Thursday Thirteen #10

Thirteen Halloween and Monster 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. Jack o’ lanterns originated in Ireland where people placed candles in hollowed-out turnips to keep away spirits and ghosts on the Samhain holiday.

3. In 1962, the Count Dracula Society was founded.

4. Bobbing for apples is thought to have originated from the roman harvest festival that honors Pamona, the goddess of fruit trees.

5. Halloween candy sales average about 2 billion dollars annually in the United States. (and most of this stash is currently residing in my garage taunting me!)

6. Tootsie Rolls were the first wrapped penny candy in America.

7. If you see a spider on Halloween, it is the spirit of a loved on watching over you.

8. 'Halloween" was made in only 21 days in 1978 on a very limited budget.

9. Halloween is on October 31st, the last day of the Celtic calendar. It was originally a pagan holiday, honoring the dead. Holloween was referred to as All Hallows Eve and dates back to over 2000 years ago.

10. Signs of a werewolf are a unibrow, hair palms, tattoos, and a long middle finger. (Hmmm, I may know a few!)

11. There really are so-called vampire bats, but they're not from Transylvania. They live in Central and South America and feed on the blood of cattle, horses and birds.

12. 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.

13. Halloween is the 2nd most commercially successful holiday, with Christmas being the first.