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  • Writer's pictureRochelle Gridley

Getting the Jump on Halloween


A police report in the Pantagraph stated that boys on the West Side were celebrating Halloween early and disturbing the piece. These boys were not asking for candy, but were breaking up chairs on porches and throwing rocks on porches on Market Street. The residents called the police and the boys were rounded up. Residents said there were about 20 boys, but Officer Radka was able to catch just one, who had a frightened and ashen countenance in the court room.

The police chief vowed to bring a halt to such property damage before Halloween, which would be celebrated on October 30th. On the 22nd though, boys on the northwest side, near Empire, were up to no good and Desk Sergeant Mehan put the fear of the law into one boy who was slow enough to be caught.

Halloween fell on the Sunday in 1915, and while it was accepted that Halloween could not possibly celebrated on a Sunday, there was no concensus upon which day it should be officially celebrated, the Saturday or the Monday. Since the boys were already running riot over the city, it seemed a meaningless question and a fruitless effort to name a night for Halloween.

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