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Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!  I happen to LOVE Halloween.  It’s the costumes, it’s the fun, and of course, it’s the CANDY!  But I am a bit of a Grinch this year for some odd reason.  We always hear about the commercialization of Christmas and Easter but what about Halloween?  I did some research and here are a few fun facts for all you Halloween’ers out there.

1.                  Halloween is the 6th most popular holiday in the U.S.A.
2.                  According to Hallmark, 20 million Halloween cards will be sent out this year.
3.                  There will be an estimated 90 million pounds of chocolate sold.
4.                  There will be an estimated 35 million pounds of candy corn (seriously?)
5.                  There will be about 1 BILLION spent on costumes this year. 
6.                  There will be about 1.9 BILLION spent on candy (Oiy!)
7.                  An estimated 41 million children in the U.S.A. between the ages of 5-14 will go out to beg for treats this year.
8.                  Older children up to age 17 are still begging candy in the U.S.A.
9.                  An estimated 6.9 BILLION will be spent on Candy, Costumes, and Decorations this year.
10.              That is on average $73.31 spent per child/adult depending on how you look at it. 

Commercialization, heck yeah!  I don’t even want to research Christmas.  Once I started seeing the BILLIONS popping up I about died.  But when I stopped to think about it, I began to see how it adds up.  I spent the following for Halloween:

1.                  $11.00 on 4 pumpkins.
2.                  $42.00 on one Twister (the game) Costume with Go-go Boots.
3.                  $6.00 on pink leggings to match the costume.
4.                  $6.00 pumpkin carving kit. ($3 x 2)
TOTAL            $65.00

I don’t even have to buy candy as we live out in the middle of no-where and don’t get any beggars.  I can’t imagine the cost if I had to add in candy to the mix.  Plus I am down to only one child that is begging.  If I still had 2 then you could just about double this. WOW!

I remember when I was a kid and my mom tossed a sheet over me and cut out eyeholes, or the toilet paper mummy, or the hilly-billy with old flooder pants and an old flannel shirt tied at the waist.  Those days of homemade costumes are at an end.  Now its fancy schmancy and expensive as all hell.  Or slut worthy.  I mean have you SEEN some of the costumes?  Geez oh Pete, put some clothes on!

Tonight I will be out begging with the best of them.  If you see an old lady wrapped up in her wool winter jacket with a pair of Tigger (not TIGER) ears bouncing around the streets, with a Twister girl, that’s probably me. 

Be safe and have a great time!

7 comments:

  1. Wow, great research and post Courtney! That's insane! Yes, I actually was made to wear a garbage bag the one year, for my witch costume. This year we spent $8 on pumpkins, $20 on the outfit, and $16 on candy (plus tax). I definitely have to find creative ways to make costumes in future. There's no way I'm sewing. Will have to look into that...

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  2. Oh, and please give the purple-haired ho-bag the daggers from me next time you see her!

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  3. LOL. Have fun trick or treating, Courtney!

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  4. A twister costume? How cool! I want to see pics! I miss the days when my kids went trick-or-treating (or begging) If I could get away with it, I'd do it now!
    Have fun tonight!

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  5. Happy Hallowe'en! And, speaking of candy, did you ever find a source for Harry and David gummy bears? Or am I poking at a sore spot? Oh, dear... ;-D

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  6. Kate - Sore spot it may be, but I have found a H&D store all the way in Jeffersonville, which is quite the haul, but we have made it out once, or my husband has and brought me back a stash to get me through the lean times. From what I have found on their web-site they either aren't stocking my gummie bears, or they are holding off on production until the holidays (I hope) as they are currently "SOLD OUT" of all gummies. How sad is that? Sad times....

    ctny

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  7. Ha ha, I would have loved to see that twister costume. It's funny but you are so right about the costumes being so commercial these days. In fact. we did see one person who had that sheet over there head and the eyes cut out and we said, "they are in it for the candy only and are covering themselves up because they are too old to be begging!" So needless to say, seeing an old fashioned handmade costume, is quite out of the ordinary. What a shame.

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