Top 10 Halloween Facts! [a guest blog!]

Hey Bloggers!! Tony over at All Phun and Games won a guest blog post!! [#650, keep up!] and he sent me the COOLEST Halloween fact post! Enjoy it!

My wife came back in the bedroom this morning to wake me up, and just when she was at my side of the bed I decided to wake up and swung my legs around almost kicking her in the face in the process. It was not a good start to the morning. I though I was doomed after that. But, since I didn’t kick her in the face, I guess that was a good sign. So, I go sit on our computer chair and drink some juice.  I turned on the computer to check my email, only because I forgot my iPhone in the bedroom. Much like Marlize, I was pleasantly surprised to find an email from the magnificent Marlize saying that I was the 650th commenter and I was selected to be a guest blogger. WOO HOO! So I thought to myself, WWMBA(What would marlize blog about)? A Top 10 Thursday it is. I realized coming into this post that it had to be one of epic proportions. Without further ado, I give you:

 

Top 10 Interesting Facts About Halloween
(If you’ve ever read my blog, you’ll know that I go a little more in-depth with my Top 10’s, but that’s just my style.)

10. There are 16 days until Halloween!
This one actually could be number 1, but I decided it to be best at number 10 this way you can see it first 😀

9. Halloween has many names.
It is most often referred to as All Hallow’s Eve though. Halloween originated as a Pagan holiday in which they honored the dead.

8.Hershey’s Krackel and Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkins rank 1st and second among the most popular candy on Halloween. At least my favorite(Reese’s Cups) made second place. I dunno what it is about chocolate and peanut butter that is so good!

7. Spiders on Halloween.
If you see an actual spider on Halloween, it is said to be the spirit of a loved one watching over you. I’ll definitely have to look out for any spiders. I have quite a few that have passed away in the past 10 years.

6. 86% of American’s decorate their houses for Halloween.
Wow, I didn’t realize the percentage was that high. I need to find a statistic for Average Length Halloween decorations are left up. Some people in my area Decorate for Halloween as early as October 1st and sometimes leave them up until Thanks Giving. (Note to Marlize: How many people on average decorate in South Africa for Halloween? Is Halloween as big where you live as it is in America?) In South Africa Halloween is celebrated by the select few. I dunno why as it RULES, but I rarely get the chance to dress up, let alone go trick-or-treating! Very, very sad!! But I really don’t have an average!!

5. The colors Orange and Black
Orange represents the Fall Harvest, while Black represents the color of Darkness.

4. Halloween is the 3rd Biggest Party day, behind New Year’s Eve and Super Bowl Sunday.
(This is funny because where I work, Halloween is our busiest day, followed by Super Bowl Sunday and New Year’s Eve.)

Image via Wikipedia

3. About 99% of all pumpkins are used for carving Jack-o-Lanterns.

 

2. The origins of Collecting Candy.
Back in the 1930’s, the tradition of playing

pranks on Halloween went to an extreme and a movement began to substitute playing pranks for going door to door collecting candy. (I always thought playing pranks was just one Mischief Night, which is the night before Halloween.)

1. Halloween in Ireland is known as Samhain. (I’m Irish, what do you expect?)
Samhain marked the end of the harvest, the end of the “lighter half” of the year and beginning of the “darker half”. It was traditionally celebrated over the course of several days. Many scholars believe that it was the beginning of the Celtic year. It has some elements of a festival of the dead. The Gaels* believed that the border between this world and the otherworld became thin on Samhain; because some animals and plants were dying, it thus allowed the dead to reach back through the veil that separated them from the living.

*The term “Gael” is sometimes used for modern Irish or Scottish Celts regardless of their language.

 

Thanx Tony!! I really didn’t know half this stuff! SO cool…