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Showing posts from October, 2015

Happy Halloween and a Merry Haunting: A once humble evening is now a multi-billion dollar indutry

            As far as my three boys are concerned, there are only 2 days in a calendar year that matter: Christmas and Halloween.   And they’re not alone - according to consumer stats, Halloween ranks second in retail spending.   That’s HUGE!!!   From Halloween recipes, to drinks, to décor, to costumes, wedding-themes (huh?), licensed merchandise, how-to-videos, pyrotechnics, outdoor lighting, inflatables and more, Halloween is no longer a one-night trick-and-treat. Used to be, when I was a kid, Mom took an old worse-for-wear bed-sheet (likely one that you permanently soiled during that nasty stomach flu), cut out jagged eye holes and a mouth, tossed it over your head casually and announced, “you’re a ghost – that’s your costume”.   One pumpkin on the porch was standard décor and kids excitedly tossed their pillows loose from their cartoon-themed pillowcases with the intention of filling them until the seams burst with good ol’ fashioned stick-to-your-silver-fillings candy.