“Dunlop and Elizabeth streets were invaded by an army of 'shell out' midgets immediately after the schools were dismissed on Wednesday afternoon, as the advance guards of the Hallowe’en hosts. Every store that had candy, nuts or apples was visited.”
Much like Thanksgiving, and several other special festival days on the calendar, the modern version of Halloween is cobbled together from various traditions popular in other parts of the world.
Otherwise known as All Hallows Eve, it's the day before All Saints Day. On Halloween, the dead were to be remembered and efforts were to be made to keep any evil spirits from running amok.
All Saints Day is definitely a Christian observance, but Halloween may have its roots in very old Celtic harvest festivals.
The earliest English settlers in North America had no interest in the celebration and it wasn’t until the Scots and Irish began to arrive in large numbers, bringing their traditions with them, that Halloween started to spread.
These new immigrants carved jack-o'-lanterns out of rutabaga turnips, but soon switched to the larger and easier to carve North American squash, the pumpkin.
The children brought their habit of guising, which is a word derived from the disguises, or costumes, that they wore as they went door to door asking for sweet things to eat.
The Northern Advance article of Nov. 1, 1928, went on to say: “After darkness fell, a myriad of ghosts and masked figures stole gingerly through the flickering shadows from door to door, again crying out 'shell out' and the residential streets took on an appearance of life as large-hearted residents, who had evidently prepared for this auspicious occasion, literally 'shelled out'.”
Of course, what would Halloween night be without some pranks? Windows soaped, eggs tossed and tires deflated – the local police in Barrie reported in the newspapers each year how long or short the list of hijinks had been.
“In the early hours of the morning, automobiles left standing on the streets presented a very humorous appearance, having been illustrated by chalk artists who were not sparing of the use of the chalk pencils.
"The old game of taking off gates and carrying them a distance was repeated as of old, and everybody had a good time.”
In later years, the town saw very popular organized Halloween events which attracted hundreds of children. Organized in part by the police, the idea was to provide plenty of fun while perhaps avoiding some of the annual “damage caused by masked visitors and their 'trick or treat' slogan.”
Beginning at the Post Office at the foot of Owen Street, a grand costume parade led by the Legion Band and the mayor set off for the Armoury where a large party awaited. Candies, cartoons and costume contests were presented along with refreshments and a treat bag to take home.
