Here is the Halloween news from Sunderland 100 years ago - and it might surprise you
Katja The Dancer - a musical comedy with good clean fun and haunting music
Wearside was a very different place on Halloween 100 years ago.
In fact, the occasion barely got a mention in the Sunderland Echo front page which was devoted instead to adverts for corsets, hats, stockings and glasses.
Pure silk hose was 5/11 at Binns while ladies combinations were priced from 3/6 at Blacketts - the ‘house for value’. Corsets were 10/11 at Cook, Garraway and Nicholson in Fawcett Street.
Elsewhere on the front page, you could browse through the adverts for jobs which included positions for stable boys and girls, and for people skilled in drapery.
The main news was on the back page and one story in particular provided an insight into the poverty facing the public.
More than 30 men and boys in one day were in court for digging away at the side of a rail track. They did it because they were desperate to get coal for their families.
But their activities caused so much damage that the authorities feared the track might subside - and any engine which travelled over the lines would be damaged.
All the defendants appeared at court in Castle Eden and the prosecutor said some of the accused had six or seven bags of coal when they were caught. Each man was fined 2s 6d.
Other court cases were also an insight into the era. One man was prosecuting for stealing potatoes as they were growing; another for ‘frequenting the streets for the purpose of betting’.
As for Halloween, the only mention of anything remotely scary was for a new show at the Empire Theatre.
It was called Katja The Dancer and it was described as a musical comedy with good clean fun - and haunting music.
Elsewhere in town, the Havelock Cinema was showing a film called Ypres. The film was accompanied by live organ music which was provided by Frank Matthew.
The Sunderland Tramway Band was performing at Victoria Hall in an event called the Great Sunshine Service.
Get in touch to share your thoughts on how you think Halloween should be celebrated in Sunderland, by emailing [email protected]