For your Halloween seasonal enjoyment, first an advert from Charley's Beer and Wine Shoppe on East 185th street published 1939.
Next is an article from 120 years ago, lamenting the mayhem caused by kids on Halloween. It's fantastic in all it's early Halloween authentic-ness. I have transcribed it below.
"Charles, wake up, there is someone trying to get into the house."
"H-u-u-u-h ?" was the grunted inquiry as he rubbed his eyes.
"Get up and see who is trying to get in through the parlor window.'
By this time Charles was fully awake and sitting up in bed. A suspicious sound was heard at the front window. He listened, and she whispered:
"Now be careful, I know it’s burglars for I read in the paper tonight of several houses which were entered lately."
For three minutes be rummaged in the bureau among collars, cuffs and handkerchiefs until he brought forth his revolver which had not been fired off since the Fourth of July a number of years ago. He then lit the lamp, while his legs knocked together, threatening to scrape the skin from the kneecaps, and his teeth chattered like the far away rattle of musketry.
He was a good representation, in some ways, of Liberty, doing the lighting act as he walked tenderly toward the parlor. The instant the light shone in the parlor there was a merry laugh of boys outside, the scamper of many feet and the noise stopped altogether. What Charles said when he got back to the bedroom isn't known, but in it there was something about forgetting about Hallow’een.
This is only one of many similar occurrences which provoked mirth and anger in this city last night. The small boy was out in all his glory, and the results of his work were plainly visible even at an early hour in the evening. Here was a lamppost bedecked with a gate that had not been securely fastened or a part of a picket fence which was movable: here was a front door tied shut or a gate which could not be taken front its hinges wired so that it could not be opened. The lamppost and trees about the city generally suffered from an overabundance of vegetables, while in many places ancient fruit or vegetables found a place on a front porch.
"Gosh, but that cabbage stump nearly went through the glass in that door'," cried one urchin as a crowd ran down the street and turned into a dark alley. They were closely followed by a man dressed in neglige and who carried a broom in a threatening manner.
Life for the man who had a fine piece of glass in his front door was anything but pleasant. Some who were lucky enough to have left their screens up closed these and made a mask against which the projectiles thrown by the youngsters struck harmlessly, while others stood guard with a stout stick and laid in ambush for the enemy to begin operations and at the first volley an attack was made, followed by a graceful retreat of the enemy down alleys or over neighboring fences.
Tick-tacks, jack-o'-lanterns, cabbage stumps and the "squawker' made of a small tin can and a rosined string, all of which were operated by the clever hand of the youngster to the dismay and discomfort of the older folks, kept things in many parts of the city in such a stir that some people wished a law could be enacted to abolish the celebration of Halloween.
Next is an article from 120 years ago, lamenting the mayhem caused by kids on Halloween. It's fantastic in all it's early Halloween authentic-ness. I have transcribed it below.
YOUNGSTERS RAISE HAVOC
They Celebrate Hallowe'en in a Vigorous Manner
Tick-Tacks, Jack o' Lanterns and Squawkers Brought Into Play
"H-u-u-u-h ?" was the grunted inquiry as he rubbed his eyes.
"Get up and see who is trying to get in through the parlor window.'
By this time Charles was fully awake and sitting up in bed. A suspicious sound was heard at the front window. He listened, and she whispered:
"Now be careful, I know it’s burglars for I read in the paper tonight of several houses which were entered lately."
For three minutes be rummaged in the bureau among collars, cuffs and handkerchiefs until he brought forth his revolver which had not been fired off since the Fourth of July a number of years ago. He then lit the lamp, while his legs knocked together, threatening to scrape the skin from the kneecaps, and his teeth chattered like the far away rattle of musketry.
He was a good representation, in some ways, of Liberty, doing the lighting act as he walked tenderly toward the parlor. The instant the light shone in the parlor there was a merry laugh of boys outside, the scamper of many feet and the noise stopped altogether. What Charles said when he got back to the bedroom isn't known, but in it there was something about forgetting about Hallow’een.
This is only one of many similar occurrences which provoked mirth and anger in this city last night. The small boy was out in all his glory, and the results of his work were plainly visible even at an early hour in the evening. Here was a lamppost bedecked with a gate that had not been securely fastened or a part of a picket fence which was movable: here was a front door tied shut or a gate which could not be taken front its hinges wired so that it could not be opened. The lamppost and trees about the city generally suffered from an overabundance of vegetables, while in many places ancient fruit or vegetables found a place on a front porch.
"Gosh, but that cabbage stump nearly went through the glass in that door'," cried one urchin as a crowd ran down the street and turned into a dark alley. They were closely followed by a man dressed in neglige and who carried a broom in a threatening manner.
Life for the man who had a fine piece of glass in his front door was anything but pleasant. Some who were lucky enough to have left their screens up closed these and made a mask against which the projectiles thrown by the youngsters struck harmlessly, while others stood guard with a stout stick and laid in ambush for the enemy to begin operations and at the first volley an attack was made, followed by a graceful retreat of the enemy down alleys or over neighboring fences.
Tick-tacks, jack-o'-lanterns, cabbage stumps and the "squawker' made of a small tin can and a rosined string, all of which were operated by the clever hand of the youngster to the dismay and discomfort of the older folks, kept things in many parts of the city in such a stir that some people wished a law could be enacted to abolish the celebration of Halloween.
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