AchieveMax® Blog

In the spirit of C.A.N.I. (Continuous And Never-ending Improvement), here are this week’s new facts—one for each day of your coming week. Pass them on to others to keep the spirit alive or invite your friends and family to visit our blog where they can also view previous entries.

• Halloween is the 2nd most commercially successful holiday, with Christmas being the first.
• Orange and black are Halloween colors because orange is associated with the Fall harvest and black is associated with darkness and death.
• The world’s record for biggest pumpkin is currently held by a gigantic gourd weighing a whopping 1,385 pounds!
• The estimated number of potential “trick-or-treaters” — 5- to 13-year-olds — across the United States last year was 36.4 million. Of course, many other “kids” — older than 13, and younger than 5 — also go “trick-or-treating.”
• There are 519 U.S. establishments that manufactured nonchocolate confectionary products. These establishments employed 23,343 people and shipped $7 billion worth of goods that year. California also led the nation in this category, with 79 establishments. Chocolate candy bars top the list as the most popular candy for trick-or-treaters with Snickers #1.
• If you see a spider on Halloween, it is the spirit of a loved one watching over you.
• 700,000 immigrants came to America in the 1800s during the Irish Potato Famine, bringing with them the traditions of Halloween and the use of jack-o’-lanterns. Traditionally, the lantern was carved from a turnip, potato, or beet and lit with a burning lump of coal or a candle. These lanterns represented the souls of the departed loved ones and were placed in windows or set on porches to welcome the deceased. They also served as protection against malevolent sprits or goblins freed from the dead. Turnips and gourds were not as readily available in the Americas so the pumpkin was used and found to be quite an adequate replacement. The pumpkin jack-o’-lantern has been an essential part of Halloween celebrations since the Victorian days and today is a universal symbol of Halloween.

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

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