Happy Boo Day Ya'll

Halloween Fun Facts:

*Halloween, referred to as All Hallows Eve, was originally a pagan holiday in which they honored the dead. It was celebrated on October 31 since this was the last day of the Celtic calendar. The celebration dates back some 2,000 years

*Halloween was born. The first Halloween celebration in America took place in Anoka, Minnesota in 1921.

*More than 93% of children, under the age of 12, will go out trick-or-treating

*Halloween candy sales average about $2 billion annually in the United States. It is the largest candy-purchasing holiday, bigger than Christmas, Easter and Valentine's Day!

*About 99% of pumpkins that are marketed domestically are turned into jack-o-lanterns

*Over 10% of pet owners dress their pets in Halloween costumes

*Halloween is second only to Christmas in spending.

*The jack-o-lantern tradition comes from an old Irish folk tale about a man named Stingy Jack. It was said that he was unable to get into heaven and was turned away from the devil because of his tricky ways. So he set off to wander the world looking for a resting place. For light, Stingy Jack used a burning coal ember in a hollowed out turnip. When the Irish immigrated to the U.S. during the Great Potato Famine of 1845-1850, they found that turnips were not as readily available like they were in the homeland. So they started carving pumpkins as a replacement for their tradition.

*The biggest pumpkin in the world tipped the scales at a whopping 1,446 pounds. This gigantic gourd was weighed in October 2004 at a pumpkin festival in Port Elgin, Ontario, Canada.

*The number one candy of choice for Halloween is Snickers

*More than 35 million pounds of candy corn will be produced this year. That equates to nearly 9 billion pieces - enough to circle the moon nearly 4 times if laid end-to-end. ( I LOVE candy corn)

*Magician, Harry Houdini died on Halloween, 1926 in Detroit, MI.