Community Corner

Fun Facts About Candy Corn, Other Halloween Weirdness

Everything you ever wanted to know about Halloween.

Need a few talking points for your Halloween parties and trick-or-treating extravaganzas? Patch has rounded up a few:

  • That dusting (or dumping) of  you saw this weekend? That is very rare. In Carroll County, Saturday’s snowstorm was one of five October snowstorms in the county’s history since records started being kept in 1870, 
  • Parents are expected to spend $1 billion this year on children’s costumes, according to theU.S. Census Bureau. Trends include princess, witch, pirate and Spider-Man. There will be 41 million trick-or-treaters ages 5 to 14 in America this year, the bureau estimates.
  • Some schools have discouraged the annual celebration, or at least dressing up for it during school hours.  in Columbia  on Friday that students may not wear Halloween attire to school, and  canceled its annual Halloween parade.
  • More than twice as much chocolate is sold for Halloween as for Valentine’s Day; 90 million pounds of chocolate are sold during Halloween week alone. A total of $1.9 billion is spent on Halloween candy each year.
  • According to the National Retail Federation, 68.6 percent of Americans plan to celebrate the holiday this year—compared with 63.8 percent last year. An average of $72.31 per (adult) person will be spent on candy, costumes and decor.
  • Got candy corn? The ubiquitous Halloween confection was invented in 1898 by the Herman Goelitz Confectionary Company of Fairfield, CA (now the Jelly Belly Candy Company). Today, nearly 35 million pounds of candy corn are produced each year.
  • According to the United States Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service, the top pumpkin-producing states last year were Illinois, California, New York and Ohio. They produced 1.1 billion pounds of pumpkins.
  • Halloween is the second-largest commercial holiday in the United States, second only to Christmas in retail sales. According to the National Retail Federation, consumers spent $5.8 billion in 2010 and are expected to spend some $6.9 billion this year.
  • Some cities ban trick-or-treating for kids over 12. What about yours? Teens can face fines from $100 to $1,000, though officials say they usually give only warnings.
  • If you've got leftover candy, you might be able to save it until next year. Dark and milk chocolates can last up to two years if stored correctly in a dry place. Hard candy can last up to a year. Candy corn can last nine months, but who would dare have candy corn left?


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here