Halloween of Yesteryear

Halloween, or more accurately, All Hallows Eve (the evening before All Hallows (Saints) Day) has deep roots in Western European history. Our traditions of today likely evolved over the centuries, including from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. Samhain marked the transition from the lighter half of the year to the darker half, which starts around October 31. This was a significant seasonal turning point for agricultural communities. The harvest was over, food was stored for the winter, livestock were brought back in from summer grazing, and there was season-change feasting. 

Samhain was the threshold between summer and autumn (fall), and it evolved to be understood as a divide between the human world and the supernatural—the cold days ahead heralding darkness and uncertainty. A belief arose that the boundaries between these two worlds was permeable on Halloween, and that led to stories of ghosts and spirits and strange goings on. 

Gradually, as Christianity replaced, or started to dominate earlier pagan beliefs, the traditional celebrations became molded to suit the teachings of the Church. For example, the date for festivities was set on October 31 - the eve before All Saints Day (November 1). 

Halloween is thus a wonderful example of how old blends with new, yet the old continues, echoing long into the future.  There were no pumpkins in Ireland or Britain; instead people carved turnips and other root vegetables. There was a tradition of guising in Scotland and Ireland (going house to house, perhaps wearing costumes, and reciting verses in exchange for food or treats, or possibly offering the alternative of mischief). Similar traditions existed elsewhere in Western Europe. The modern American version, with dress-up and candy (and less focus on mischief-making), is perhaps only 100 or so years old. Halloween likely came to America with mass immigration in more recent times. The English Puritans, being strictly religious, likely did not celebrate superstitious rituals of old.

The Barnstable Patriot reports on November 14, 1871 that:

Long ago … sacred All-Hallows Eve, the eve of the First of November was celebrated throughout the British Isles, and far beyond them. … like so many other things which Christianity has turned to good account, All-Hallows Eve is a festival whose perpetuation no one can regret … On this evening throughout the country all merry pranks will be played … On this eve all spooks will walk … and it will be necessary to put up horse-shoes over all doors within which no ghostly visitants are wanted. … In the old country, many are the customs which we have forgotten or not had occasion to bring into use … Still there yet remains to us many of the good old time habits … in good remembrance of the olden time.

More recently, on October 31, 1985, the Barnstable Patriot featured an abstract of a short story titled “Scarecrow Walks” by Jack Sheedy:

Halloween is a night which somehow seems very different from the other 364 nights of the year … on the night of October 31 … creatures come to life. They are, for at least this one night, very much real. On this night, anything is possible.

Over the years the meaning of Halloween, the power of Halloween, has become lost inside of bags of candy and behind plastic masks. The real Halloween lies dormant, hidden beneath the fallen leaves, waiting to surface.

In the past, this night received more respect. To our predecessors this eve held more significance. …

Halloween has not truly accomplished its task unless each one of us is in some way frightened. … no matter how far we evolve, there will always be something in the far reaches of our “educated” minds which will bring us back to a time when we feared the moon itself. …This is why Halloween “spooks” us. …

Sources:

The Barnstable Patriot archive, available through Sturgis Library