Chicago's Halloween Customs Traced To Scottish Immigrants

Chicago Scots President Gus Noble is pointing to the city's 19th-century archives to trace modern Halloween customs back to Scottish immigrants who arrived in the early to mid-1800s. Noble, who came to the United States from the Scottish town of Duns in 1992, said he began examining the holiday's origins after his American-born son asked him about them.

The roots of these observances lie in Samhain, the ancient Celtic festival marking the end of summer, and All Hallows Eve. Noble described the pagan identity of the holiday as remaining strong in his hometown, characterizing it as spiritual without being religious. He explained that Scottish tradition holds the veil between the world of the living and the afterlife becomes thin during this period, allowing spirits to cross over.

Scottish children participated in guising, a practice derived from disguising that required them to dress in costume. Noble recalled performing to earn fruit and nuts, or attempting to bite apples and sticky treacle scones suspended from strings with his hands behind his back. He noted that American children are simply given candy without performing, which he found disappointing.

Noble identified the custom of placing empty chairs outside front doors for ancestors to visit among the traditions carried to Chicago. The Chicago Scots organization, originally founded as the Illinois St. Andrew's Society in 1845, holds the distinction of being the oldest nonprofit in Illinois.

Chicago newspapers recorded these customs as early as January 1859, when The Weekly Chicago Times published an article explaining the derivation of the term Hallow Eve and noting traces of Scottish customs in the city's celebrations. An article published the day after Halloween in 1860 described Scottish divinations and merry maskings, and in 1861 the Tribune described All Hallow's Evening as a festival particular to the Scotch and English that would be widely celebrated by those citizens.

Nineteenth-century Scottish lore focused on predicting romance between sunset and midnight. These accounts included peeling an apple without breaking it and draping the skin over a woman's head to reveal the initial of her future husband, as well as burning pairs of nuts to determine the stability of a marriage. Harvest-time celebrations also featured a large supper that included stews and an oatmeal pudding prepared with butter.

Halloween customs spread beyond the Scottish immigrant community during the 1860s. The Tribune reported in 1865 that young residents were making molasses candy, and in 1866 McVicker's Theatre in the Loop scheduled a run of the drama All Hallow Eve; Or, Snap-Apple Night. Private citizens also hosted Halloween parties, including Mr. H.E. Wookey of Irving Park and Mr. and Mrs. George Waddell of South Morgan Street.

Pranks accompanied the holiday in later years. Northwestern University students tied cows to the steps of the Women's College in 1877, and in 1880 masked sophomores placed a goat inside a college cottage. By 1883, Evanston had assigned extra police to patrol during Halloween.

The Confectionary Benevolent Association of Chicago began hosting a Hallow Eve ball in the late 1870s as Scottish customs merged with local practices. Noble stated that the frightening elements of Halloween stem from guising and trick-or-treating, alongside the tradition of engaging with children at one's porch or garden's end.