Find a Job You Really Want In
Trick or treat!
The spookiest night of the year is approaching, where costumed children knock on your door and demand candy- or else.
Halloween started over 2,000 years ago when Celts celebrated Samhain by lighting bonfires to fend off ghosts. However, since 1927 when the phrase “Trick or Treat” first appeared in the US, the holiday has become as American as pumpkin pie.
68% of households take part in celebrating and with celebrating comes expenses. Shoppers on average spend $86.27 dollars on Halloween costumes, candy, and decorations- totaling an impressive 8 billion dollars.
Thanks to that spooktacular spending, Halloween is now the second highest grossing commercial holiday after Christmas.
Here are some boo-tiful facts about the spooky holiday.
2020 Spooky Halloween Facts
31 Spooky Halloween Trivia No One Ever Told You
- Shoppers will spend $86.27 on average celebrating Halloween
- 72% of parents admit to stealing candy from their kids
- 68% of people will celebrate Halloween
- 172 million people plan to celebrate Halloween
- U.S. confectionary and nut stores that sell candy, employ over 23,000 people
- Skittles are the top Halloween candy- followed by Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, MM’s, Snickers, and Starburst
- The most popular children’s costume is princess, with 7.9% of children going as a princes for Halloween
- Following princess in popularity is Superhero, with 6% of children choosing to go as their favorite superhero
- 8.9% of adults who dress up go as a witch
- 17% of people dress up their dog for Halloween
- What do those dogs dress as? Pumpkin (9.3%), Hot dog (7.2%), and Superhero (7.2%)
- 1927 is the year when the phrase “Trick or Treat” first appeared in the US
- The word “pumpkin” showed up for the first time in the fairy tale Cinderella
- 2x more children die as pedestrians on Halloween than the average day
- Halloween in 2020 will have the first full moon since 2001- watch out for werewolves!
- The most Jack O’Lanterns ever lit at once were 30,581
- billion pumpkins are grown every year in the US
- Top planned Halloween purchases: Candy 95%, Decorations 72%, Costumes 67%, Greeting cards 35%
- The world’s largest Halloween parade is New York Village’s Halloween Parade which draws 2 million spectators and more than 60,000 people in costumes
- 2 Billion lbs of pumpkins are grown in the US every year
- Trick-or-treating has existed since medieval times.
- Back then, it was known as “guising” in Ireland. Young people dressed up in costumes and asked for food or money in exchange for songs, poems, or other “tricks.” Today, the tradition has morphed into children to getting dressed up and asking for candy.
- The potato famine, and the mass immigration of the Irish into the US helped spread Halloween in the US.
- Sugar rationing during World War II halted trick-or-treating.
- Consumers spent approximately $9 billion (!) on Halloween last year.
- Some shelters adopt out 0 black cats for the month of October.
- The first Jack O’Lanterns were actually made from turnips.
- More than twice as much candy is sold for Halloween as Valentine’s Day.
- The haunted attraction industry makes between 500 and $800 million a year in ticket sales.
- Owners of haunted attractions spend more than $100 million annually in props, such as fog machines, lighting equipment, costumes and more.
- Jack O’Lanterns used to be carved out of turnips, potatoes, and beets.
Sources
https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/social-media-influencing-near-record-halloween-spending
https://www.hauntworld.com/haunted-attraction-information
https://www.census.gov/
https://www.usda.gov/
https://www.history.com/topics/halloween/history-of-halloween
https://www.factretriever.com/halloween-facts
Author
Kathy is the head of content at Zippia with a knack for engaging audiences. Prior to joining Zippia, Kathy worked at Gateway Blend growing audiences across diverse brands. She graduated from Troy University with a degree in Social Science Education.
