Thursday, October 30, 2008

Thursday 13 #13 "13 Facts About Halloween"


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Tomorrow is Halloween! Happy Halloween Everyone! Here are 13 facts I found out about Halloween for you to enjoy. Hey It's also my 13th Thursday 13! A lot of thirteens!


1. Halloween's roots can be traced back to Celtic culture in Ireland.

2. Halloween was commonly referred to as "All Hollows" Eve. It originated from the pagan holiday honoring the dead.

3.The Roman Catholic Church created All Saints Day (also called Hallomas) on November 1st to honor Saints and on November 2 All Souls Day to honor and pray for the souls of the dead.

4. Halloween is second only to Christmas in spending. Consumers will spend over $2.5 Billion during Halloween.

5.The Irish carved Turnips and put coals or small candles inside. They were placed outside their homes on All Hallow's Eve to ward off evil spirits. They were also known to use potatoes and Rutabagas.

6.When Irish Immigrants came to America, they quickly discovered that Jack O'Lanterns were much easier to carve out and began using them. This truly neat tradition quickly spread to the general population in America and elsewhere.

7. The current world record for biggest pumpkin was set in 2007 by a 1,689-pound (766-kilogram) monster grown in Rhode Island.

8. In English, Halloween translates to "The Day of the Dead". It is an important Mexican holiday.

9. It is believed that the Irish began the tradition of Trick or Treating. In preparation for All Hallow's Eve, Irish townsfolk would visit neighbors and ask for contributions of food for a feast in the town.

10. Here's this year's top Kids Costumes:

1. Princess (10.5 percent)
2. Witch (3.9 percent)
3. Hannah Montana (3.7 percent)
4. Spider-Man (3.5 percent)
5. Pirate (3.3 percent)

11. Americans give about 35 million Halloween greeting cards a year.
12. first Halloween cards that can be detected in the U.S. were produced in 1908.

13 .Anoka, Minnesota, may be home to The United States' oldest official Halloween celebration. Beginning in 1920, the city began staging a parade and bonfire.

Facts taken from Holiday Insights and National Geographic.

Well that's some interesting facts. I didn't realize so much of Halloween was influenced by the Irish! Hope everyone has a Happy Thursday Thirteen & a Safe and Happy Halloween!



6 comments:

  1. These are really interesting facts about Halloween. I love stuff like this :-)

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  2. Some great info there. Thanks for that.

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  3. Hi Sue, Happy Halloween! Love to see how u gonna decorate your house & celebrate with the kids! :-)

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  4. Happy Halloween!

    I find this holiday interesting. Mostly because it has always been a big issue in America, but here in Australia, it's really not a big deal. Well, it is to those who love candy. You still see the occasional trick-O-treater, but they're few and far between.

    I just cut out the middle man and head right to the shops for my candy.

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  5. Happy Halloween!!! You have been boo'd - stop by my place and see what it is about...

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