Hallowe’en – Time in its ever-onward course, has once more brought us to the month in which this festival occurs. About the day itself there is nothing in any wise peculiar or worthy of notice, but since time almost immemorial All Hallow Eve, or Halloween, has formed the subject theme of fireside chat and published story.
– Godey’s Lady’s Book, October of 1872
Halloween entered upper Victorian society in the 1870s. Elements of it, the rituals and superstitions, were already alive in certain ethnic groups; particularly in those from northern England. These were quickly deemed to be too scary; and the “Old World” rituals were pushed aside to make room for refined upper-class entertainment.
Gone were the tales of evil witches, the dead, and anything that could be construed as coming from the ancient polytheistic beliefs of Europe. In other words, they eradicated the pagan elements. Instead, there was a rise in the romantic and fanciful side of Halloween. The beautiful, little, sweet Victorian fairies and the pretty witches. Both being far cries from the old mythology and fairytales tied to these same creatures.
Simply harken back to the Grimm Brother’s to see tales that fit the ideals of the ghoulish. For instance, the cannibal witch in “Hansel and Gretel,”
The old woman, although her behaviour was so kind, was a wicked witch, who lay in wait for children, and had built the little house on purpose to entice them. When they were once inside she used to kill them, cook them, and eat them, and then it was a feast day with her. The witch’s eyes were red, and she could not see very far, but she had a keen scent, like the beasts, and knew very well when human creatures were near. When she knew that Hansel and Grethel were coming, she gave a spiteful laugh, and said triumphantly, “I have them, and they shall not escape me!”
– “Hansel and Gretel” Brothers Grimm, 1812
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In 1881, St. Nicholas Magazine published a quote about the end of the rituals of Halloween, “belief in magic is passing away, and the customs of All-hallow Eve have arrived at the last stage; for they have become mere sports, repeated from year to year like holiday celebrations.”
By this time, the holiday was also popular among the middle classes, after they took notice to the celebrations of the higher class. Media of the time period, the magazine and news articles, were mostly centered on women. In the later years of the era, children became the focus. These articles were telling the ladies of the house how to host a Halloween party. They would cover every topic from decorations to food to how to have conversations with guests. Decorations could include any number of common symbols related to Halloween, such as bats, ghosts, black cats, and witches; to items such as apples and horseshoes.
At this point, Halloween was becoming more of a fall Valentine’s Day type of holiday. Bobbing for apples, parties, bonfires, these all became activities for young couples looking for romance in the cool, darkness of autumn. Some of the games and activities involved looking for details of one’s future spouse.
One example of the romance of the season is showcased in an article from the October 25, 1903 edition of The Sunday Herald of Syracuse of New York, entitled “Halloween: What to do on this Witching Eve,” It spoke of the prophetical uses and charms of apples. For instance, a girl can peel an apple, turn the peel around their head three times, and let the peel drop to the floor. It will form the initial of her future spouse. There is also a game in which a girl names an apple after the person she wants and then she pierces it with a needle. If the need goes through the seed, the person will be hers.
Great-Grandma’s Hallowe’en
By Helen Chase
Good Housekeeping. October 29, 1887, p. 300.
October days were almost done;
The red leaves strewed the garden,
The dahlias bent their splendid heads,
And seemed to ask our pardon
For leaving us; the cricket sang
A plaintive little ballad
Among the grasses, while, above,
The blackbird —saucy dallard!–
Chattered and crooned from out an ash,
Aflame with scarlet berries,
While idly drifted, in the wind,
The thistle’s fairy wherries.
All Hallowe’en was almost here;
Great-grandma —dainty maiden*–
In lilac print, was stepping round
Her store-room, richly laden
With golden pies and ‘lection cake,
And luscious tarts and crullers,
And apples —stored with nectar—each
Aglow with gorgeous colors;
For such a party as was set
For Thursday night, why, never
Had Middlesex been bidden to,
In cold or summer weather.
And Lois Brown would bring with her
Her cousin “‘way from Bostin;”
While Persis Drake, the old Squire’s son,
Would have Alphonso Austin,
Just home from foreign parts, where he
The Queen, in her young beauty*,
Had seen in London town! Each maid
Felt it her bounden duty
To don her finest gown, and strive,
With purpose sweet and hearty,
To show the strangers “how to hold
A Hallow Even party.”
At last it came —the fateful night!
Great-grandma —like a picture,
In peach-blow silk, and bodice trim–
Received her guests. The mixture
That’s sacred to all Hallowe’en–
“Snap-dragon” —crowned the buffet;
The hickory logs blazed merrily,
While Ruth and Simon Luffet
Led off and named the chestnuts brown,
And set them wildly snapping,
And swung the finger-rings, to tell
Your fortune by their tapping.**
“Oh, who will try the lonely walk
Around the garden, holding
A looking-glass, as backward she
Steps slowly? None?” Then, folding
A kerchief round her dainty neck,
Great-grandma bravely started
Adown the path, while silently,
The girls all stood—faint-hearted.
“What’s that? A shriek?” All sought the door.
There stood Great-grandma, blushing,
And by her side, a gallant youth,
Her sudden tumult hushing.
“Good friends,” he said, “my ship rides yon,
At anchor in the harbor,
And with dispatches, as I rode,
I halted at the arbor
To hear your merriment, when sped
A maiden down the border,
And” —(here the gallant stranger smiled)–
“She deemed me a marauder!
But if her gentle heart can prompt
Her to forgive my daring,
I vow she never shall regret
Her deed of sweet forbearing.”
Great-grandma smiled, and held her hand
Out toward the handsome stranger,
And over it he bowed. Alas!
Her lovers each saw danger
To all their schemes in that caress!
And—well, within the harbor,
A ship long tarried, and next June,
When roses decked the arbor,
A bride across the old oak hall,
All swept and garnished duly,
Stepped softly to the stranger’s side,
And vowed she’d love him truly!
Once the 1890s come in, quiet home parties became the most popular activity for the holiday. Magazines were now offering recipes and game ideas, along with the decorating tips. Any invitations that were sent out, had to be creative and hint at the fun times awaiting any and all guests. Since young Victorian ladies were supposed to handy when it came to crafts, Halloween became a time to demonstrate one’s talents. Handmaid invitations were common. Hostesses would make little handmaid witches or even drop-off whole jack-o-lanterns on people’s doorsteps. Dramatic entrances were expected to be as grand as the invitations themselves. One example given in Lesley Pratt Bannatyne’s Halloween An American Holiday, an American History, describes houses being lit with only jack-o-lanterns and hooded figures leading guests to the cellar of the house decorated in a haunted house ambience.
It was not until the holiday progressed through the Victorian Era towards the start of the twentieth century, that children became more involved in the festivities. Parties became less of a dating scene and turned into a children’s entertainment. Activities began to mirror other childhood games, such as musical chairs and scavenger hunts. Candy also started becoming more of an associated treat. Beforehand, the sweets would-be sugar-coated nuts and apples. As the Victorian Era closed, the modern secular holiday was truly born.
References:
Bannatyne, Lesley Pratt. (2005). Halloween An American Holiday, an American History. Gretna: Pelican Publishing Company, 101-120
Brothers Grimm. Hansel and Gretel. Grim Stories. https://www.grimmstories.com/en/grimm_fairy-tales/hansel_and_gretel
Carroll, Stephanie. (17 November, 2015) “14 Authentic Victorian Halloween Games & Charms” Referenced from http://www.stephaniecarroll.net/2015/11/14-authentic-victorian-halloween-games.html. Referenced from “Halloween: What to do on this Witching Eve.” (25 October, 1903) The Sunday Herald, Syracuse, New York.
Chase, Helen. (29 October, 1887) “Great-Grandma’s Hallowe’en.” Good Housekeeping, 300. Referenced from This Victorian Life http://www.thisvictorianlife.com/great-grandmas-halloween-poemmdash1887.html
Laidler, Nicole. (16 October, 2019) “4 Frighteningly Fun Facts About Victorian Halloween.” Heritage London Foundation. Referenced from https://heritagelondonfoundation.ca/2019/10/16/4-frighteningly-fun-facts-about-victorian-halloween/
A Victorian Ghost Story 