Halloween Fun Facts

• Halloween is the second-most commercial U.S. holiday of the year.
• Consumers spend an average of $2.1 billion on Halloween candy each year, or about $47 per American. Collectively they spend $2.6 billion on costumes and $330 million dressing up pets.
• Trick-or-treating harks back to the Middle Ages and All Souls’ Day, when poor people in Britain would beg for soul cakes – a sweet-bread treat.
• When trick-or-treating first became popular in the U.S. in the 1800s, more children played mischievous pranks than asked for candy. By the 1950s, the focus had switched to family fun, and children dressed in costumes.
• The most popular children’s costumes are superheroes. Adults are most likely to dress as witches.
• Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are the top Halloween candy.
• Candy Corn was originally called Chicken Feed.

Sources:

• Business Insiders: 13 Facts You Never Knew About Halloween
• Real Simple: Halloween Fun Facts
• Reader's Digest: 14 Mind-Blowing Things You Didn’t Know About Halloween Candy