Halloween in the Townships

By Jazmine Aldrich

As the spookiest night of the year approaches and the veil begins to thin, I thought it apt to look back on the Townships’ “Hallowe’en” celebrations of years past!

In 1899, Mr. and Mrs. Spafford invited guests to a Hallowe’en party at their home in Lennoxville. The invitations were written in rhyme, requesting answers in rhyme to be given by guests at the party – the winners to be chosen by popular vote. The evening also included a goblin as door greeter, old fashioned Hallowe’en games, and a supper which included pumpkin pie and doughnuts.

The Shakespeare Club spent Hallowe’en 1910 on Prospect Street in Sherbrooke at the home of Mrs. Hutchinson, the wife of Hon. Judge Hutchinson. Mrs. Hutchinson, along with her mother – Mrs. McVicar – and her sister – Miss McVicar – both of Montreal, hosted fourteen guests. The event took place around a flickering fire in the drawing room, where the McVicar family regaled their guests with Irish fairy tales and ghost stories. The Hutchinson’s also served guests a decorative feast, including “a hollow pumpkin, adorned with chains of scarlet cranberries, like strings of coral, and heaped with purple, red, and green grapes, and crimson and rose-tinted apples” – just in case you were wondering what to serve at your Halloween party!

Aside from private parties and events, it appears that Hallowe’en socials were popular in the late-1800s Townships. One was held in Sherbrooke on October 28, 1897 by the Ladies’ Guild of St. Peters’ Church; another was given by the Young Ladies Aid of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Sherbrooke on November 2 of the same year. These socials often involved live music, games, and general merriment.

Hallowe’en tricks were certainly in fashion with the youth of the 1890s. The Coaticook Examiner reported on November 3, 1899 that “a few pranks were indulged in by some of our small boys, though on the whole things passed off very quietly”; the paper goes on to report that “some of the young ladies also indulged in making ceremonious calls in rather unusual attire, though there was nothing unbecoming.” It seems that the newspaper was quite forgiving of a little youthful mischief!

Perhaps the forgiveness was only relative, however, for the previous year saw a more elevated level of All Hallow’s Eve trickery. The very same Coaticook Examiner reported on November 4, 1898, that “Hallowe’en was not forgotten by the boys, and we might add, judging by some of the articles that changed places some large sized boys, too […]”. According to one report, these “large sized boys” displaced doorsteps, a horse, and even buildings – though these buildings’ dimensions were not reported.

It seems that the displacement of moveable property was a fairly common Halloween prank into the early 1900s. In the Halloween 1900 issue of the Sherbrooke Examiner, in fact, a polite warning was posted to encourage readers “to remove any loose articles lying about outside.”

The long-held tradition of trick-or-treating is relatively young, in Townships history. The earliest reference that I could find in the newspapers dates from 1945. Pupils of the Gould School celebrated at a Hallowe’en party hosted by their teacher, Miss Edwyna Beaton, after which point, they “went with baskets from house to house for the usual ‘treats or tricks.’”

Perhaps this article has inspired you to partake in the Halloween traditions of yore (aside from the property displacement and damage: please do not do that). Wishing everyone a safe and happy Halloween! If you have photographs or other records relating to Halloween in the Townships and would like to donate them to the ETRC Archives, we would love to expand our understanding of this age-old tradition in our region. Please contact the ETRC Archives.