I remember planning the Halloween night pranks far in advance with my small group of friends. We would start collecting corn from out of the fields to dry for tick tacking. Cartons of eggs would be hidden to get all good and smelly for smashing. Cheap toilet paper, soap, and shaving cream were set aside for the big night. Those were the days… But kids over 100 years ago were even worse than we were and it got to be a huge problem. In an effort to quell the midnight destruction, newspapers began publishing articles like the one below to convince people to give kids parties instead of letting them run wild though the neighborhoods.
Halloween Entertaining
Keep the Children Amused and Occupied, and They Will Not Want to Play Naughty Tricks on the Neighbors
AND now come the Halloween elves and imps. Of these latter we have, alas, too many in almost every community. Gates that disappear over Halloween night and doors whose dented surfaces bear eloquent testimony of their onslaughts are some of the evidences of their existence and energy.
Just why the small boy or girl should revel in mischievous tricks at this season is a mystery. Perhaps it is because in every juvenile mind there is the inclination to impish pranks and the traditions of All Saints’ eve make them for that time lawful amusement.
In some neighborhoods these childish jokers are so numerous and so abundant that they grow to the proportions of a pest. Neighbors who resent their activities are unpopular and policemen who try to keep them within bounds are looked upon as tyrants.
Parents who permit the promiscuous playing of Halloween jokes are the ones who should be held accountable. They should provide for the youngsters some diversions that will keep them indoors.
In neighborhoods where a big barn or stable is available the children of several families may unite in having a co-operative party. The owner of the stable should be asked permission to use it, and after it is tidies up the interior may be decorated with autumn leaves, pumpkin jack-o’-lanterns, ripe ears of corn with the husks and mottoes cut out of paper.
The children may each contribute a share to the simple refreshments, and it will be a jolly affair if the party is a masked one. The masques may be cut out of muslin and the masquer’s costume need be nothing more elaborate than a sheet, blanket, curtain or couch cover draped gracefully over his or her other garments and secured by safety pins. At a certain hour disguises may be thrown aside. If one or two older persons will help the children they may be depended on to plan for themselves just the kind of party they want and suggest the most satisfactory games.
In one neighborhood where the depredations of the small boy had been particularly annoying in years past a teacher thought of the plan of providing jolly Halloween entertainment for the children.
It was given in the schoolhouse and kept the youngsters pleased and amused until 10 o’clock, when they went home tired and happy with their parents, who also had been invited.
The entertainment included an exhibition of the children’s work, some music and a stereopticon show. The children in the higher grades had helped the teachers in giving Halloween touches to the hall and schoolrooms. There were decorations of cut paper from the lower grades and pictures in colored chalk on the blackboard. All the children felt that they had a hand in the affair. Certain of the older boys were appointed as special officers for the night to see that boys went home quietlyand that none lingered to cut up in the region of the schoolhouse. The success of the entertainment was such that it is to be repeated with the advantage of the experiences gained.
In another neighborhood the ladies of a church got up a special Halloween party. To this they charged a small admission fee. They had Halloween cake, ice cream in fancy molds. Halloween candies, all of which they sold. Besides, they had a Halloween pie on the order of a Jack Horner pie; a witch with a grab bag and other seasonable diversions. There was music to give flavor to the affair, and altogether it was a most enjoyable function, adding materially to the fund of the ladies’ society by which it was given. They found that the fun, which was of a simple, wholesome kind, was enjoyed by even the most staid and elderly of the congregation.
When giving a Halloween party for the tiny tots it is a good plan to have it in the late afternoon hours instead of evening. Even the most hackneyed Halloween games and tricks will appeal to the children, and the hostess who undertakes to entertain them in this way will find herself well rewarded by their enjoyment. A too exciting party is to be avoided, for small nerves are delicate. The humorous, picturesque and poetical features of Halloween should be touched upon.
Halloween table decorations and Halloween favors have little that is new to commend them. From year to year we are treated to the witches and their cats, the jack-o’-lanterns, elves and fairies, autumn fruits, nuts, etc.
Source: The Caucasian. Newspaper. November 02, 1913.
