Halloween dates back more than 2,000 years! Nov. 1st was Samhain (SAH-win), which was the day Celtic people celebrated New Year’s Day! The night before Samhain (now Halloween), spirits and demons were said to walk the earth. Celts were said to dress in costumes and walk the streets performing silly acts for food and drink!
Orange & black are Halloween colors because orange is associated with the fall harvest and black is associated with darkness and death.
Jack o’ lanterns originated in … Ireland of all places! People would place candles in hollowed out turnips (not pumpkins) to keep away spirits and ghosts on the Samhain holiday.
Christian influence: Samhain later was decreed All Saints Day. The night before, observers would celebrate with bonfires, costumes and parades. European immigrants brought Halloween to the United States. The seasonal celebration exploded in the 1800s with the arrival of Irish immigrants.
What was the first wrapped candy? Tootsie Rolls
Trick-or-treating is believed to be an Irish tradition. In preparation for All Hallow’s Eve, townspeople would visit neighbors and ask for food contributions for the town feast.
Halloween is Oct. 31 – the last day of the Celtic calendar. It actually was a pagan holiday honoring the dead.
Pumpkins originated in Central America, where they were used as a food crop, same as today! Native Americans who found pumpkin crops plentiful often used them in their cooking. Europeans brought the seeds back to Europe and they were a big hit!
Spooky Halloween Expenditures! Halloween spending is predicted to reach $5.77 billion despite the financial crisis. American’s spend $35 million on Halloween greeting cards alone. The average American will spend $24.17 on costumes and $20.39 on candy. How much for dental bills? Ha!
The highest-grossing Halloween movie of all time is ... Jaws! It was released in 1975 by Steven Spielberg and pulled in $842 million at the box office. No. 2 on the list: The Exorcist.
0 comments:
Post a Comment