10 Interesting Facts about Halloween

Happy Halloween to everyone.  I hope it turns out to go well for you.  I live in a place where the city council dictates the hours that children may go around trick or treating so by 8 PM, we are done. 

Every year, a new movie or two comes out with the Halloween theme and school set up carnivals, dances, or other events but what do you really know about it.

This is not a history of the holiday since its changed so much over time.  Instead, I'm looking at cool facts on the celebration.

1.  There is a $1000 fine if you decide to spray silly string around in Hollywood California.  The law hit the books in 2004 when thousands of people decided to spray it all over the place.

2. Dressing up originated a very long time ago when Celts wore costumes and masks so they could confuse and hide from evil spirits.

3. The term Halloween comes from the Catholic Church.  They have a 3 day celebration, Hallow mass, where people pray for the saints and those who have passed. Over the years it changed from Hallow's eve to Halloween.

4.  Originally, they carved turnips not pumpkins because this particular tradition began in Europe where they did not have pumpkins.  When the Irish came over in the 1800's, they brought this tradition with them but since they could not find the turnips, they used pumpkins.

5. Many of the symbols associated with Halloween such as spiders, black cats, etc came about due to a historical association with witches.

6. A full moon on Halloween is extremely rare.  The last one was in 2001 and the next one is scheduled in 2020.

7. The tradition of trick or treating has been around since medieval times when it was called "guising".  Children and poor dressed in costumes would go around asking for food or money in exchange for songs or prayers.  It was also called "souling".  This tradition came to the US with the Irish.

8.  Trick or Treating was suspended in World War II due to sugar being rationed.  It came back after the war in 1947 when several radio shows helped re-popularize the tradition.

9. Halloween is the second most popular holiday behind Christmas.

10. The most filmed Halloween character is Dracula.

I hope you enjoyed these facts and I hope each and everyone of you has a great Halloween.