Apples have been features of autumn for millennia. They are an abundant crop across Europe. Greeks, Romans, Celtic, Norse traditions gave them some sort of fertility or good fortune meaning. It is easy to guess how they slipped into the whole Garden of Eden story. But bobbing?

Medieval Times

Bobbing for Apples may have begun as early as the 14th century as a courtship ritual or divination activity. One version has it that women would but a sign or initials on an apple and if they retrieved the right one when bobbing, true love was on the way. It is likely some sort of divination went on, but there is no evidence that it involved a tub of water. Maybe it did.

Snap Apple and Divination

The practice of apples as superstition went on in various forms in rural England and in Ireland. The full sized version of this painting of Snap Apple Night includes bobbing, divination with lead, divination with burning nuts, and “Snap Apple” as show on the left, in two sticks for a cross with an apple is attached to one, a candle attached to the other, and the whole contraption is hung from the ceiling. The idea was to bite the apple without getting burned. 

Victorian Times

By the nineteenth century bobbing had evolved into a parlor game. But it was, perhaps, always more of a children’s game. 

 

It still went on when I was a child, though it has fallen into disfavor these days, what with concern about germs and hygiene. Not to mention mess!

For more, check here:

https://www.thefoodhistorian.com/blog/halloweens-favorite-fruit-apples

https://www.genealogybank.com/blog/our-ancestors-halloween-fun-bobbing-for-apples.html

https://www.halloweenforevermore.com/how-bobbing-for-apples-became-a-halloween-game/

Hop On, Friends. Grab some treats but watch out for ghouls!

You can return too the hop here:  https://www.facebook.com/events/1565565051982245/