Video: Victorian Halloween Special
Hello, Dear Reader and welcome to our Victorian Halloween Special!
I am literally jumping with joy putting this post together. I have been dreaming of starting our Youtube channel and creating my own little cooking show for years now. It feels so fun to finally be able to make it happen, and I really have you to thank for that. It took me some time to finally gain the confidence to get started, and I have been having so much fun coming up with ideas and seeing if I can make them come to life. In many ways, I feel like a get a chance at working in film like I had hoped to do in college and beyond, before I ever started this blog. Only this time, it’s my own little homemade version of a show, which I kind of like better anyways!
In this episode, I am showcasing three vintage recipes that I found while researching Victorian Halloween traditions. I thought that it would be fun to try making these recipes as they were written in the 19th century as well as put my own spin on things, as I tend to do.
I shared those recipes this week on the blog. You can find them linked below:
Indian Pudding from 1879
This episode also includes some vintage Halloween crafts like making a Jack-o-lantern party invitations, history on Victorian party games, bonfire fun, and a tea leaf reading with me and Jill! It’s truly a little slice of cozy and history and comfort food. I hope that you love it!
where do halloween traditions come from?
If you have ever wondered where Halloween traditions come from, you would certainly not be the first person! Halloween is largely based on the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which was celebrated in Scotland, Ireland, and the Isle of Man. This is a large part of my own personal heritage, as a large part of my ethnicity is Scottish, Irish, and English. This celebration marked the end of the harvest season, and it was believed that the boundary between the worlds of the living and dead would be blurred. This typically fell around October 31st or November 1st, the days that fall exactly midway between the seasonal solstices and equinoxes.
This belief on Samhain led to superstitions and rituals being passed down over generations, leading us to the traditions that we still hold near and dear to us today. As a farmer, I find that this time of year and the end of the harvest season are moments that are most certainly worth celebrating and welcoming a winter of much needed rest!
halloween in the victorian era:
By the Victorian era (1837 to 1901), Halloween was at its peak of popularity. Celebrating the harvest, or the end of the harvest season, was absolutely necessary during this time. Life in the mid 1800s was difficult for many as the rise of industrialism was labor intensive. I recently read that the average Victorian person, or at least those of the working class, had to eat over 6,500 calories to maintain their body weight. That’s triple the amount of calories we need to eat today!
Halloween in the 19th century was lively and wild. It was the time of year when the Victorians could be a little bit silly, play games, find matrimonial matches, and spook each other with rituals of all kinds.
Games and spooky rituals, such as tea leaf readings, palm readings, seances, and superstitions were highly popularized through different magazines. Many of the scary stories that we know and love today can be traced back to the 19th century such as The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and the stories by Edgar Allen Poe.
queen victoria loved halloween:
Halloween at Balmoral Castle was as large of a celebration as Christmas, or so it was told in several news reports at the time. Queen Victoria was intrigued by folklore and legends of witches, demons, spirits, and the occult. This notion, of course, received major criticism at the time.
Queen Victoria and Princess Beatrice were the (literal) Queens of Halloween and held parties every single All Hallows’ Eve. They held a grand celebration in 1874. It was recorded in the Staffordshire Sentinel:
“Her Majesty and the Princess Beatrice, each bearing a large torch, drove out in an open phaeton. A procession, formed of the tenants and servants on the estates, followed. All carried high torches, lighted. They walked through the ground and round the castle, and the scene as the procession moved onwards was very weird and striking.”
In 1881, it was reported that there was a witch burning ceremony where a stuffed effigy of witch was placed into a large bonfire.
“When the flames were at their brightest a figure dressed as a hobgoblin appeared at the scene, drawing a car surrounded by a number of fairies carrying long spears, the car containing the effigy of a witch. A circle having been formed by the torchbearers, the presiding elf tossed the figure of the witch into the fire, where it was speedily consumed. This act of cremation over, reels began, and were danced with great vigor to the stirring strains of Willie Ross, her Majesty’s piper.”
victorian halloween parties:
It is rather fun seeing what parties were like in the 19th century, especially during the Halloween celebrations! Costumes are one of my favorite aspects of Halloween as I am completely enthralled by theatre and cosplay. Perhaps one day when I do not have small children at my heels I will start a cosplay/historical costume account… But for now, I just enjoy looking at what everyone else is doing!
I loved looking into costumes that the Victorians would have worn. There are not many photographs, but there are several illustrations floating around from various magazines. They are incredibly elaborate, I must say, and I love that they turned their everyday clothing into themed costumes. Also, the themes of the costumes themselves are just so funny to me. Above, you can see women dressed as a bumblebee, a deck of cards, and a bat.
Fortune-telling, tea leaf readings, seances, etc. Many games were meant more as a way to tell the future, particularly in the art of match-making. Many games or entertainment came from women trying to find out who their future husband might be, and there are several ads originating in the Victorian Era of women who would stand in front of mirror with a candle on midnight of Halloween, and their future husband would appear in the reflection. This game, The Magic Mirror Game, was advertised well in the mid 20th century as well, as a superstitious act.
19th century halloween foods:
Nuts were extremely popular, whether plain or candied. Apples were also very popular, which makes sense considering the season and the longevity of storing apples.
Hiding rings, coins, or buttons in cakes was also popular. The finder of the ring would break the spell and be married first, the coin would have wealth, and the button would be a spinster. This was called the Halloween or Dumb Cake.
Baked oysters, roast turkey, chestnut stuffing, baked apples, salted almonds, cabbage salad, hickory nut cake, walnut ice cream, autumn cake were all menu options. I discovered the popcorn balls covered in a candy coating were also popular, and I even found an advert for Indian pudding baked in a pumpkin!
final thoughts:
I hope that you enjoyed learning a little bit more about Halloween in the Victorian era! I had a complete blast researching this topic and creating content around its various components. If anything, it has inspired me to host a little Halloween party of my own with some old-fashioned ideas. I love the idea of putting a little Jack-o-lantern at someone’s door as an invitation. Isn’t that just so cute and creative?
If you enjoyed this post and video, please be sure to leave me a comment and subscribe to our Youtube channel. We would love if you joined our little community over there!
xoxo Kayla
