Halloween Trivia

From http://www.bonita.k12.ca.us/allen/Fun/Halloween.htm


Orange and black are the colors of Halloween because orange is associated with the fall harvest and black is the color of darkness.

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

For a twist on the traditional jack o'lantern, why not carve a white, blue or green pumpkin!

Tootsie Rolls were the first wrapped penny candy in America.

Halloween candy sales average about two billion dollars per year.

Chocolate bars top the list as the most popular treat with Snickers being number 1.

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

Black cats were once thought to protect witches.

Halloween is the second most commercially successful holiday; Christmas is number one.

Some people believe that if you see a spider on Halloween, it is the spirit of a loved one watching over you.

Vampire bats really do exist, but they are not from Transylvania. They live in Central and South America and feed on the blood of cattle, horses and birds.

The North American common brown bat has the longest life-span of any mammal it's size -- about 32 years!

The movie "Halloween" was filmed in only 21 days in 1978 on a very limited budget. The movie was shot during the spring and used fake autumn leaves. Also, while the film is set in Illinois, all the cars have California license plates.

The tradition of bobbing for apples came from the Romans.

According to superstition, if you stare into a mirror at midnight on Halloween, you will see your future spouse.

According to the National Retail Federation's Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, the most popular Halloween costume in 2004 was Spiderman, with 2.15 million children dressing as their favorite superhero. Other popular costumes included princesses (1.8 million children), witches (1.3 million) and vampires (899,000).

The world's record for biggest pumpkin is currently held by a gigantic gourd weighing a whopping 1,385 pounds!

Samhainophobia refers to an abnormal and persistent fear of Halloween. This time of year may also stir up other phobias such as the fear of: cats (ailurophobia), witches (wiccaphobia), ghosts (phasmophobia), spiders (arachnophobia), the dark (nyctophobia), and cemeteries (coimetrophobia).