Fun Random Facts About Halloween

No matter what your age, the last night of October is always one to look forward to celebrating. Halloween means kids running around in costumes, family and friends getting together and a chance talk with neighbors. What other holiday do you have an excuse to eat all the sugar you want and wear whatever you want? But Halloween wasn’t always the same celebration we experience today. In fact, Halloween’s origins date back thousands of years to the ancient Celtic festival called Samhain, pronounced sow-in. It was believed that the souls of all those who died came back to find living bodies to possess for the next year.

As you prepare for trick or treaters, scary costumes and lots of hair raising fun, brush up on your Halloween trivia facts and tibits. Toss a few little known facts out to Halloween party guests.

Halloween, referred to as All Hallows Eve, was originally a pagan holiday in which they honored the dead. It was celebrated on October 31 since this was the last day of the Celtic calendar. Fact is this celebration dates back some 2,000 years.

Halloween is the 2nd most commercially successful holiday, with Christmas being the first.

Consumers will spend over $2.5 Billion during Halloween. That's a whole lot of candy, costumes, decorations, and party goods.

Strange Halloween Facts

Orange and black are Halloween colors because orange is associated with the Fall harvest and black is associated with darkness and death.

Eisenhower's 1958 White House was lit with an orange glow for a staff lunch given by the First Lady.

There are no other words in the dictionary that rhyme with orange. Can a holiday get any stranger than that.

Black cats were once believed to aid witches and were believed to carry the powers of the witch for casting spells.

Unusual Facts About Halloween

In 1939, there was the first written mention of trick or treat in the popular media.

Eleanor Roosevelt made the first contribution to the 1960 UNICEF's Trick-or-Treat for all the World's Children campaign. Danny Kaye kicked it off in 1965.

93% of children, under the age of 12 will go out trick or treating this year.

90% of parents admit to sneaking goodies from their kids’ Halloween trick-or-treat bags.

Chocolate makes up about 75% of trick or treaters loot. Snickers is the #1 most poupular candy for trick or treaters.

The movie "Halloween" was made in 21 days in 1978.

The next full moon on Halloween night will be October 31, 2020.

86 percent of Americans decorate their homes at Halloween.

The Celts were the first to celebrate Halloween more than 2,000 years ago.

Seeing a Spider on Halloween is thought to be the spirit of a loved one watching over the person who finds the spider.

October 30 is National Candy Corn Day.

Origin of Halloween Costumes

The Celts believed that the souls of the dead could return to their former homes on the night of October 31. People would dress up in costumes made from animal skins to disguise themselves from these spirits. Nowadays, the ghosts and goblins we see out on Halloween night are children trick or treating.

51 million American adults wore Halloween costumes in 2008.

Americans spend more than 1.5 billion dollars on Halloween costumes every year.

1,815 costume rental and formal wear establishments across the nation in 2008.
Source: 2008 County Business Patterns

What Average Americans Will Spend on Halloween

• Halloween Costumes: $20.75
• Halloween Candy: $17.99
• Decorations: $14.54
• Greeting Cards: $3.02

(Source: 2009 National Retail Federation survey.)

The pumpkin is one of the oldest known vegetables.

Jack O'Lanterns originated in Ireland to keep away spirits and ghosts.

To keep your pumpkin from drying out, within a half-hour of carving a jack o’ lantern, rub the insides of it with petroleum jelly. Place a damp towel over it when it’s not on display.

Total production of pumpkins by major pumpkin-producing states in 2009. Illinois led the country by producing 429 million pounds of the vined orange gourd. California and Ohio were also major pumpkin-producing states: each produced at least 100 million pounds.

1.1 billion pounds of pumpkins are grown each year for Halloween.

Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service

One of the most popular forms of Halloween fortune-telling involved using a mirror to discover the identity of one's future husband. Although it had many variations, a typical method involved sitting before a mirror at midnight on Halloween, eating an apple and brushing one's hair; supposedly an image of your loved one would appear in the glass.

Dolly Madison is is said to haunt the White House Rose Garden.

A sliver bullet can kill a werewolf.

Bobbing for apples is thought to have originated from the roman harvest festival that honors Pamona, the goddess.

Vampires are mythical beings who defy death by sucking the blood of humans.

Casper™ is a friendly ghost, and one of the oldest in cartoon history. He first appeared in a series titled “Noveltoons” in 1946 and still haunts movie and television screens today.

It is said that Halloween Ghosts can cause rooms to go cold when they enter a room, never sleep, have no idea of time passing, and can read other people's thoughts.

George Reeves, the man who played Superman on TV, is said to haunt his home where he died. Several people have reported seeing a phantom George Reeves dressed in his Superman costume.