[Greenwick]

I have finally decided that next year I'm going to do a golden age Halloween party. I know of some books that have info on older Halloween party traditions. (lots of fortune telling games about love lives, and eating kale, from what I've read.) Along that vein, I want to incorporate some older Irish and Welsh traditions - since of course a lot of the traditions came from Irish immigrants. and the old Welsh stories are just fun to me, and not well known over here.

So what I'm thinking is that I'll have a few older fortune telling games, along with some Halloween themed improv games - because I'll be learning how to run improv games, and if everyone is acting silly it's easier for shy folks to do so. Also some novelty gifts. (I did Halloween crackers one year, something like that.)

I think that storytelling would be the main focus of the party. It might be fun to turn the lights down low and do scary stories with a flashlight, but I think that would be too much for some guests. I might try and get ahold of some of the 'Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark,' because those books have high nostalgia value, and I think most people I know would remember them.

The food dishes I've seen from the golden age were a bit like medieval how piece foods - all about novelty and surprise. So I'll want to plan out some cool little things. I think retro 50s food is in order, like aspic covered vegetables (I'm told that it was actually tasty, but I'm dubious.), though I'll want modern foods as well. Also bugging my Irish friend about traditional foods there.

I will have more time for decorations, so I'll make paper ones - lots of crepe paper. I think adding a little Lovecraft to the mix is in order, too.

I have had too much coffee, and this post is the result of the buzz. I will develop this into a more coherent plan later.

 

[matrixmom]

I love this theme. Very original - will be following you and looking into giving you ideas....have to do my research first!

 

[Greenwick]

Thanks! Any help is much appreciated!

This is the book I'm going to be acquiring - http://www.amazon.com/Halloween-Merrymaking-Illustrated-Celebration-Halloweens/dp/158980113X My local library has a few copies, so I'm going to pick it up again. Gonna poke through its reference section to see if I can get any of the original materials as well.

 

[ooojen]

It sounds wonderful! If I were in your circle of local friends, I'd be making sure my name was on the guest list!

 

[Deadna]

I bought this book a couple years ago...Games for Halloween dated 1912. I was surprised that nearly all the games/fortune telling ended with...."you will meet your true love". Never knew halloween was so focused on match making

 

[Greenwick]

That is an awesome find! I have found the games either dealt with who the player would marry, or whether they would die/have bad luck the whole year. The ones about death would be easy to make in a Lovecraft appropriate way, too.

 

[Wolfman]

What a cool find! Halloween, as we know it, didn't really develop until the 1930's, or so I've read...

 

[Deadna]

What a cool find! Halloween, as we know it, didn't really develop until the 1930's, or so I've read...

My mom was born in 1930 and doesn't remember ever celebrating halloween. She said people just didn't do it but my cousin,also born in 1930,tells me stories about how her and a neighbor boy would go out and trick or treat and then pull pranks on the mean neighbors by covering their porches in horse manure.
I am frequently caught in the middle of those two arguing over who is losing their mind first...LOL!

 

[Greenwick]

I don't have the info in front of me, but in my Halloween info travels, I have read the various areas with Celtic heritage tended to have a night where youngsters played pranks around the time of Halloween, so that part has been around awhile. As far as I know, Irish immigrants really brought the tradition here, and then it developed into Devil's Night and Halloween.

I recently also read that Christmas used to have a similar type of celebration - people drinking and playing tricks on each other. Which was why authorities have tried to banish Christmas at various times throughout history.

I'm personally glad that Halloween has become more about the trick or treating, decorations and parties than tricks. I've never been a prankster, but it is fun to have scary stuff around with friends while consuming copious amounts of junk food.

 

[thenightmarefamily]

When i was a kid, we went TOT for the first half of the night and pulled pranks late in the night, of course this was long ago when people used to have a sense of humor and laughed at TP or eggings but now a day's everyone is uptight and will call the police if you attempt pranking. And regretfully as a teenager i used to participate in Devil's night when that was around and yes my friends and i set fires. i was young and stupid and thankfully Devil's night has been basically fell out of popularity with time.