Halloween Fun Facts and Cartoons.

What do you really know about HALLOWEEN?
  Well... beside the fact that we get to dress up, call out our inner child, hidden fantasy, get to eat all the candies we want. (Adios diet and Hello tooth fairy....) and we also have another reason to paaartyyy!  Not much. I did some homework and this blog shares my discovery.  Read on and you will be surprise.

I also invite you to email me pictures of your or any family member's favorite costume from past Halloweens. I will post them on a slide show on my blog, you never know it might help someone who are still undecided... go...go! to your computer... there is little time left.  ...I will tweet the participant's link to its blog every hours until Halloween to thank you for your participation.  

Thanks.

Halloween History:

- 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.

- The ancient Celts thought that spirits and ghosts wondered the streets on all Hallows Eve so they began wearing masks and costumes in order to not be recognized as human.

- 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.

- On Halloween, Irish peasants would beg the rich for food. For those that refused, they would play a practical joke. So, in an effort to avoid being tricked, the rich would hand out cookies, candy, and fruit – a practice that morphed into trick-or-treating today.

• 
  

  

  Some Interesting and Fun Facts.

  
  1. Orange and black are Halloween colors because orange is associated with the Fall harvest and black is associated with darkness and death.
  2. Pumpkins also come in white, blue and green. Great for unique monster carvings!
  3. Halloween was brought to North America by immigrants from Europe who would celebrate the harvest around a bonfire, share ghost stories, sing, dance and tell fortunes.
  4. Tootsie Rolls were the first wrapped penny candy in America.
  5. The ancient Celts thought that spirits and ghosts roamed the countryside on Halloween night. They began wearing masks and costumes to avoid being recognized as human.
  6. Halloween candy sales average about 2 billion dollars annually in the United States.
  7. Chocolate candy bars top the list as the most popular candy for trick-or-treaters with Snickers #1.
  8. Halloween is the 2nd most commercially successful holiday, with Christmas being the first.
  9. Bobbing for apples is thought to have originated from the roman harvest festival that honors Pamona, the goddess of fruit trees.
  10. Black cats were once believed to be witch's familiars who protected their powers.

  

  Don't forget to leave you comment.