Halloween is this weekend and we just can’t wait! Actually, when it comes to the candy part we haven’t really waited (sigh…).  Are you ready to be “WOWED” about some Halloween facts? Read on to find out more or skip down to the cat costumes if you already know all you need to know about this holiday (really, even if you don’t like cats, one can never get enough of cat costumes!)

FUN (and fast) FACT #1:  They really did know how to prank in New England. When Halloween came to America in the 1840s with the Irish who were fleeing the potato famine the favorite pranks in the region were unhinging fence gates and toppling outhouses. EW!

FUN FACT #2:  The first Jack-O’-Lanterns were potatoes and turnips, not pumpkins. That’s because in Ireland potatoes and turnips were abundant and pumpkins almost nowhere to be found. But when the Irish came to America, pumpkins were everywhere and, even better, pumpkins had a lot more room for a candle. Once this realization caught on, the tiny turnip was officially kicked out of Halloween.

FUN FACT #3:  Myth has it that Jack (as in the “Jack O’Lantern”) was a drunkard who tricked Satan. But, poor old Jack didn’t heed the warnings to never mess with the devil so he was sentenced to roam the earth for eternity. Find out more here – these are fast facts after all!

FUN FACT #4:  Americans will spend more than $10 billion on Halloween this year, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF), with costumes taking the bulk of those billions, followed by candy, food and drink, decorations, and then pumpkins. 

FUN FACT #5:  80% of the U.S.’s pumpkin crop is available during October.  Out of the total 1.5 billion pounds, over 800 million pumpkins are ripe for the picking in a single month of the year.

FUN FACT #6:  There are regional variations to the children’s Halloween rhyme “Trick or Treat Smell my Feet”.  Where most people are familiar with “Trick or Treat, Smell my Feet, give me something good to eat!,” Canadians from Montreal say “Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat, not too big, not too small, just the size of Montreal!”  

FUN FACT #7: According to Google, the top Halloween costumes for 2021 are a Witch followed by a Rabbit, a dinosaur, Spider-Man, Cruella de Ville, a Fairy, Harley Quinn, a Cowboy, a Clown, and Chucky.  Is your costume on the list???

Speaking of costumes, have you bought your pet a costume yet? 1 in 5 Americans plans on dressing up their pet this Halloween which means millions of domestic dogs and cats will be stuffed into silly outfits all in the name of fun! Normally we slant toward the dog in our blogs but this time we’ve chosen three “Boo-tiful” cat costume ideas we HAD to share (plus we just want to look at cute cats!)…

 Princess Kitty Costume

Sunflower Meow

Lions Mane

We love that Halloween is on a weekend so that means there will be plenty of time for fun and everything else you have going like make stopping by our “Only Treats Here” sale for 15 % off and fill your own bag with lots of sweet treats!  Halloween isn’t just for the kids! Enjoy your week and see you in the next blog!

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Deb Fries is a freelance writer and designer and worked at Julianna Rae in graphics and customer service, she now writes for the blog at juliannarae.com