Things to know about Halloween – The Fresh Toast

The longer nights, the wind, the cold – all great for Halloween.

Halloween is a big holiday in the USA. 96.95% of 25 to 34 year olds plan to celebrate in some form – that's more than 18 to 24 year olds (93.18%). The holiday, which came to the United States in the 19th century, traditionally originated with the Irish, Scottish and Cajuns. It's a huge season now and spending is at a record $12.2 billion. This is a significant increase from the $8 billion spent in 2020. It is also one of the top five drinking and ten marijuana holidays in North America.

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The word “Halloween” is derived from “All Hallows' Eve”, which refers to the evening before All Saints' Day. When Irish immigrants brought their traditions to America in the 19th century, Halloween became a community-centered holiday marked by activities such as trick-or-treating, costume parties and pumpkin carving. Interestingly, the first jack-o-lanterns were made from beets rather than pumpkins as they are today. The traditional colors of black and orange, with black symbolizing death while orange represents the autumn harvest.

Halloween costumes originally consisted of vampires, ghosts, skeletons, scary-looking witches and devils. Over time, the costume selection has expanded to include popular characters from fiction, celebrities, popular memes, ninjas and princesses. In the 1940s, Halloween retailers Ben Cooper, H. Halpern Company (Halco), and Collegeville began licensing costumes for existing characters such as Superman and Donald Duck. These store-bought outfits were more appealing and simple for children and adults. You didn't have to think, it was all put together. The Ben Cooper company was the first to market the very popular Richard Nixon mask in the late 1960s, which itself sold as well as the Ronald Reagan mask in the late 1980s. The women's movement and gay revolution introduced the sexy costume in the 1970s. These cultural events have now given way to the normalization of sexy costumes.

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On average, children eat around 7,000 calories and three cups of sugar on Halloween, which is almost 169 sugar cubes. Adults eat about 3.4 pounds – about 222 sugar cubes – around the holidays.

The most popular sweets for Halloween are:

• M&Ms.
• Reese's Cups.
• Sour Patch Kids.
• Bowling.
• Starburst

At your next event, consider sharing these fun facts about Halloween.