Trivia & Facts

• Symbols of Halloween include the colors black and orange, pumpkins, jack-o-lanterns, witches, ghosts, bats, black cats, vampires, skeletons, monsters, and most imagery related to fall harvest, death or ghoulish creatures.




• Symbols of El Dia de los Muertos include skeletons, parades, and sweet rolls called "pan de muerto", often topped with dough bits formed in the shape of bones.

• Orange isn't associated with Halloween just because it's the color of most pumkins . Orange is a color of the fall harvest and festivals from which Halloween arose where also fall harvest festivals. Black is associated with Halloween because it is considered the color of death and the holiday has traditionally been thought to be the time when ghosts and spirits returned to earth. As for pumpkins and the color orange, they also come in white, blue, and green. While these colors can be harder to find, the non-traditional hued pumpkins makes for some really unique jack-o-lanterns!




• The tradition of lighting hollowed out foodstuffs on Halloween came from Ireland and the practices of the Samhain (pagan) festival. Irish immigrants to America discovered pumpkins and, finding them plentiful and easy to carve, switched from turnips, beets, and potatoes to the orange squash that is still used to create jack-o-lanterns today.




• The term "jack-o-lantern" comes from an old Irish folk tale about a man named Stingy Jack. The story goes that Jack wasn't a nice guy and was banned from both Heaven and Hell for his trickery, banished instead to roam the earth with a carved out turnip lit by a coal. To keep "Jack of the Lantern" away from their homes during the night when evil spirits returned, the Irish would carve faces in to turnips, beets, and potatoes, light them with coals, and place them in windows and doorways.




• Halloween is second only to Christmas in commercial success. Candy sales for Halloween average around 2 billion per year in the United States. Chocolate candy bars top the most popular candy list.




• Magic is a part of superstitions about Halloween but did you know a famous magician is also part of its history? Harry Houdini died on Halloween in Detroit in 1926 from a ruptured appendix.




• According to the National Retail Federation, the 10 most popular You do not have access to view this node  in 2007 were:
  
  
  1. Princess
  2. Spider Man
  3. Pirate
  4. Witch
  5. Fairy
  6. Disney Princess
  7. Star Wars Character
  8. Pumpkin
  9. Ghost
  10. Power Ranger




• Ancient Celts began wearing costumes and masks during their Samhain festival so that the spirits and ghosts they believed were returning to earth during that time would not recognize them as human and not harm or bother them.




• Think vampire bats are just in the movies? Well, they really do exist, although probably not in your backyard. Even if you live in Mexico, Central America, or South America where the bats reside, you neck is safe. Vampire bats don't bite people; they drink the blood of cattle, horses, birds, and pigs. The vampire bat's bite doesn't turn the victim in to a vampire, but it does create a cut that oozes blood which the bat laps up. Chemicals in the bat's saliva keep the blood from clotting and numb the victim's skin so sleeping animals that are bitten might not even wake up or notice they are being feasted upon. Vampire bats only come out in complete darke and can't go longer than two days without feeding or they will die.




• The mask the charachter Michael Meyers wears in the movie Halloween was created from a William Shatner Star Trek mask. The Shatner costume mask (popular during the time the movie was made) was painted white, the eyeholes cut larger, and the sideburn and eyebrows removed.




• And the award for biggest Halloween Party Poopers goes to...Sandusky, Ohio! Since 1995, trick-or-treating has been against the law there for anyone over the age of 14.

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