Mors Dag och Halloween : Festseder i förändring

Sammanfattning: This dissertation strives to describe and analyse two celebrations imported from USA in the 20th century, namely Mother's Day at the beginning of the century and Halloween towards the end. What were the reasons for their succesfull introduction and, in the case of Mother's Day, continuous life in Sweden? My objective is to analyse this using the tool "spirit of the age". What does the introduction of Mother's Day in 1919 tell us about the ideas of the time and would it have been possible to introduce Halloween in its present form at the beginning of the 20th century considering the spirit of the age? The thesis also discusses criticism of the two customs, again by analysing from the point of view of the spirit of the age. When discussing Mother's Day the thesis mainly focuses on the main population issues of the course of the 20th century. When birth rates plummeted to an alarmingly low level, the pressure on women to become mothers was at its highest, and subsequent peaks of celebrating Mother's Day can be noted. Population issues do not only deal with population quantity, however, but also with quality. Interesting discussions could therefore take place regarding which mother was the one to be celebrated. When it comes to Halloween the main focus is on the development of the experience industry towards the end of the 20th century. The thesis is a contribution to the discussions of celebrations in a societal context not only in terms of their form but also their content.