Did People Celebrate Halloween in Early America?
Modern Halloween, as we know it today, is a deeply engrained American tradition,
elements of which have since dispersed all over the globe. However, that was
not always so. The cheerful celebration we have today has origins in the ancient
festival of Samhain celebrated on November 1st by the Celts
in ancient Britain, Scotland, Ireland, and Northern France. Samhain was a
festival that marked the end of the summer and harvest-time, and a beginning of
the cold, dark, winter ahead – and the beginning of a new year. It was supposed
by many that the eve of this new year was a time of liminality and that the
lines between the living and the dead were blurred, with otherworldly spirits
finding their way to the material realm. When ancient Rome conquered the Celtic
lands, Roman and Celtic traditions became intertwined. The Romans celebrated Feralia,
a holiday for the dead, in mid-October and the Roman goddess Pomona was also
celebrated on November 1st. These two holidays would eventually converge
with Samhain and the traditions mingled for many centuries. Ancient celebrations
of Samhain and the hybrid Roman holidays included feasting, merry-making,
sacred rituals, and communing with the dead.[i]
[ii]
 |
| Victorian Depiction of "Souling," 1882. Credit: Wikipedia |
In the early Catholic church, many were concerned about the ongoing
celebration of ancient pagan traditions in addition to saints’ days. By the 8
th
century, however, Pope Gregory III determined that combining Catholic holidays
with the traditional pagan holidays could bring people closer the Christian
faith. The Church moved All Saints’ Day, a holiday that venerated Christian
saints and martyrs, from May 13
th to November 1
st and All
Souls’ Day, during which prayers were said for those in purgatory, to November
2
nd. The night before November 1
st became All Hallows' Eve
– Hallowe’en. Christian pieties were migrated to the holidays, but many
traditions remained similar, often including bonfires, parades, and disguises.
[iii]
It is said that during these festivities, the poor would go from house to house
to beg for food, and that morsels called “soul cakes” would be given to them in
exchange for prayers for the family’s dead. This activity, called "Souling," displaced the pre-Christian
tradition of leaving offerings for the souls of the dead, and was eventually
taken up by children, who were given food, drink, and coins – a precursor to modern
trick-or-treating.
[iv] Celebrations
of this holiday were once more transformed in the 14
th century when
the Protestant Reformation lead many to eschew Catholic traditions like All
Saints’ Day. In Protestant countries, the feast days were displaced by new events
that often assumed the trappings of the old All Hallows' Eve – such as Guy Fawkes
Day, which celebrated the defeat of a Catholic plot to overthrow the government
of England.
[v]  |
| Historic Depiction of Guy Fawkes Night, Credit: TorontoPast.com |
The American colonies were founded on a variety of different
religious and political traditions, meaning that All Hallows' Eve could have
been celebrated in certain places but not others. In New England, for example, strict
Protestant outlooks forbade the celebration of any holiday that alluded to
Catholicism. Like many at home in England, Puritans in New England preferred
Guy Fawkes Day. In the 17
th century, this celebration included the
community gathering around a bonfire, and in the 18
th century it was
quite a party. John Adams wrote: “Punch, wine, bread and cheese, apples, pipes,
tobacco and Popes [referring to effigies] and bonfires this evening at Salem,
and a swarm of tumultuous people attending.”
[vi]
Majority Anglican colonies, however, had a much more relaxed approach. All
Saints’ Day and All Hallows’ Eve were often found on Anglican calendars.
[vii]
The colony of Maryland, which was the only Catholic colony, also permitted
these celebrations. New Jersey, as a middle colony that practiced religious
toleration, represented a convergence of many different religious faiths. It is
possible that early New Jerseyans would have understood the significance of All
Hallows’ Eve or, alternatively, celebrated Guy Fawkes Day. Indeed, the popular “mischief
night” (considered by many to be a New Jersey tradition) is associated with the importation of the Fawkes celebrations.
[viii]
Presbyterians like the Ford family probably did not celebrate All Hallows' Eve or
All Saints' Day, as many holidays traditionally associated with Catholicism were banned in the 18th century Presbyterian church. Despite a wide variety of approaches, the first generations of American citizens, including the
Founders, were still likely familiar with the holidays. However, their understandings
would have been influenced by the legacy of ancient celebrations (like bonfires
and feasting), as well as the displacement of Catholicism by Protestant
traditions in Britain and North America. It is very unlikely that they
would recognize the Halloween traditions that many Americans enjoy today.
 |
| Ford Mansion in the Fall, Credit: Amy Hester |
Halloween as we know it in the 21
st century did
not begin to be celebrated in a widespread fashion until the mid-19
th
century. In the wake of the revolution and rapid westward expansion, Fawkes celebrations
and other old revelries fell out of fashion. However, activities such like
bonfires, dancing, gossiping, and fortune-telling, were preserved in the
context of other kinds of community celebrations, including rural harvests.
[ix]
The arrival of many Irish Catholic immigrants in the 1820s and 1840s, however, brought
a resurgence of participation in All Hallows’ Eve and All Saints’ Day. Irish
immigrant traditions carried traces of ancient Samhain, as well as their
traditional Catholicism, and though All Saints’ Day was a relatively somber
event, the evening before was one of merriment and mischief. Fortune telling
was a popular All Hallows Eve activity, particularly for young women, as well
as the creation of jack-o-lanterns. The Irish immigrants innovated the holiday in North America
as well, with such changes as the use of pumpkins to replace turnips for jack-o-lanterns and
recreating the soul cake tradition. Instead of dressing as saints in church
parades or begging for soul cakes, revelers dressed in secular outfits and
solicited treats from neighbors.
[x]
 |
Romantic Halloween Fortune-Telling on postcard,
Credit: marklawsonantiques.com |
Transportation and
communication innovations like the railroad, telegraph, and magazines brought
Halloween traditions to the whole country, where they slowly underwent a secular
transformation until, ultimately, Halloween was divested of religious
significance in the 20
th century. Through the turn of the century,
Halloween was increasingly imagined as a romantic event for young lovers and a community
event that could foster cohesion, particularly among communities with immigrant
populations. It was in the 1920s that many of the first citywide Halloween
events took place and when American children took up the time-honored amusement
of going door-to-door for candy.
[xi]
By the 1990s, about 92% of children in the United States participated in trick-or-treating.
Today, Americans spend more than $6 billion a year on Halloween, designating it
the largest commercial holiday besides Christmas.
[xii]
Halloween has transformed over the centuries from a deeply
spiritual ritual to a commercialized, secular event. Our forebears would not
recognize the event as we celebrate it today - and they might be dismayed
by the celebrated presence of witches and ghouls. Although Halloween changes generationally, some important qualities are enduring:
the gathering of a community for fellowship and the opportunity for frivolity
as winter looms. We at Morristown National Historical Park hope you have
enjoyed the Halloween season in 2023!
[iii] Feldman,
“The History of Halloween.”
[iv] Norfolk,
“Halloween – Its Origins and History in Colonial and Early America.”
[v] Feldman,
“The History of Halloween.”
[ix]
Feldman, “The History of Halloween.”
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