Who doesn't love Halloween!!

Sometimes called Hallowe'en, sometimes also known as AllHalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or even All Saints' Eve. 

It's a spooky time, filled with wonderful traditions like dressing up, handing out candy, and embracing your fears! 

The origins of Halloween traditions can be traced back in some form or another to the ancient Celts of Ireland including Jack o' lanterns, costumes, bonfires, and a smidge of sacrifice. (That last tradition didn't stick... thank goodness.)

I wanted to focus on one of the lasting traditions of Halloween.

Pranks!

Mischief is a Halloween tradition that goes back to the earliest days of the holiday. In fact, the tradition of giving children candy might1 have actually been an attempt to deter the onslaught of pranks and vandalism.

Put out by the town about pranks in 1946.

It makes sense! Think back a couple of hundred years. Before the internet... before electricity. It’s late October, and everyone is talking about how "Tis the season for witchery!" It was only a matter of time before someone pulls one to get people thinking ghosts are actually real!

In Okotoks, the Halloween traditions run deep! Some are classics, some are silly, and others are downright criminal by today's standards!

The Okotoks Museum and Archives are currently highlighting some of the best and strangest Halloween pranks pulled in our community dating back to the 1920s.

Kathy Coutts, Museum and Archives specialist, talked about a popular one that still happens to this day. 

"Nowadays, the day after Halloween, the Center Avenue or Veterans Way hill is littered with pumpkins, and that has been a tradition for years." 

These Halloween pranks haven't always been so harmless. (Unless you count the poor helpless pumpkins of course.) 

Coutts recounts a prank that definitely borders on property damage. 

"There are stories of tipping over outhouses. That was a common thing up until Okotoks got indoor plumbing in the early 1950s. So, prior to that, people would tip over outhouses in people's backyards on Halloween night. Hopefully, you weren't in them at the time."

There are a few classic tales like that, but there is one prank that stands out for her.

"One of my favourite stories is how some hooligans in the 1920s gathered up pigeons and let them free in the Okotoks United Church, and probably that same group of hooligans caught pigeons and let them loose in the Okotoks post office. Can you imagine if that was done today, what the reaction would be?"

Let alone trying to catch the poor birds... can you imagine the MESS!!

In today's age, with cameras all over and more eyes out looking for potential pranksters... why do it at all?

Museum assistant Nagille Walsh-Besso might have the answer.

"They're fun to do! It's a night where everyone is out and about, and I think there's just some badness in the air that makes people want to do something fun and a little bit naughty."

I highly recommend checking out the Okotoks Museum and Archives to learn all about these historical pranksters from right here in Okotoks.

Stay safe this year! 

1The sources here are a little fuzzy. However, I choose to believe this is the reason why we say "trick or treat."