Apples have been grown for thousands of years in Asia and Europe, and were brought to North America by European colonists.\n As far back as ancient Rome, the apple and apple seeds were used for romantic divination, especially during the season of Hallowe'en! A Scandinavian custom said that a young maiden should buy an apple from an old widowed woman. They would eat half the apple with a salted herring at midnight. The other half would then be placed under her pillow, which would cause the young woman to dream of the person she would marry. On Halloween, women in Scotland could eat an apple in front of a mirror while combing their hair with the other hand. Doing so would cause the face of their future husband to appear in the mirror over their left shoulder. Peel an apple (some say a pippin apple specifically, though others say the type doesn’t matter) so that the peeling is all in one continuous strand. Throw the peel over your left shoulder. The initial the peeling forms will be the initial of the person you will marry.