7 charts that explain Halloween

It's Halloween, one of the best holidays of the year. And what would make Halloween even better? Charts!

1) Americans spend more on Halloween costumes than Halloween Candy

Of the almost $7 billion Americans spend on Halloween, most of it goes to costumes and candy. That makes sense. After all, those are the things Halloween is known for. What's amazing about this chart is that Americans are also spending $350 million dollars on cards! Halloween cards are a great American tradition, apparently. So why isn't anybody sending us their Halloween cards?

2) Americans spend way more on Christmas

Seven billion dollars seems like a ton of money when looked at on its own, but in comparison to other American holidays, Halloween is pretty cheap. According to the National Retail Foundation, Americans spent $602 billion dollars on the winter holiday season. Halloween even trails Father's Day and the Super Bowl, in terms of total spending. So have another candy bar, even though they're way overpriced. Halloween needs all the help it can get.

3) Big Candy is taking over

Hershey's bars are just chocolate. There are better kinds of chocolate in the world, but Hershey is a distinctly American brand and one whose price is soaring. Over the past three decades, the price of a plain Hershey bar has risen from $0.35 to $1.39, even though the price of sugar has remained almost the same.

4) Skittles have a precise color ratio

Skittles are produced in the factory according to a precise ratio that determines how many of each color get made. Ideally, that ratio lives on in the individual packets Skittles come in, but the world is an imperfect place, and sometimes, there are far more yellow Skittles than anyone wants or needs.

5) So do M&Ms

Unlike Skittles, the good people at M&Ms do not believe in very close candy equality. The ratio of colors of M&Ms is nowhere close to even. Lovers of yellow M&Ms will live life in a famine, but lovers of blue M&Ms will always be feasting. Long live blue M&Ms.

6) The most popular Halloween costumes

NPR tracked the most popular costumes for American adults over the last five years to see which ones have risen in popularity and which have fallen. Witches remain an American tradition, but clowns are not doing so well. Maybe clowns are too busy taking over California.

7) Pet costumes are really popular

Americans love their pets so much that they are spending an absurd amount dressing up their animals for Halloween. According to the National Retail Federation, Americans will spend $350 million on pet attire for Halloween this year. That's a 60 percent jump from the $220 million spent four years ago.

Is there anything more American than dressing up your cat in a significantly overpriced hot dog costume for two minutes to snap one photo on your phone you'll probably never look at again? No. No, there is not. Happy Halloween, America!

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