PUMPKIN TRIVIA
There are 21 people in the U.S. listed on whitepages.com with the last name 'Pumpkin'
(Mark Morton, 'Gastronomica', Fall 2010)
Total production of pumpkins by major pumpkin-producing states in 2009 was 931 million pounds. Illinois led the country by producing 429 million pounds of the vined orange gourd. California and Ohio were also major pumpkin-producing states: each produced at least 100 million pounds.
(USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service)
99% of all pumpkins are sold for decorations.
Pumpkins are about 90% water.
Pumpkins were once recommended for removing freckles and curing snake bites!
Pumpkin takes its name from the medieval French word 'pompom', meaning 'cooked by the sun.' (Ultimately, probably from the Greek 'pepon.')
An average pumpkin weighs 10-20 pounds, though some varieties can weigh 600-800 pounds.
Total U.S. pumpkin production in 2007 was 1.1 billion pounds.
Illinois led the country by producing 542 million pounds of the vined orange gourd.
Pumpkin patches in Ohio, California and New York also provided lots of pumpkins: Each state produced at least 100 million pounds.
The value of all pumpkins produced by major pumpkin-producing states was $117 million.
Total U.S. pumpkin production in 2003 was 805 million pounds.
US Census Bureau
One of the first published recipes for pumpkin pie (Pompkin Pudding) was in Amelia Simmons’ 1796 cookbook, ‘American Cookery’. This the first cookbook to be written by an American and published in the United States.
The winner of the 2003 biggest pumpkin contest weighed 1,140 pounds.
When Howard Dill of Ontario, Canada, known as the Pumpkin King, sent one of his championship pumpkins to the U.S. for a competition, customs officials called drug agents, not believing that there could be a 616 pound pumpkin in the crate.
Championship pumpkins today are over 800 pounds. These pumpkins grow 10 to 15 pounds per day!
Pumpkin halves were supposedly used as guides for haircuts in colonial New Haven, Connecticut, giving rise to the nickname 'pumpkinhead.'
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