For those who can't get enough of Halloween trivia here's some additional fun Halloween facts:
Halloween Trivia
- Orange and black are Halloween colors because orange is associated with the Fall harvest and black is associated with the winter season which Halloween/Samhain starts off on the Celtic calendar. Black is also associated with Halloween because it is a Celtic day of the dead, a day to honor and remember loved ones who have passed on in the past year.
- Jack o’ Lanterns originated in Ireland where people placed candles in hollowed-out turnips to keep away spirits and ghosts on the Samhain holiday. Pumpkins came from America and were not introduced to the Halloween festivities until the mid to late 1800's.
- Pumpkins also come in white, blue and green. Great for different decorating ideas!
- Halloween was first brought to North America by immigrants from Europe, especially the Irish, who would celebrate the harvest around a bonfire, share ghost stories, sing, dance and tell fortunes and play party games.
- The ancient Celts believed that spirits and ghosts roamed the countryside on Halloween night. They began wearing masks and costumes to avoid being recognized as human in an attempt to scare away the scary spirits.
- Halloween is the 2nd most commercially successful holiday, only after Christmas.
- Bobbing for apples is thought to have originated from the Roman harvest festival that honors Pomona, the Goddess of fruit trees, gardens and the harvest.
- Black cats were once believed to be a witch's familiars who protected their mistress's powers. They were in actuality help mates of the woman whose realm in medieval times was the kitchen and the barns. They kept the vermin level down.
- Tens of thousands of cats were destroyed during the Burning Times in Europe as well as upwards of 7 million people who were put to death on the charge of witchcraft.
- Halloween is on October 31st, the last day of the Celtic calendar. It was originally a pagan holiday, honoring the dead. Halloween was referred to as All Hallows Eve and dates back to over 5000 years ago.
Spooky Trivia
- It is believed that if you see a spider on Halloween, it is the spirit of a loved one watching over you.
- It is believed that if you stare into a mirror on Halloween at midnight you will see your future spouse.
- Ghosts and spirits are as present and active during the day as they are at night. It’s legend and spooky stories told around night campfires that has most ghosts stories taking place at night.
- The Ouija Board ended up outselling the game of Monopoly in its first full year in Salem, Mass. Over two million copies of the Ouija Board were sold.
- In the United States, the first citywide celebration of Halloween was in Anoka Minnesota in 1921. (My most recent discussion gave the 1950's as the date. This was in error, my apologies)
- 36 million is the estimated number of trick-or-treaters in 2007— children 5 to 13 — across the United States, down 45,000 from 2005. Of course, many other children — older than 13, and younger than 5 — also go trick-or-treating.
- More than 93% of children, under the age of 12, will go out trick-or-treating
- Over $1.5 billion is spent on costumes each year and more than $2.5 billion on other Halloween paraphernalia
- About 50% of adults dress up for Halloween,
- About 67% of adults take part in the activities, such as parties, decorating the house and trick-or-treating with their children
- 86% of Americans decorate their house for Halloween
- Over 15% of pet owners dress their pets in Halloween costumes
- In 2004 the most popular costume for children was Spiderman!
- The first Halloween card was made in the early 1920′s. Today over 28 million Halloween themed cards are sent each year, with U.S. consumers spending about $50 million on Halloween greetings.
- Halloween candy sales average about 2 billion dollars annually in the United States.
- Tootsie Rolls were the first wrapped penny candy in America and created in 1896.
- Some polls list chocolate candy bars top the list as the most popular candy for trick-or-treaters with Snickers #1.
- In 2004 one poll saw candy corn actually surpass chocolates and Snickers.
- One recent list of most popular Halloween candies list the most favorites as follows:
- Tootsie Roll
- Hershey's Chocolate bars
- Nestle Crunch
- Nerds
- Hot Tamales
- Candy Corn
- Snickers Bar
- Baby Ruth
- Reese's Pieces
- Almond Joy
- Milky Way
- Razzles
- Life Savers
- M & M's
- Sour Patch
- Halloween candy sales average $2 billion annually in the United States and it is the largest candy-purchasing holiday.
- 35 million pounds of candy corn will be produced this year. That equals nearly 9 billion pieces.
Peace and Happiness
© 2010-2011 Enchantments, LLC Portions of this blog posting may include materials from my book “Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts First Year Magickal Studies.” For more information, see www.enchantmentsschool.com or go to the title of tonight's discussion and click, it will link you to my school's website.
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