Halloween is approaching, one of the most fun days of the year. In honor of it, I thought I would compile 10 Halloween facts/information for amusement. I had a good time digging these up and hope you enjoy reading them.
1. The carving of jack-o’-lanterns originated from the tradition of carving the faces of lost souls into hollowed out pumpkins and turnips. A candle was placed inside the carvings making the faces glow. The Halloween lanterns were placed on doorsteps to ward off evil spirits.
2. Trick-or-treating is thought to have its origins in a European custom called souling where people would beg for “soul cakes.”
3. Legendary magician Harry Houdini died in Detroit from a ruptured appendix on Halloween in 1926.
4. A pumpkin is really a squash, and comes from the same family as the cucumber.
5. More than 35 million pounds of candy corn will be produced this year. That equates to nearly 9 billion pieces – enough to circle the moon nearly 4 times if laid end-to-end.
6. In Ireland, kids enjoy fireworks and bonfires. They also have salt sprinkled in their hair to scare off Halloween spirits.
7. Instead of saying “Trick or Treat!” kids in Scotland say, “The sky is blue, the grass is green, may we have our Halloween?”
8. On Halloween, Irish peasants would beg the rich for food. For those that refused, they would play a practical joke. So, in an effort to avoid being tricked, the rich would hand out cookies, candy, and fruit – a practice that morphed into trick-or-treating today.
9. It is a Halloween Superstition if a candle suddenly goes out by itself on Halloween, as though by breath or wind, it is believed that a ghost has come to call.
10. A majority of us, 48 percent, believe in ghosts.
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Wordm7's Weblog 
Buy Nothing Christmas-Interest Idea
Posted in Change, Christmas, Commentary, Holidays, Information, Thoughts, World Issues, tagged Christmas, Commentary, Consumeriusm, Holidays, Information, Shopping on November 23, 2007| 1 Comment »
Each year Christmas commercials start earlier and earlier. This year they started in the beginning of October. I couldn’t believe it. It was August and the department stores already had Christmas ornaments and such for sale. I am not anti-Christmas but I have begun to wonder what are we really celebrating and why? Christianity tells us it is about the birth of Christ. When I was a child I was told that the reason we bought gifts for others is because God gave us his greatest gift, his son and we give gifts to others to symbolize this. Then as I got older and started to learn more, I was told Christ wasn’t even born in December, he was born in the summertime and the whole reason we have it at Christmas time is because it goes well with winter solistice and the whole winter theme. Either way, (whether Christ was or wasn’t born in December), I find myself wondering what is all this gift buying all about. I like celebrating, it is fun, I like getting together with those I care about and laughing and being with them but does this have to be the only day we get gifts for those we love. Why not have a random day in the year where we just buy someone something and give it to them to tell them hey I appreciate you and love who you are.
Adbusters started a campaign in 1992, The Buy Nothing Christmas Day. This has got me thinking even more now, after seeing this commercial (see below). I personal love getting what I call home made or memory made gifts. An example of this is in 2001 my parents put together a picture collage of me from birth to that time, with little captions underneath of my life from there viewpoint. This was incredible touching to me and when I look at it, I think they put there heart and soul into this instead of just going out and buying any old thing. This I will have for the rest of my life. My father passed away in 2003 so it means even more to me now. Do we have to spend hundreds to thousands of dollars to express our love and gratitude or is it enough to do something from the heart or like my friend Charlene and her husband Dave do every year, take the money they would put into gifts and they buy gifts for Toys for Tots and then they bake yummy goodies for families and friends. I am not sure if I will be able to buy Christmas gifts this year because I haven’t been working for 2 months but I’d like to think that the people who love me, love me whether I give them a gift or not.
Below is the Adbusters commercials for Buy Nothing Day and also comments from adbusters.com
Buy Nothing Christmas is not really about refusing to spend a dime over the holiday season. It’s about taking a deep breath and deciding to opt out of the hype‚ the overcrowded malls‚ and the stressful to–do lists. It’s about reminding ourselves to really think about what we are buying‚ why we are buying it‚ and whether we really need it at all.
Thoughts
Every christmas makes less and less sense to me. you spend money you don’t have, to buy gifts a person does not want. i have a closet full of stuff i do not want that people have bought me. yet, when i am in need of money for something, no one is to be found. it is asked, what do i buy the person who has everything, and yet, there are so many people without, and no one dares ask, what should we buy them. it’s amazing we are so willing to spend on each other, but forget those who are in need.
joshua, philly
I asked for less. I will never forget the day that I read this in adbusters asking for less. Christmas is hard for a young person to stay sane and stay reminded of the real meaning of holidays. I have felt polluted for far to long. My words of wisdom for the holidays are to be conscious of everything you do in each step you take everyday.
Cheryl Mann, Syracuse, NY
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