When — and why — did we start bobbing for apples?

There’s a 2016 segment of “The Rachael Ray Show” that I think about more often than I should during the fall season.

In it, two live audience members are called up to the stage to play a festive game of “Win, Lose, or Fall.” They must bob for apples and drop them into a bucket next to their basin before rummaging through a measly pile of autumn-colored leaves in search of a golden leaf. The person who finds their lucky, shiny leaf first wins a $1,000 Stop & Shop gift card.

What ensues is a heated, albeit brief, apple bobbing competition, in which one of the participants dunks her entire head into the tub of water as she hungrily searches for an apple to bite down on. “Is my mascara running?” she asks Ray after emerging victorious.

Related

I’ve always been fascinated with apple bobbing,