by Jeffrey H. Corbett
Entrepreneur & Author
JeffCorbett.com
Once the domain of kids, it is now very, very big business!
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Happy Halloween and Business is Booming!
The National Retail Federation’s annual Halloween consumer survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics revealed that total Halloween spending in 2024 is expected to reach $11.6 billion.
Are you cashing in on the holiday? Halloween is now the second-largest commercial holiday, second only to Christmas. In the United States alone, over 180 million Americans are expected to partake in festivities. Thus, it is safe to say that October 31st is not just for kids anymore.
Across The Globe
Halloween is most commonly celebrated in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. However, it has gained popularity in many other countries in recent years, including Australia, Ireland, and parts of Western Europe. The extent and style of Halloween celebrations can vary widely from one country to another.
For adults looking to escape the routine of everyday life, Halloween offers an opportunity to use their imaginations, become anything they want or simply poke fun at their favorite political target. So, if you are attending or throwing a party, giving candy to children, carving a pumpkin, visiting haunted houses, congratulations because you are doing much more than escaping, you are pushing the business of Halloween to the main financial pages.
How Did It start? A Pagan Holiday?
It is widely believed that the ancient origins of Halloween dates back to the pre-Christian Celtic festival of Samhain, which was celebrated on the night of October 31. The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland believed that the dead returned to earth on Samhain with the end of summer. The superstitious belief of the day was that to avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left their homes after dark in the hopes of being mistaken as fellow spirits. The Christian influence over the spooky holiday came as a celebration of the day before of All Saints’ Day, which is November 1st of every year and also known as All Hallows’ Eve and thus the contraction of the name to Halloween. Pope Gregory IV replace the traditional pagan festival when the newer saintly holiday was melded with the well-established Celtic ceremonial rites.
In North America, trick-or-treating has been a Halloween tradition since the late 1920s and the commercialization of the holiday naturally followed. It is thought that this custom was an outgrowth of the British and Irish tradition of going house-to-house collecting food for the poor while wearing costumes at Halloween dating back to the 16th century.
Fun Edition!
In the United States we will be experiencing a national election next week with tremendous social and economic ramifications. So, we thought it very appropriate to offer some light reading as a respite to our readership. We hope you enjoy this special edition.