Halloween Spending Compared to other holidays

In 2011 people have overall spent about 6.86 BILLION on Halloween.  Courtesy of the seasonal Halloween stores, people buy Halloween decorations and costumes in excess. Plus, people feed into the Halloween attractions, pricey parties, and Halloween-themed movies. Not even ten years ago, Halloween spending was less than half of the current amount. In 2011, people spend, per person, over $70.  In relation to other holidays in 2011, on average, people would spend about $700 for Christmas. Halloween has become another excessive American holiday. Do other countries even celebrate Halloween?

Equal Pay For Women?

The AFL sought equal pay for women in order to make the women less attractive to employers. This looked like a great thing towards women until they realized this would drive all women out of jobs.

Men Should be "Breadwinners" ?!?!?

Some women supported the idea that men should be "breadwinners" and others pointed out that women should have equal opportunities in the work place. Although, wages often didn't allow men to properly support families. This caused for women to also have to work.

Immigration

America is considered to be a "nation of immigrants" because a majoirty of the current population's ancestry immigrated into the country years ago. The immigrants helped pave the way America is today. They had to be strong to be able to leave they're true home to come over to such a different place. Plus, they also needed to to not let go of their true roots. Most all immigrants held on to their rituals and foods so they could remember family and the past. These traits shape America because it shows citizens what America had to go through to get to the point we are at now. 

I feel somewhat aware of my family history on both sides of my family. I know that on my Dad's side, my great- great-grandparents came from Mexico and Spain to America. Although, I do not the reasons to come to America. I do know that once they immigrated they changed their last name from Canalez to Laurel. Symbolically, Laurel means noble, glory, and victory. This could illustrate that my ancestors came to America to gain freedom. On my mother's side, her ancestors are dutch. I don't know much about them, except that they came to America during 1800s. 

Faces of America

In the films "Faces of America" a genealogist talked to several different important people that are in today's current affairs. The genealogist took a deeper look into each of their family trees and helped them connect the dots on their ancestry. Some of the influential people that were featured on the film included: Yo-Yo Ma, Meryl Streep, Kristi Yamaguchi, Mario Batali and several other well known people of this day.
These videos were very interesting. From viewing the film, one might learn that there is a lot about family history that is mysterious and uncovered. Someone might appreciate these videos because it might urge one to use a genealogist to learn more about their family tree. This is important since history always repeats itself. It could also be important to figure out medical illnesses prevalent in one's family tree, like what Dr. Oz was saying.