I haven’t been in Sweden for Halloween since 2009. It was a glorious year. I was dressed as a zebra and did some graceful bounding while disembarking from the train. I remember that I was dressed as a zebra for two reasons. One, I wrote a post back in 2009 about it called Halloween in Sweden. Damn this blog and its ability to remember everything I did. And two, before moving back to Sweden I was cleaning out my closet in July and came across a pair of white pants that had clearly been ruined by duct tape. Turns out I hadn’t taken much care of my zebra costume. Turns out I also didn’t have much need for a pair of white pants. Weird.
I really am terrible at taking pictures. Especially one-handed so as not to call attention to myself. |
But I even found numbers to prove Halloween is growing in popularity alongside my own anecdotal evidence. Depending on which study you believe somewhere between 30-40% of Swedes will be celebrating Halloween. GP suggests that a whopping 16% are planning on having candy at home for trick-or-treaters, 10% are going to make jack-o-lanterns, and 8% are even going to go to a Halloween party. One website claims that Swedes spend one billion SEK every year on Halloween. That’s over 136 million USD. It’s a super legitimate looking website, which is why I wanted to be sure to cite it, like any good academic would. But the statistics that count the most? They come from Expressen. Did you know that Karamellkungen, a glorious company that makes me feel bad about my eating habits every Saturday, says that sales of candy increase by 50% around Halloween? And did you know that sales of pumpkins have increased from 500 metric tons in 1999 to 1 100 metric tons today. So many conversions, but that’s an increase from 1 102 311.31 pounds to 2 425 084.88 pounds. Approximately.
Halloween is coming. It’s not yet beating out All Saints Day, but it’s trying.
Welcome to Sweden. And a quarter pound of pumpkin for every Swedish citizen.
Thankfully I didn't see anyone in blackface this year... I was planning on taking a picture of it surreptitiously.
ReplyDeleteI'm also proud to say that it only took 2 attempts to spell surreptitiously right.
DeleteYou know, I didn't see that either. That was kind of a relief.
DeleteAnd ugh. That word is super hard to spell. I usually just try to get close and let the spell check take care of it.
I spoke too soon... saw several women dressed up as "Indian Princesses" or whatever white-washed name Halloween costume-makers give to that nonsense.
ReplyDelete