Have you ever wondered where Halloween came from? Historians say it’s been linked to the Roman feast of Pomona, the goddess of bounty represented by fruits and seeds. It also has ties to the Mexican Day of the Dead, in which people honor relatives who have died with humorous skeleton figures. Yet another explanation says that Halloween originated from the harvest festival that marks the end of summer, closely followed by the Catholic Church’s All Saints’ Day. The word Halloween comes from the Scottish “All-Hallows-Even,” meaning the night before All Saints’ Day.
Here are a few fun facts about Halloween:
The top ten most popular candy bars for Halloween, in no particular order are: Snickers, Twix, 3 Musketeers, Hershey Bars, Kit Kat, Baby Ruth, Oh Henry!, Reese’s, Butterfinger and Milky Way.
The top five kid-friendly (meaning non-traumatizing) Halloween TV shows and movies are: “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” “Casper,” “Monsters, Inc.,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” and “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.”
The most popular costumes over the years include ghost, witch, vampire, zombie, pirate, princess, superhero and hobo.
72% of parents in Cleveland say they check their kids’ candy for tampering, 59% steal Halloween candy from their kids, 33% dress up for Halloween themselves, 19% say they have seen a ghost, 15% dress their pets up in costumes, while 3% don’t celebrate Halloween at all.
Lastly, statistics say that approximately 598 million pounds of candy are sold during the Halloween season, while the holiday is also tops for chocolate sales.
Have a happy Halloween!
