publication date: Oct 28, 2014
With Halloween approaching, bobbing for apples has probably come to mind once or twice. The Urban Orchard Project shares their top apples for bobbing above.
Although Halloween is routed in American tradition, the act of apple bobbing was actually a British courting ritual, popular among young ladies and their potential beaux.
Fun facts about Apple Bobbing
- It’s frequently claimed that the Halloween custom of bobbing for apples dates all the way back to pre-Christian Ireland and the pagan festival of Samhain.
- An early variation of game involved the female bobber attempting to bite into the apple named for the young man she desired. If it only took her one try, they were destined for romance.
- Today we call it "bobbing for apples" but it was called "Snapping for Apples" in the past. It was believed that when a boy came up from a tub with an apple in his mouth, he was loved back by the girl that he desired.
- Another form of "Snapping for Apples" was done not with apples in a tub of water but with an apple tied on a string and twirling from stick. Boys would jump up for their turn to snap at the apple and it is believed that the first one to succeed would be the first to marry.
The Urban Orchard Project, in partnership with HEINEKEN and Bulmer Foundation, has just launched a brand new initiate called Helping Britain Blossom to create and restore 100 community orchards across Britain by 2017. To give you some context, Britain has lost 70 per cent of its orchards since 1950. The project is all about supporting communities to create and maintain community orchards in urban areas that have a lack of green space for local people to enjoy and use for good.
