Halloween History: Victorian Halloween Party Decorations & Games from 1903 Newspaper Article

Public Domain Image

Today's Halloween History guest post is via Arra Abella's Style Reader, a very cute and posh book review blog. This was by far my absolute favorite guest post for this Halloween tour and it's also the final post in the tour so I saved the best for last. Enjoy!

Don't forget the Halloween tour was to promote my Gothic Victorian novel A White Room being on sale for $0.99 cents until Oct. 31, 2013 and my big Halloween Giveaway ending Oct. 31, 2013

Here is your teaser, but you will have to click on over to Style Reader to read the rest.

The following turn of the century Halloween festivities were taken from two articles in the October 25, 1903 edition of The Sunday Herald of Syracuse, New York. The first article is titled “Halloween: Unique and Ghost-Like Decorations” and is an account of a Halloween party for adults, focusing specifically on the decorations.

The second article was titled “Halloween: What to do on this Witching Eve,” and is an instruction for a witch themed party for young unmarried girls. It includes detailed descriptions of Halloween “charms” or what we would call spells, most of which were designed to determine the girls’ future husbands.

Victorian Halloween Decorations for a Turn of the Century Party

The writer of the article explained that this was a party he actually attended, and it is given from his perspective. When he asked the hostess where she got the ideas for the decorations, she said she had thought them up on the spur of the moment.

Public Domain Photo

Outside of the house, yellow jack-o-lanterns and squash hung from plazas. They included a lamp and had eyes, noses, and grins carved into them. The author of this article writes about the jack-o-lantern faces in a way that suggests it may have been a novelty, at least to him.

Just at the door stood a tall wooden figure draped in black sheets. It had red eyes, a nose, and a grinning mouth. The author commented that the figure “suspiciously looked like a photographer’s lantern on a jag.” Chains bound the hands of the figure and also hung from the door, making it rattle as guests entered the house.

Inside, the only light came from green flames burning in tin plates. The flame came from alcohol sitting on a bed of salts. The writer commented that the flames made the guests’ faces glow green, a color that was “subconsciously associated with ghosts.” Inside the library there were ...

Click on over to Style Reader to finish reading about the decorations. The Halloween games for young unmarried girls is coming up too! That is really interesting to read about even if it isn't something you would want to do at your party.

About Stephanie Carroll
Stephanie Carroll is the author of A White Room and "Forget Me Not" featured in Legacy: An Anthology. She blogs about magical realism, her research into the Victorian Era and Gilded Age, writing, and life in general at www.stephaniecarroll.net and at The Unhinged Historian. She also founded Unhinged and Empowered, a blog for Navy wives and girlfriends.

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