I have always enjoyed Halloween. So this week, I thought I would explore the business of Halloween.
Halloween History. Some historians believe Halloween’s origin goes back nearly 2000 years to when a holiday known as Samhain was celebrated on November 1st. It was a celebration of harvest and summer’s end. On the eve before this holiday people believed that the ghosts of the departed came to visit and so they left food and drink out to distract roaming ghosts. By the 8th century the Christian church changed Samhain to All Saints Day and then All Hallows’ Day. And the day before became All Hallows’ Eve, later Halloween.
Many of our current traditions go back hundreds of years. For example, costumes or “mumming and guising” were used in the 1500s when people went house-to-house trading songs and recitations for food. Even Jack-o’-lanterns, which were traditionally carried to scare away evil spirits, have been around for centuries.
Literature like Frankenstein (Mary Shelley, 1818) and Dracula (Bram Stoker, 1897) helped Halloween gain popularity during the 1800s. Then later in the 1900s as films were released, the popularity exploded.
Industry Size. According to the National Retail Federation, the Halloween industry now generates about $7 billion in sales yearly. Of that amount, costumes represent about $2.5 billion and candy about $2.0 billion. And, I’m sure to the chagrin of my colleague David, 22 million Americans will dress-up their pets and buy $400 million in pet costumes, the fastest growing segment. Halloween is now the smallest of the seven holidays measured:
- Christmas/Hanukkah ($602 Billion)
- Mother’s Day ($21B)
- Valentine’s Day ($18B)
- Easter ($17B)
- Father’s Day ($13B)
- Super Bowl ($12B)
- Halloween ($7B)
Movies. Many Americans enjoy horror movies, although I have to admit I do not really like or watch the newer movies that are quite gory. I am happy to say that my all-time favorite movie, Jaws, is the second highest grossing horror film of all time and the top film after adjusting for inflation. According to Business Insider, here are the top ten highest grossing horror films adjusted for inflation:
- “Jaws” (1975): $1 billion
- “The Exorcist (1973): $830.8 million
- “The Sixth Sense” (1999): $463.5 million
- “Psycho” (1960): $343.5 million
- “The Amityville Horror” (1979): $277 million
- “Jaws 2” (1978): $267.4 million
- “What Lies Beneath” (2000): $232.2 million
- “The Blair Witch Project” (1999): $222.7 million
- “Poltergeist” (1982): $209.8 million
- “Interview with the Vampire” (1994): $202.3 million
Over the years costumes sales have been greatly impacted by movies and pop-culture. For example, popular costumes last year were characters from the show Duck Dynasty and singer Miley Cyrus. But still, the most popular costumes all-time are witches, vampires, ghosts, Frankenstein, and cats.
Have fun on Friday and forget about the business of Halloween.
