Halloween

Halloween is one of the most successful and widely celebrated holidays in the United States, coming second only to Christmas. Many of us have grown accustomed to the traditions that come with Halloween, complete with Trick-or-Treating for candy, wearing costumes, going to parties, and carving pumpkins. But where did these customs come from? In many cultures, there is a day for honoring the dead. It is said that on this day, the "veil" between the realms is thinner and spirits walk among us. This day, although often landing on different dates in other cultures, goes by many names: Samhain, All Saints Day, All Hallows Eve, Dia de los Muertos and of course, Halloween.

-- In the Fifth Century, the Celts celebrated the festival of Samhain, to bring in the last of the harvest and prepare for the winter with fires to honor those who have passed. Trick-or-Treating evolved from the ancient Celtic tradition of putting out treats and food to placate spirits who roamed the streets during Samhain. They wore scary masks to trick evil spirits into thinking that they themselves were spirits and in-turn would be left alone. In the Seventh Century, Pope Boniface IV is credited to creating the yearly celebration to honor saints and martyrs, called All Saints Day. The first Jack-O-Lanterns were carved from turnips and were meant to repel evil spirits. This custom came to America through Irish immigrants, and since turnips weren't cheap in America, pumpkins were used instead.

According to the National Retail Federation:
Top 10 Adult Costumes of all time:

1. Witch
2. Pirate
3. Vampire
4. Zombie
5. Batman Character
6. Cat
7. Vixen
8. Ghost
9. Nurse
10. Scary costume/mask

Top 10 Children's Costumes:

1. Princess
2. Witch
3. Spiderman
4. Pirate
5. Pumpkin
6. Fairy
7. Action/Super Hero
8. Tied: Batman & Vampire
9. Tied: Disney Princess & Zombie
10. Star Wars Character

According to a 2010 CBS News Survey

• 48% of Americans believe in ghosts
• 45% do not.
• 7% don't' know
• 22% have personally seen or felt the presence of a ghost
• 77% have not
• 1% don't know

•  If you see a spider on Halloween, it's said to be the spirit of a loved one watching over you.
• Orange and black are traditional Halloween colors: Orange represents the fall harvest and black represents the darkness.
• Americans are expected to spend $2.5 billion on Halloween costumes this year, forking over $1 billion on children's costumes, $1.2 billion on adult costumes, and $310 million on pet costumes. The average person will spend $72.31 on Halloween candy, costumes and dÈcor, bringing total spending to $6.86 billion-the most in nine-years.
• Halloween candy sales average about 2 billion dollars annually in the United States.
• 86% of Americans decorate their house for Halloween.
• Halloween is the third biggest party day of the year in the United States, after New Year's Eve and Super Bowl Sunday.
• About 99% of intact pumpkins sold are used as Jack-O-Lanterns for Halloween.
• Samhainophobia is the intense fear of Halloween.
• Scottish girls believed they could see images of their future husband if they hung wet sheets in front of the fire on Halloween. Other girls believed they would see their boyfriend's faces if they looked into mirrors while walking downstairs at midnight on Halloween.
• In 2010 there were an estimated 41 million trick-or-treaters between the ages of 5 and 14.
• More than 1.1 billion pounds of pumpkins were grown last year in major pumpkin-producing states. Illinois led the way with an estimated 427 million pounds of jack-o-lanterns.
• The per capita consumption of candy by Americans on Halloween in 2010 was 24.7 pounds.
• According to a survey, in 2011, 43.9% of Americans planned to dress up, 34.3% threw or attended a party and nearly 23% planned to visit a haunted house. Another 49.5% decorated their home or yard, 47.8% decorated a pumpkin, and 73.5% handed out candy.
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• According to an old tradition, if you want to see a witch on Hallloween, put your clothes on inside out and then walk backwards.