloween by nearly

everyone of the fifty or more trick or treaters who knocked on my door.

I don't recall ever having heard it before. Where did it come from?





I personally find this quite odd--the fact that it strikes some people

as unusual, that is.



I don't have any great insight based on exhaustive corpus analysis or

anything like that. All I can say is that "Happy Halloween" is as familiar

to me as "Merry Christmas," "Happy New Year," or anything else. I'm sure

that I used it as a child and ever since (when the occasion arises).

I'm from and remain in New York, if that helps.



Jesse Sheidlower

Random House Reference

jester[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]panix.com