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Bianca Gomez
Writing 2
Professor Scott Kneece
11 February 2016
Pumpkin make
Halloween. The night our parents checked our candy bags after trick-or-treating for
drugs and took all the Snickers, Starburst and Skittles for our safety. According to
Marketing Potential of Halloween for Retailers and Consumers written by Wadium
Strielkowski, Halloween might be the third most popular holiday (both according to peoples
preference and according to the amount of money spent) in North America. Over the years
Halloween has grown to become a phenomenon of a celebration in North America; showing
influence in the United States history and economy. The topic of Halloween can be researched,
but is not limited to, through the perspective of economics as well as through the perspective of
history. However, research through the economic periodical Marketing Potential of Halloween
for Retailers and Consumers is more effective in its ability of being objective as well as
subjective through its method of an interdisciplinary approach to proving Halloween has grown
to be a widely celebrated holiday; in comparison to the historical periodical Halloween, by
Ralph Linton.
According Google definitions, economics is a branch of knowledge regarding the
production, consumption, and the transfer of wealth. In comparison, history is a branch of
knowledge that studies past events, in particular human affairs. By default economics is
considered to be a more objective discipline, while history tends to be more subjective. Because

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these two branches of knowledge serve different purposes they thus use different approaches
and methods in order to gather and present evidence for their arguments and claims.
However, in specific cases, economics and history do rely on each other, for example,
when studying the history of economics, or explaining the economic history of a business; in
cases like these the two subjects combine methodologies in order to support their arguments.
With respect to the topic of Halloween, it is interesting to note the history behind the celebration
and its growth, but it is more important to understand and analyze the economic impact it has to
the United States as it effects the market seasonally.
Furthermore, history and economics present evidence and argumentation differently in
their format, and methodology. Halloween, by Ralph Linton, and Marketing Potential of
Halloween for Retailers and Consumers by Wadium Strielkowski, are examples of two
periodicals published in different journals. Ralph Lintons article takes a historical approach,
while Wadium Strielkowskis takes the approach of economics- with the incorporation of other
fields of knowledge. Both articles revolve around the topic of Halloween and its growth in
celebration but support different arguments and use different forms of evidence to solidify their
statements.
In the economic periodical, there is the incorporation of charts, statistical data, and the
comparison of spending between two different time periods. This paper, Marketing Potential of
Halloween for Retailers and Consumers, also opens with an abstract in contrast to the historical
periodical. The abstract states what the author Wadium Strielkowski is proving and is then
expanded on throughout the remainder of the text. In addition, most sections of the paper are
brief but compacted with dates, statistics, mathematics, and additional data; making the paper
more objective and leaving little room for the audience to question arguments. For example

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under the section Empirical Model of the paper, Strielkowski incorporates a chart composed of
his own calculations regarding the Determinants of Halloween spending in U.S.. This chart has
distinct terms related to economics like GDP, inflation, and CPI, with respect to the impact
Halloween has on the United States economic market. These terms are specialized for the
discipline of economics and may not be understood by the general population. Other information
incorporated to support the economic data is an ethnographical research. In which Strielkowski,
compares the participation in activities related to Halloween between the years of 2005 and
2013, of adults over 18 years old. This is taking a cultural anthropological take on the
celebration, which is not economics based, but still continues to support that argument that
Halloween is being more celebrated. Strielkowski uses this to link the idea that growing
participation in celebrating Halloween and its marketing potential have a linear relationship.
On the other hand the historical periodical, Halloween, by Ralph Linton proposes a
different strategy to present evidence and support arguments. This paper is composed of lengthy
sections, incorporates images, and gives large time periods to reference to. This paper proves that
Halloween can be traced back to a Druid celebration, and also has had impact from other cultures
which lead to the Americanized celebration of Halloween known today. Each theme of the paper
is separated by the first letter of a new paragraph in a larger and bolder font than the previous
paragraph. Since this paper takes a historical approach, these conventions help in the explanation
and understanding of the evolution of Halloween.
The incorporation of images throughout the text of Halloween helps the audience
visualize the evolution of how the celebration developed and how it became so widely adopted.
For example, the first image in the paper is a sketch of children in costume trick-or-treating on
the right hand side, and on the left hand side there is an image of perhaps a historically related

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activity. Linton attempts to explain the origin of trick-or-treating to the procession of Muck
Olla. The use of lengthy sections benefits the authors discipline because going through history
cannot be done successfully with little explanation. In order to support the theory of Halloween
developing from Irish and Scottish celebrations, Linton must develop and elaborate his
statements in order to trace back and explain to his audience the origin of Halloween. Doing so
he goes through time periods starting with the earliest indication of a celebration in which
Halloween can be derived from, and continues forward. He incorporates entire centuries, general
dates, and years in order to prove how far the origin of Halloween traces back. Linton cannot
give specific dates in his paper because of the nature of his discipline. The further back he digs to
explain the adoption of Halloween, the more questionable facts are. This is why history is
considered to be subjective.
Economic and historical approaches with respect to the topic of Halloween thus differ in
how data is collected and how the information is presented in order to make arguments.
Economics uses data that must be computed and analyzed, while taking history involves
extensive research of different cultural celebrations. History is also constraint to record keeping
from the past which is much harder to prove completely accurate. The information presented is
also different, for example as mentioned earlier the economic approach is brief but compacted
with data, while historical approach involves lengthy reasoning to persuade the audience.
Although these two disciplines show different approaches in presenting evidence to
support their arguments, there are slight similarities the two periodicals have in their writing
conventions. For instance, both periodicals have sections divided either by a new idea, or theme.
In Marketing Potential of Halloween for Retailers and Consumers each section begins with a
bold heading signifying that the author has moved on to new idea to support his evidence.

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Similarly in Halloween a new idea is divided by the first letter of the starting word of the
paragraph in a larger and bolder font. Although each periodical takes the perspective of a
different discipline, both papers agree that Halloween has grown to be a popular holiday in the
United States. However the economic periodical is more effective in doing so because of its
ability to incorporate both a cultural and economic perspective in comparison to the historical
periodical which only takes a cultural perspective.
What makes these two disciplines; history and economics different are their principles.
They are their own fields of knowledge, which helps society organize information and classify
topics based on subject. Economics is associated with the transfer of wealth while history is
associated with keeping record of what has happened in the past. And although both articles are
written to prove Halloween has grown as a celebration in the United States, they do so
differently because they are written with respect to their own disciplines. For instance Lintons
article is based the idea that the celebration of Halloween is derived from the Vigil of Samhain
and has gradually been influenced and adopted by different cultures, while Strielkowskis article
is based on the inclined economic impact Halloween has had as the celebration grows amongst
Americans.
The disciplinary approach that is thus most persuasive and effective in its writing practice
is economics. The periodical that takes the economic approach to Halloween is not only more
objective but also incorporates a subjective aspect by incorporating a different field of
knowledge. Therefore is more effective than the historical approach, using mathematical and
statistical evidence to supports the claim that Halloween can now be only compared to
Christmas as for marketing potential and economic significance, as well as ethnographic
research. By comparing the respondents of Halloween activities between 2005 and 2013, it is

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clear for the audience to see the growth in participation of the holiday form a perspective other
than economics, while still supports the argument. In comparison to Lintons periodical
Halloween which solely relies on a cultural approach, using large time periods to reference to.
Furthermore it is more important to understand how Halloween has impacted the economy as it
affects those in the present and future, versus understanding the history of Halloween and how it
has impacted those in the past.

Abstract
After researching the topic of Halloween through the perspective of two different fields, I have
developed a few questions. For instance, I would like to know how economist anticipate
Halloween to effect the market in the future, and also if Halloween is at all related to any other
holidays that are still celebrated today. Although unrelated, I also thought it would be interesting
to inquire how Halloween has effected cinema. This may tie in to Halloween affecting the
economy since movie spending can be considered a Halloween activity. The methodology I
would adopt would be to research how much capital scary movies bring in around the months of
Halloween, and find if there is a growing trend or not. Also, it would be interesting to see if the
number of scary moves out around that time increases as Halloween becomes celebrated more.
Work Cited
Strielkowski, Wadim. "Marketing Potential of Halloween for Retailers and Consumers." World
Applied Sciences Journal 31.5 (2014): 873-877.
Linton. "Halloween." Scientific American 185.4 (1951):62-66.