Halloween - History and Strange Facts

Halloween has captured our imagination for years and will continue to do so. The mystery, the wonderment and the fun surrounding the holiday that isn't an official holiday will continue to do so for generations to come.

Some view Halloween as a holiday, some view it as an evil day to be avoided. Whatever your take is on it, Halloween will amaze us, frighten us and bewilder us.

Two thousand years ago, the Celts lived in an area now called Ireland, part of France and the United Kingdom. They celebrated their new year on the first day of November, as this marked the end of summer and the beginning of winter, which was also associated with much human disease and death, not only of humans but of the crops which they relied upon for survival.

According to the Celtic beliefs, the ghosts of the dead visited returned on the night before their new year, which would be October 31st. This was a mystical time, one in which the priests could make prophecies, crops became damaged and the line between living and dead were crossed. This time was known as Samhain.

The priests built huge bonfires and the townsfolk gathered around, burning crops and animals as sacrifices. They would wear costumes and make this a type of celebration. The costumes came into play because of the belief that souls of the dead came back on this day and by virtue of a costume, the costume wearer wouldn't be recognized.

Candles and fires were lit in order to help the departed family members find their way home.

As the Romans conquered most of the Celtic territory, their festival in late October commemorating the people that died blended in with the Celtics celebration on October 31st.

Many years later, the Pope designated November 1 as All Saint's Day, also called all-hallows day (meaning All Saint's to the Celtics and Romans).

Between the Celtic, roman and the church's designation of a day to honor the dead, they made up what we now have as Halloween. But, it wasn't celebrated fully...not yet.

As immigrants came to the United States, they brought their belief system with them. Blended with the beliefs of the Indians that were already here, the "what we know today" version of Halloween was born.

They'd celebrate the new harvest, dance, sing, tell stories and celebrate the passing of the dead...not just people, but the beginning of the "dead" season of winter and the crops changing.

From the traditions years ago, the poor would dress up in costumes and go from house to house asking for money. The families would give them something in return for the promise to pay for dead relatives. This is where we get "trick or treat".

As the 1800's approached, it was more about community and social events than about the dead and storytelling. History has it that between 1920 and 1950, trick or treating had a new breath of life, as it was cheap and allowed the entire neighborhood to partake in the celebration.

So, where does the pumpkin come in? Well, the Jack O'Lantern can be contributed to an Irish legend about a man named Stingy Jack. Stingy Jack sat down with the Devil for a drink and tricked him into paying for it and had to agree that he wouldn't take Jack's soul.

If that wasn't bad enough, Stingy Jack tricked the devil again, making the devil promise not to bother him for another ten years.

Stingy Jack died but God wouldn't allow someone like that into heaven and the devil, keeping his promise to not take his soul, wouldn't allow Jack into hell. So, he banished Jack into the night with just a burning coal to light his way.

Jack put the coal in a carved out turnip to keep the wind from blowing it out. Since then, the ghostly figure of Stingy Jack has been roaming the earth. He became known as Jack of the Lantern, then just Jack O'Lantern.

Trying to frighten away stingy Jack, people started making the lanterns out of beets, turnips and potatoes. Coming to the United States, immigrants found that pumpkins were perfect for this purpose.

1. Americans spend an estimated $6.9 billion annually on Halloween, making it the country's second largest commercial holiday behind Christmas.
2. Two billion dollars is spent on candy.
3. The biggest candy seller for Halloween? SNICKERS.
4. Halloween is the third biggest party day of the year behind New Year’s and Super Bowl Sunday.
5. Of all the pumpkins that are marketed, 99% of them are used as Jack-o-lanterns at Halloween.
6. Over 82% of children take part in some sort of Halloween holiday celebration. Some estimates place it at 93%.
7. The reason Halloween colors are orange and black? Orange is associated with fall harvest and black symbolizies darkness and death.
8. The current world record for a pumpkin is a whopping 1446 pounds.
9. How many people decorate their home? Try 86% of Americans.
10. Over 35 million pounds of candy corn are produced for Halloween.