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Showing posts with the label cabbage night

Goosey Night Delight (& Lack Thereof)//October 217th, 2022

This is probably due to that one chapter in Karen’s Pumpkin Patch , the children’s book I wasn’t expecting to resonate with me even half as much as it did, but I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the night before Halloween. In most areas, it’s known as Mischief Night, but I’ve heard it referred to by other names too, such as Devil’s Night, Cabbage Night, and, as it is referred to in my area of northern New Jersey, Goosey Night. (Also worth noting, it’s my mother’s birthday. I asked her to trade me several times throughout my childhood, as a part of me didn’t think she “deserved” a Halloween-related birthday as the holiday meant very little to her.) I long wondered why it was called “Goosey” night. As a young child, I thought that there must be some famous goose that I knew nothing about, that had laid her eggs on a house many years ago, hence the “egging” tradition, but the true explanation seems much more simple: “Goosey” was just a term synonymous with being foolish or flighty ...

Cabbage: It’s Not Just For St. Patrick’s Day//October 284th, 2021

 Let’s talk, for a moment, about cabbages. No, I haven’t suddenly decided to start dedicating this blog to St. Patrick’s Day, despite my Irish heritage. It turns out that cabbages were once a very big part of Halloween tradition and lore. Have you ever wondered about the tradition of pranking on the night before Halloween? I know I’ve had many moments in life when I’ve wondered why, on the night before Halloween, it’s so customary to throw eggs at windows or decorate trees with toilet paper. (Or, if you grew up where I did, partake in actual property damage, in some cases.) I reached a point in my youth where I felt like it was some kind of rite of passage, especially considering how much I loved Halloween and wanted to partake in every tradition relating to it, but I always wondered where it came from.  As it turns out, one of the earliest traditions relating to pre-Halloween pranks is actually rooted in romance...and cabbage. I recently added this vintage postcard, from arou...