Why are Hollywood stars received with a red carpet at events? The answer involves Greek gods, Renaissance paintings, and railroad cars.

The first recorded instance of a red carpet is in the play Agamemnon, written by the Greek tragedian Aeschylus and first performed in 458 BCE. Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae and commander of the Greeks in the Trojan war, is greeted by his scheming wife, Clytemnestra, who unfurls a carpet of crimson robes for him to walk upon—“a floor of crimson broideries.”

What a welcome! But Agamemnon is suspicious—only the gods are treated to such luxury, and he is but a mortal.

“’Tis God that hath / Such worship; and for mortal man to press / Rude feet upon this broidered loveliness …/ I vow there is danger in it,” he says, wary of the wrath of the gods that might come upon one who was so prideful.

(Spoiler alert: Agamemnon obliges, and he is subsequently murdered by Clytemnestra.)

The use of a red carpet to welcome the gods must have been in place before this time in order for the tradition to be established, but most of what we know comes after this time.

In Renaissance paintings, Oriental rugs lined the floors leading up to the thrones and palaces of rulers, patterned with red and gold. The provided a path of luxury and a mark of social and political dominance as kings and queens ascended to their seats of power.

Why red? Scarlet dye was once reserved for the wealthy; it was made from the cochineal scale insect which rendered it expensive and difficult to make. Additionally, the color red has long been associated with power, passion, and dominance. Nothing calls for attention quite like a bright crimson banner announcing who’s in charge.

In the start of the twentieth century, railroad cars began giving first-class passengers the royal treatment by welcoming them on board with a red carpet—a mark of exclusive luxury and high status.

The 1920s saw the beginning of the red-carpet treatment for Hollywood stars: in 1922, Robin Hood stars Douglas Fairbanks, Wallace Beery, and Enid Bennett stepped out on a red carpet to greet fans at the first true Hollywood premiere. The carpet stuck, and with it came flamboyant displays of wealth, fame, and fashion.

So is the red carpet a reflection of a hallowed reverence for actors and entertainers? Do we bestow upon celebrities the honors once reserved only for deity and royalty? Is Hollywood the aristocracy of modern America?

Let us know what you think in the comments!

Why do we carve jack-o’-lanterns for Halloween? The answer involves shady deals with the devil, Irish folklore, and some scary-looking turnips.

An Irish legend holds that a man named “Stingy Jack” had a drink with the devil one day. True to his name, Jack didn’t want to buy the drinks, so he tricked the devil into turning himself into a coin to pay for the drinks. Instead of using the coin, Jack put the money in his pocket next to his trusty silver cross—which, according to folklore, prevents the devil from transforming back into his original shape.

Well, now it was time for the devil to make a deal with Jack. The devil convinces Jack to let him free on the condition that when Jack dies, the devil will not claim his soul. But Jack has been a bad boy—when he dies, Jack is not worthy for heaven, but the devil also won’t accept him into hell, as they agreed. Instead, the devil sends Jack off into the darkness with only a burning ember to illuminate his way. Jack carved out a turnip and placed the burning ember inside to create a lantern. The soul of “Jack of the lantern” has wandered the earth ever since, with only the lantern to illuminate his way.

Based on this account, the Irish copied Jack’s lantern by hollowing out turnips or potatoes and carving demonic faces onto them. Lighting up these diabolical lanterns was thought to scare off Jack’s wandering soul and other evil spirits.

Irish immigrants to the United States brought this tradition with them, using pumpkins rather than turnips in the New World. Though jack-o’-lanterns were not originally associated with Halloween, it wasn’t too far of a jump to display spooky decorations during a holiday of haunts and howls.

This is just one of many holiday traditions that come from legends about the supernatural that went through a process of synthesis with other beliefs and traditions.

What’s your favorite Halloween tradition?

Sources

Grannan, Cydney. “Why Do We Carve Pumpkins at Halloween?” Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed October 12, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/story/why-do-we-carve-pumpkins-at-halloween.

History.com Editors. “How Jack O’Lanterns Originated in Irish Myth.” Updated October 28, 2019. History. https://www.history.com/news/history-of-the-jack-o-lantern-irish-origins.

“The History behind Pumpkins and Halloween.” Halloween Express. Accessed October 12, 2020. https://www.halloweenexpress.com/the-history-behind-pumpkins-and-halloween/.

Who’s there?

The history of knock-knock jokes spans Shakespeare plays, castle guards, and parlor games, and the call-and-answer format has landed itself a permanent place in the ranks of American humor.

First, let’s take a look at Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The audience hears a rapping sound. Enter the porter, stage right.

Here’s a knocking indeed! If a man were
porter of hell gate, he should have old turning the
key.(Knock.) Knock, knock, knock! Who’s there, i’
th’ name of Beelzebub? Here’s a farmer that hanged
himself on th’ expectation of plenty. Come in time!
Have napkins enough about you; here you’ll sweat
for ’t.(Knock.) Knock, knock! Who’s there, in th’
other devil’s name? Faith, here’s an equivocator
that could swear in both the scales against either
scale, who committed treason enough for God’s
sake yet could not equivocate to heaven. O, come in,
equivocator.(Knock.) Knock, knock, knock! Who’s
there? Faith, here’s an English tailor come hither for
stealing out of a French hose. Come in, tailor. Here
you may roast your goose.(Knock.) Knock, knock!
Never at quiet.—What are you?—But this place is
too cold for hell. I’ll devil-porter it no further. I had
thought to have let in some of all professions that go
the primrose way to th’ everlasting bonfire.(Knock.)
Anon, anon! (Shakespeare, 2.3.1–20)

Who’s there? Three shifty guests, apparently, in the name of the devil. This is the first known use of the knock-knock trope, though it is used in a monologue rather than a joke.

Another potential origin of the call-and-response routine comes from Medieval night watches. When people wanted to enter a castle after night fell, they would have to call to the guards to get inside. A guard would respond “Who’s there?” and engage in a back-and-forth exchange about the person’s identity and purpose for entering the castle. You can imagine that a bored guard or mischievous guest might use this routine to play jokes on one another.

Fast forward to the twentieth century. “Do you know?” jokes began to pick up traction around the year 1900, as described in the Oakland Tribune by Merely McEvoy:

A jokester would walk up to someone and pop a question like: “Do you know Arthur?” And the unsuspecting listener would reply, “Arthur who?” And the jokester would say “Arthurmometer!” and run off laughing. (Weeks)

McEvoy made a poignant observation in his 1922 article: “Jokes, like comets have definite orbits. Most of them travel in ellipses of 20 years.” The “do you know?” type of joke had returned, 20 years later, and this time it had the courtesy to knock.

In the 1920s and 30s, the familiar knock-knock routine we know today took center stage. It may have been popularized by a children’s game called Buff. A veritable knock-knock craze swept the nation as Americans turned to friends, family, and complete strangers with a gleam in their eye, a simple refrain on their tongues: “Knock knock.”

Telling knock-knock jokes became a favored parlor game, knock-knock contests discovered the best and brightest jokesters of the time, and radio stations broadcasted knock-knock jokes inspired by the presidential election—a prime opportunity, since the vice-presidential candidate was Colonel Frank Knox.

By the 1950s, knock-knock jokes had spread across the world, making people groan all over Australia, South Africa, India, England, and other countries. Some used different words for knocking, like “Toc-toc” in France or “Kon-kon” in Korea and Japan. Whether you love them or hate them, it seems like knock-knock jokes are here to stay.

What’s your best knock-knock joke? Remember—you are following in the footsteps of Shakespeare.

Sources

Weeks, Linton. “The Secret History of Knock Knock Jokes.” NPR. March 3, 2015. https://www.npr.org/sections/npr-history-dept/2015/03/03/389865887/the-secret-history-of-knock-knock-jokes

Wonderopolis. “Who Invented the Knock Knock Joke?” Accessed October 1, 2020. https://www.wonderopolis.org/wonder/who-invented-the-knock-knock-joke.

Wood, Jennifer M. “8 Moments in Knock Knock Joke History.” MentalFloss. April 1, 2014. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/55962/8-moments-knock-knock-joke-history.

Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Edited by Barbara Mowat, Paul Werstine, Michael Poston, and Rebecca Niles. Folger Shakespeare Library. Accessed on October 1, 2020. Washington: Folger Shakespeare Library. https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works/a-midsummer-nights-dream/.