List of the Week: 24 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Halloween

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If you think Halloween isn’t a major commercial success for businesses, you might need to rethink that.

With average Americans spending $79 each on it, Halloween is the 2nd biggest commercial success among all holidays. Christmas, I’m sure you guessed, is still number one. Given that the two most successful holidays for retailers are just two months apart, it’s little wonder that retailers display Halloween and Christmas merchandise at the same time, hoping to cash in on both as early as they can.

For Halloween, that money pays not only for costumes, but decorations and candy for the legions of young trick-or-treaters who’ll ring our door bells on October 31st. Those treats will cost, on average, about $25. (And let’s admit it: when you shell out that much money for candy, there’s some part of us that hopes no kids will show up so we’ll have it all to ourselves!)

Only a quarter of those surveyed by the National Retail Federation say they plan to spend less this year than last year. That’s good news for retailers. But even better news for them is that spending is up this year. The 170 million people expected to celebrate the holiday one way or another are likely to spend about $8 billion.

That takes care of a few items on the list that I wouldn’t have known.

Read the full list here.

But there are a few other points I found particularly interesting.

1. Americans purchase more than 20 million pounds of Candy Corn each year.

Really? Candy Corn? I must be in the minority, but I hate that stuff. I’ve never liked it…something about the taste is just…wrong. You can have mine.

2. The number one candy of choice is Snickers.

Now this is more like it. I love me some Snickers. And I might just fight you for it. Take all the Candy Corn I have…but leave my Snickers alone!

3. In the United Kingdom, white cats are thought to bring bad luck, not like black cats in the U.S.

I had no idea. It’s interesting to know how white vs. black is interpreted around the globe. I recall an episode of M*A*S*H in which Corp. Klinger proposes to the Korean woman with whom he has fallen in love; when he tells her he has a surprise and presents her with a wedding dress, she seems perplexed. We discover that in Korean culture, white is worn at funerals, not weddings!

4. More candy is sold on October 28th than any other day of the year.

Hmm. It makes sense in a way, but given how many people like to wait until the last possible minute, I might have assumed that October 30th would be the banner day for those tasty treats.

5. (Bonus) At a sanctuary for big cats, they have an amusing way to dispose of leftover pumpkins.

This isn’t part of the 24, but you have to watch the video at the end of the list at the link above. If you love big cats like I do, you’ll love watching them play with the pumpkins their keepers give them!

Your Turn:
Which Halloween facts were most surprising for you?

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