Ten Fun Facts About Halloween (That You May Not Have Known)
Just weeks ago, Karin Lehnardt, senior writer for the website, FactRetriever.com, updated a 2016 article she had penned to give us 56 Spooky Halloween Facts. Let’s take a look at some of the more interesting ones on her list.
Not surprisingly, Halloween is the second highest grossing commercial holiday after Christmas.
A survey found that 50 percent of children would like to be given chocolate candy when they Trick or Treat on Halloween, compared with 24 percent who prefer non-chocolate candy and 10 percent who preferred bubble gum.
The first mention of trick-or-treating occurred in Blackie, Alberta, Canada in 1927.
According to the Guinness World Records, Stephen Clarke, holding four World titles, claims the record for the world’s fastest pumpkin carving time of 24.03 seconds, smashing his previous record of 54.72 seconds. The rules of the carving competition state that the pumpkin must weigh less than 24 pounds and be carved in a traditional way, which requires at least eyes, nose, ears and a mouth.
In its 44th year, New York City’s Village Halloween Parade is one of the biggest in the nation. The mile-long parade, showcasing giant puppets, more than 50 bands, dancers, and attendees dressed in exotic costumes, takes over Lower Manhattan every year. The parade, showcasing giant puppets, more than 50 bands, dancers and exotic costumes and draws an estimated 50,000 participants and draws over 2 million spectators.
Children in costumes going from house to house, asking for treats with the phrase “trick or treat,” evolved from the ancient Celtic tradition of putting out treats and food to mollify spirits who roamed the streets at Samhain, a sacred festival that marked the end of the Celtic calendar year.
Halloween was influenced by the ancient Roman festival Pomona, which celebrated the harvest goddess of the same name. Many of today’s Halloween customs and games, such as bobbing for apples, date from this time. In the past, Halloween was called San-Apple Night.
Halloween is an Economy Generator
The National Retail Federation, the world’s large retail trade association, expects consumers in 2010 to spend $66.28 per person—this totaling about $5.8 billion—on Halloween costumes, cards and candy. That’s up from $56.31 in 2009 and brings spending back to 2008 levels.
According to Irish legend which tells us that Jack O’Lanterns were named after Jack, a stingy man who was tricked by the devil several times, and ultimately was forbidden entrance into both heaven and hell. Jack was condemned to wander the Earth, waving his lantern to lead people away from their paths.
We typically associate the colors black and orange with Halloween. Orange is a symbol of strength and endurance and, along with brown and gold stands for the harvest and the season of autumn. Black is typically a symbol of darkness and death and these colors remind us that Halloween was once a festival that marked the boundaries between life and death.
To check out more of the 56 Spooky Halloween Facts and references for these fact, go to https://www.factretriever.com/halloween-facts.