Halloween is a little more than a week away, which means that you’re either scrambling to buy enough candy for trick-or-treaters, or your trying to perfect your children’s outrageous costumes (or perhaps you’re assembling your own costume….adults like dressing up too!).
Whatever the case may be, Halloween is certainly an entertaining time of year, and whether or not you’re interested in the costuming aspects of it, you have to admit that the vast amounts of sugar (particularly chocolate) are most pleasing. (We always have plenty of sugar on-hand here at the inn!)
And so, in honor of this sugary yet scary holiday, enjoy some fun facts about Halloween, courtesy of Purple Trail, the Holiday Spot, and Halloween Web:
- The tradition of carving pumpkins began with the legend of Stingy Jack, a selfish man who eventually became a ghost known as Jack of the Lantern.
- More than 93% of children, under the age of 12, will go out trick-or-treating
- Bobbing for apples is thought to have originated from the roman harvest festival that honors Pamona, the goddess of fruit trees
- Over $1.5 billion is spent on costumes each year and more than $2.5 billion on other Halloween paraphernalia
- Legend says that if a young girl puts a silver coin and rosemary under her pillow on Halloween, she will dream of her future husband.
- About 50% of adults dress up for Halloween, while 67% take part in the activities, such as parties, decorating the house and trick-or-treating with their children
- It is believed that the Irish began the tradition of Trick or Treating. In preparation for All Hallow’s Eve, Irish townsfolk would visit neighbors and ask for contributions of food for a feast in the town.
- More than 35 million pounds of candy corn will be produced this year. That equates to nearly 9 billion pieces – enough to circle the moon nearly 4 times if laid end-to-end.
© Carole Pasquier
If this positively fascinating information has intrigued you, then perhaps you should consider spending your Halloween weekend at the spooky woods of the Iris Inn.