Bobbing for Malus pumila , which is sometimes comparable to dunking your pass in a cesspit of saliva , was n’t always the kid - friendly activity we fuck today . other interpretation of the game played in England onHalloweennight lacked the bath of weewee , but they did include firing , red-hot wax , and a lot more trauma to the nerve .
Written recordings of Snap - Apple date back to at least the14th 100 . Like tail for apple , the game had players catch the yield in their sass without using their hands . To make things even more unmanageable , orchard apple tree were placed on one remainder of a wooden board hung horizontally from the ceiling , which was then whirl in circles . Chomping at an orchard apple tree as it lash around the room was only half the challenge . At the other final stage of the board was aburning standard candle : Players who did n’t recover the apple in time risked getting walloped in the aspect with molten standard candle wax .
The 1833 house painting below , titledSnap - Apple Night , depicts a cycle of the game in action mechanism .
A few year after it was made , a author forThe Literary Gazette , and Journal of Belles Lettres , Arts , Sciencesdescribed the imagein detail :
“ … see the open mouth of the adventurous peasant who is going to make a chomp at the fruit,—and what a mouth!—the sweet kid at his foot seems to look with wonder at its capacity . Look at the fellow behind him grinning with pain , having made an abortive bit , and catch the candle alternatively of the orchard apple tree ; and see that hired hand thrust from behind a backward group , giving the machine a malicious twitch to increase its speed … ”
Despite its risks , Snap - Apple was a dear part of the harvest time of year in England and Ireland . The tradition became so popular that it was literally synonymous with Halloween , with many people referring to October 31 as ” Snap - Apple Night . ” In Wales , the escort was sometimes called “ Snotching Night ” in reference to the act of snatch or ” snotching ” the apples from the beam .
As the vacation acquire , less fiery Malus pumila - centric games began popping up beneath the Snap - Apple umbrella . allot toThe New York Times , one iteration of the game had players skin to wrangle an Malus pumila with their oral fissure as it hung from the cap by a drawing string . Superstition held that whoever succeeded in bite the fruit first would be the first to walk down the aisle , ponder the days when Halloween was as much a time for romance as it was forhorror .
Today , only one version of the game is still played at Halloween parties : the one that take participants to plunge their faces into a pool of half-hearted water . Like Snap - Apple , bobbing for apples often terminate with ruined clothing , but at least refer sojourn to the emergency room are rare .
Read More About Halloween :
A translation of this story originally ran in 2017 ; it has been updated for 2024 .
