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Article: Falling into the holidays; Halloween, once the deadest of holidays, has become a shopping event and a decorating blockbuster. And the mood has shifted from frightening to festive.(VARIETY)
- Article from:
- Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
- Article date:
- October 30, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Star Tribune Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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By early October, Carolyn Pratt has decorated the fireplace mantel and the dining room buffet and lit the lights on the tree. The welcome mat in front of her Bloomington home offers season's greetings. But Pratt isn't obscenely early for Christmas. She's just in time - for Halloween.
Once only the ghost of a holiday - concocted from old sheets, orange and black construction paper and candied apples - Halloween has become blockbuster.
"Halloween is a shopping event," said Pamela Rucker, director of media relations for the National Retail Federation. Sales of Halloween-related goods and goodies will top $2.5 billion this year, she noted. And about 65 ...