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Observance of Halloween faded in the South of England from the 17th century onwards, being replaced by the commemoration of the Gunpowder Plot on November 5. However it remained popular in Scotland, Ireland and the North of England. It is only in the last decade that it again became popular in the South of England, but as an entirely Americanized version.
Source: Wikipedia
Jack, a lazy but shrewd farmer who used a cross to trick the Devil, then refused to free him unless he agreed to never let Jack into Hell. The Devil agreed. When Jack died, he was too sinful to be allowed into Heaven, but the Devil wouldn't let him into Hell. So, Jack carved out one of his turnips, put a candle inside it, and began endlessly wandering the Earth for a resting place. He was known as "Jack of the Lantern", or Jack-o'-Lantern. The practice of carving a jack-o'-lantern (a hollowed out pumpkin with a face carved into it and a candle inside) comes from this Irish legend.
Source: Wikipedia
Halloween (1978): directed and written by John Carpenter and starring Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis and Tony Moran. Tagline: The Night HE Came Home! Plot Outline: A psychotic murderer institutionalized since childhood escapes on a mindless rampage while his doctor chases him through the streets.
Source: IMDb
BIGresearch conducted a survey for the National Retail Federation in the US and found that 53.3% of consumers planned to buy a costume for Halloween 2005, spending $38.11 on average (up 10 dollars from last year). An estimate of $3.3 billion was made for the holiday spending.
In 2004, an estimated 2.15 million children in the United States were expected to dress up as Spider Man, the year's most popular costume.
Source: Wikipedia
Mangelwurzel or mangold wurzel (Beta vulgaris), is a root vegetable of the family Chenopodiaceae, genus Beta (the beets). Its large white or yellow swollen roots were developed in the 1700's for feeding livestock. "Punkie Night" is observed on the last Thursday in October in the village of Hinton St. George in the county of Somerset in England. On this night, children carry lanterns made from hollowed-out mangel-wurzels with faces carved into them. They bring these around the village, collecting money and singing the punkie song.
Source: Wikipedia
Halloween by Ministry
See lyrics
Halloween Jack O'Lantern Frosties
See recipe
October 30, 1938: perhaps the most elaborate example of a Mischief Night (the night before Halloween, which is often associated with pranks or destructive activities performed by adolescents) prank was Orson Welles' radio dramatization of The War of the Worlds, originally aired on this date. Welles' broadcast, which purported to be a live newscast detailing the invasion of the United States by Martians, was accepted as real by many listeners and created a public panic in some areas of the country.
Source: Wikipedia
I'll bet living in a nudist colony takes all the fun out of Halloween. (Author Unknown)
Bring forth the raisins and the nuts-
Tonight All-Hallows' Spectre struts
Along the moonlit way.
(John Kendrick Bangs)
Those seemingly interminable dark walks between houses, long before street-lit safety became an issue, were more adrenalizing than the mountains of candy filling the sack. Sadly Halloween, with our good-natured attempts to protect the little ones, from the increasingly dangerous traffic and increasingly sick adults, has become an utter bore. (Lauren Springer)
A grandmother pretends she doesn't know who you are on Halloween. (Erma Bombeck)
Source: Quote garden
Most Lit Lanterns: The record for the most lit Jack-o'-lanterns on display is 28,952 in an event organised by Center Stage at the Keene Pumpkin Festival, New Hampshire, USA on October 25, 2003.
Fastest Pumpkin Carver: The world's fastest time to carve a face into a pumpkin is 54.72 seconds, by Stephen Clarke (USA), who broke his previous record of 1 minute, 14.8 seconds on October 23, 2001 at the Camden City Children's Garden, New Jersey, USA.
Largest Jack O'Lantern: The world's largest Jack O’Lantern was carved by Scott Cully (USA) from the world’s largest pumpkin on October 23, 2002, at the Topsfield Fair, Massachusetts, USA. The pumpkin was grown by Charles Houghton (USA) and weighed 606.72 kg (1,337 lb 9.5 oz) on October 5, 2002, during the fair’s pumpkin weigh-off.
Source: Guinness World Records
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