Interesting Halloween Trivia
11Just a few interesting facts or beliefs about Halloween you might find interesting.
Pomona was the name of a Roman goddess and a festival held in her honor in early November which probably influenced the development of the modern Halloween.
There is roughly 11,000 calories in the average trick or treater’s candy bag.
Candy corn was originally called Chicken Feed.
Pumpkins are classified as a fruit.
Now debate these and/or share your own below.
- 7 comments, 18 replies
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//Candy corn was originally called Chicken Feed.//
… and frankly, they can keep it.
@GetClosure
I don’t know that even chickens would eat it.
@GetClosure @Star2236 Through careful scientific research, over an entire weekend, I’ve determined that cheese puff balls are not food.
At an extended family campout the little kids were dropping them all over the place. The birds, chipmunks, and squirrels would inevitably pounce on them, only to drop them at first nibble and quickly move on looking for actual food.
They were all slow learners, they never stopped trying them.
@blaineg @GetClosure @Star2236
We’re the real slow learners, us humans - we actually do eat them!
Pumpkins are in the botanical nightshade family along with tomato, potato, peppers, squash, and eggplant.
@mike808 But what about the Great Pumpkin?
@mike808 I’m sorry, but incorrect statement
@bee1doll
Yep!
The nightshades are the Solanaceae family, which includes tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers. Pumpkins are in the Cucurbitaceae family, which includes the squashes, cucumbers, melons, and gourds.
Whenever my husband goes over to his brother’s house (around the corner from us) and says he’s going to help his bro with whatever, and he’s back later than expected, I ask him if they had to go to Pomona (about a hundred miles from here).
That’s my Pomona trivia.
Apparently not all brooms can be used to fly.
@Kidsandliz And the TSA is getting sick of confiscating them.
@ircon96
@Kidsandliz you just know someone tried it so they HAD to add that disclaimer. Lol
@Kidsandliz @tinamarie1974 That kind of sense of humor should be rewarded.
@blaineg @tinamarie1974 @ircon96
And don’t rely on your costume for flight either:
@Kyeh
@blaineg
Calvin & Hobbes (especially Hobbes.)
I
Halloween was originally spelled “Hallowe’en,” a contraction of “All Hallows Even.”
@chienfou I thought it was “All Hallows Evening” or the slightly shorter “Eve”.
@Doooood
eve is just even shortened (already shortened from evening.)
The original jack-o-lanterns were made from turnips.
@Thumperchick
That’s cool (though certainly smaller!)
Also, from Meriam-Webster:
The term jack-o’-lantern … originated in 17th-century Britain, where it was used to refer to a man with a lantern or to a night watchman. At that time, the British often called men whose names they didn’t know by a common name like Jack. Thus, an unknown man carrying a lantern was sometimes called “Jack with the lantern” or “Jack of the lantern.”