Thursday, October 29, 2009

Thursday Thirteen-Halloween Trivia


In honor of Halloween this Saturday, my Thursday 13 is full of Halloween trivia!


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

2. Jack o’ Lanterns originated in Ireland where people placed candles in hollowed-out turnips to keep away spirits and ghosts on the Samhain holiday.

3. Pumpkins also come in white, blue and green. Great for unique monster carvings!

4. Halloween was brought to North America by immigrants from Europe who would celebrate the harvest around a bonfire, share ghost stories, sing, dance and tell fortunes.

5. Tootsie Rolls were the first wrapped penny candy in America.

6. The ancient Celts thought that spirits and ghosts roamed the countryside on Halloween night. They began wearing masks and costumes to avoid being recognized as human.

7. Halloween candy sales average about 2 billion dollars annually in the United States.

8. Chocolate candy bars top the list as the most popular candy for trick-or-treaters with Snickers #1.

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

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

11. Black cats were once believed to be witch's familiars who protected their powers.

12. Signs of a werewolf are a unibrow, hair palms, tattoos, and a long middle finger.

13. The average American consumes 25 pounds of candy each year? Now how much of those 25 pounds do you think gets eaten on Halloween?

To participate, go here.

3 comments:

I am Harriet said...

Good info!

Have a great Thursday!
http://iamharriet.blogspot.com/2009/10/did-you-know-that-scariest-part-of.html
You should join us on Monday for Monday Mayhem.

Chelle said...

I had no idea pumpkins came in blue. Wow, learn something new every day :)

Anonymous said...

The different colors of pumpkin get to me. I've never seen them in anything but green or orange.