All Hallows Eve pre-Vatican II

[SeanF1989]

How was Halloween celebrated pre-V II?

 

[stpurl]

We had better costumes, better and cheaper candy, and much less hype.

 

[Pitcairn17]

I remember assembling, and getting, small bags of loose candy - candy corn, maybe popcorn, Necco wafers, other unwrapped things. Today, any parent would likely throw out anything that wasn’t factory sealed. And it was definitely kids-only. Certainly no strings of orange lights wrapped around the landscaping or 6-foot inflatable pumpkins.

 

[SeanF1989]

But how was it acknowledged by the Church? Was it known (As a religious day) by Catholics in other countries (France, Germany, Poland etc)

 

[on_the_hill]

(from the American perspective) My mom said they really didn’t do Trick-or-Treating when she was young, like we had when I was a kid (typical costumes, door to door, etc). She said they’d go door to door and yell, “Nuts! Nuts!” and people would give them nuts. It was probably cultural more than religious, because she grew up in a Polish immigrant neighborhood.

From another perspective, I don’t know what Vat II has to do with anything when it come to Halloween, unless one is trying to link sexy witch costumes, sexy nurse costumes, sexy cat costumes, sexy plumber costumes with Vat II.

 

[stpurl]

In the U.S., the Holy Day was November 1, not October 31.

 

[Wesrock]

I thought Allhallowtide (10/31 to 11/2) predated Vatican II.

 

[twf]

Definitely. Halloween would have been (and is) the vigil of All Hallows / All Saints.

 

[stpurl]

The octave was eliminated in 1955, and that predates Vatican II. Also there was more of a focus on All Hallowtide in Britain than in the U.S. My mom who is 90 does not remember it in her youth in the 1930s and 40s US for example.

 

[JulianN]

Similarly to how it is now—why would Vatican II have changed it?

 

[Tis_Bearself]

How was Halloween celebrated pre-V II?

In the USA: a lot more tricks like soaping windows or other minor property annoyance stuff, a lot fewer treats (people didn’t have money).
Costumes in a lot of places were more like just dressing up as a hobo with your face behind a bandanna than the elaborate get ups of today.
It wasn’t a holy religious holiday if that’s what you’re thinking. All Saints the next day was the HDO and you better be up and at Mass in the morning.

Source: My pre-Vatican II mom, who did a lot of pranks in the 1930s with her older brother.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

My mom who is 90 does not remember it in her youth in the 1930s and 40s US for example.

My mom who was born in 1925 never mentioned any sort of religious service for All Hallows Eve either.