Today in Johnson City History, Saturday, November 1, 2025
Halloween in 1900
Thursday, November 1, 1900: One hundred and twenty-five years ago today, The Comet reported an interesting story of interest to local readers. “It may be that the Eve of All Hallows has fallen into innocuous desuetude but it was celebrated in Johnson City last Wednesday evening in a manner never to be forgotten by those who participated. Halloween used to be one of the events of the year when young people were really young and before the youth of 16 could give his grandfather pointers. People went about playing all kinds of harmless pranks and indulging in all varieties of games and gnomic incantations. Young ladies had various ways of discovering their future husbands, and young men had various ways of discovering their future wives. It mattered not that the revelations of the oracles indicated different personages each year, faith in the signs and symbols was never lessened. On such occasions the nervous had cause to keep close within doors when the lights burned brightly and the older people sat and gossiped, because it was believed that on Halloween the ghosts were allowed to leave their invisible retreats and return to earth to visit the scenes familiar to them. Refreshments were served at a beseeming hour, and the festivities were over as soon as the clock struck the midnight hour, and the ghosts were warned to depart, so that the visitors could reach their several homes without harm, to dream over the events of the night. Many a match has been made as a result of some bit of pleasantry on Halloween, and such marriages were always happy, so the story goes, because the good spirits that roam about on a six hours’ vacation had arranged them.