October 30, 2023
Introduction: In this article – to help celebrate Halloween – Gena Philibert-Ortega writes about a Halloween game our ancestors played: bobbing for apples. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.”
How did our ancestors celebrate Halloween? Halloween traditions include activities, games, and foods. While trick or treating automatically comes to mind when thinking of Halloween, there are games associated with that day too.
One old Halloween tradition is to bob for apples. The tradition is steeped in the roots of the Celtic festival Samhain, but the game of bobbing for apples can be traced to the late-medieval period in Britain.*
Historical newspapers not only reported on local kids bobbing for apples at community Halloween parties, but they also explained how to set up the game and why apples are a favorite near Halloween time.
While today it’s less common to take part in the game because of concerns for germs that could spread, bobbing for apples is an age-old Halloween game, sometimes referred to as a prank. Reading historical newspapers helps us understand the game as played by past generations.
As I read through various Halloween newspaper articles, I was surprised at how a simple game like bobbing for apples had so many nuances.
This article explained that:
“Bobbing” for apples is a very familiar custom… Apples with stems are most easily captured… Dainty folk who fear a ducking can get around it by using a fork. Hold the fork some distance [from] the tub, and in letting it drop try to spear an apple.
Even in 1893, there were concerns about possible illness that could be acquired from multiple children placing their mouths in a communal tub of water and apples. This article explained that using a fork is the preferred method of “mothers who live in constant dreed of pneumonia and kindred ailments.”
This next newspaper article included photos of bobbing for apples as well as variations of the game.
One variation involves apples and candles. An apple is mounted to one end of a stick and a candle on the other. A string is tied to the middle and then the contraption is hung from the ceiling. What happens next sounds like an accident waiting to happen:
…the string is twisted hard, the candle is lighted and the stick allowed to whirl. The trick is to catch the apple in the mouth and take a bite without getting hit in the face with a candle. To perform this correctly one must stand all the time with the hands behind the back.
Not all vintage ideas are good ones! In this case, injury or possible fire may ensure from this version of the game.
Bobbing for apples in a tub or large bowl filled with water and apples is one Halloween game that can be played without the tub of water. A similar game calls for apples suspended on strings. The player uses just their teeth to catch the apple, just as they do in bobbing for apples in water. This full-page advertisement from 1919 for apples explained both games.
For those who are more creative, newspaper articles even suggested ways to decorate the tub used for the game. We get a little insight to our 1950s family with the remark in this article that boys “dunk their heads to their collars if necessary.”
Happy Halloween!
What do you have planned for Halloween this year? Whether it’s a quiet night handing out candy or a party with games and food, learning more about Halloween traditions via historical newspapers helps us understand something about the everyday lives of our ancestors.
* Pattillo, Alice, “How about Them Apples?” The History of Halloween. Future Publishing Limited. 2023.
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Note on the header image: North Texas Agricultural College party with students bobbing for apples, c. 1930s. Credit: University of Texas at Arlington Photograph Collection; Wikimedia Commons.
