Commercialization and globalization

I went out jogging today at about 8:30 pm, and found myself weaving my way around dozens of tricker-treaters on the sidewalks of the subdivisions around the city of Talca.  The celebration of Halloween is a new phenomenon in Chile.  Tomorrow, Nov. 1., is the day that people in Chile go visit the cemeteries, and though not as big a deal as the "Day of the dead" that I was used to in my childhood in Mexico, it is still a national holiday.  Halloween started making an appearance about ten years ago.  Before, I never saw Halloween candy or costumes sold in the stores.  This year, there were more people on the street than I have ever seen before.  I noticed several things:
*I would say that about 95% of the costumes were store bought - I saw only a few truly original or creative costumes. Most were either costumes from hit movies or Disney productions.
*Most of the tricker-treaters were under 6 years old and were accompanied by young moms.
*Very rarely do I see so many little kids out on a beautiful evening with one or both of their parents.  I guess Halloween was as good as an excuse as any to go out walking with the kids!

It has been amazing to watch the forces behind consumerism at work in Chile carving a new holiday into the sales calender.   It is the wrong time of the year for Thanksgiving, since it is spring, and is nearly two months before Christmas, though many stores are already putting out the Christmas decorations.  I nearly bumped into the saxophone playing electric Santa at the hardware store today!