YOU SAY, "GOOSEY NIGHT" AND I SAY, "MISCHIEF NIGHT"

Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off

I never understood the purpose of Mischief Night.  I guess I’m a “builder” by nature, not a “destroyer.”  What kind of kid could go out the night before Halloween and throw eggs at cars and houses, string toilet paper from trees, soap windows, bang flour-filled socks on the ground, squirt shaving cream on everything (and everyone) in their path, and leave flaming doggie pooh in paper bags outside of people’s front doors?

The kind of kid that my parents wouldn’t let me hang around with.  I just know that some of the kids who tried to destroy our house on Mischief Night showed up at our front door the next day and expected candy.  No wonder they were wearing masks.

I hear that, these days, some kids leave Fruit Loops on lawns.  God forbid there should be rain in the forecast.  Others take their TV remotes and change the channels on their neighbors’ televisions.  More sadistic types substitute Nair for shaving cream.

But we should be thankful that we don’t live in the 19^th century.  Kids back in those days used to overturn outhouses.  I can’t even imagine being the pour soul who happened to be sitting in there when that happened!

We should also be happy that we didn’t live in Southbridge, MA, in the 1920’s.  There was a lot of horse manure flying around on Mischief Night in that town.  And if you owned a cow, there was a good chance it would be missing from your barn the next morning. 

It’s a good thing, too, that none of us lived in Detroit in 1985 on Devil’s Night.  That’s what they call the night before Halloween in that city.  And for good reason.  There’s a history in that town of setting fires all over the city.  That year 297 Devil’s Night fires were set.  Maybe if you got caught, you could claim that “the devil made you do it.”

So, how did Mischief Night or Devil’s Night or Goosey Night (which is what I hear they call it in Paterson, Wayne, and Clifton, NJ) or Cabbage Night (which is what I hear they call it out in the rural country) or Beggar’s Night (which is what I hear they call it in Albany, NY) start anyway? 

It all started with Halloween around 500 B.C. in a place that is now Great Britain, France, Scotland and Ireland.  October 31^st was the beginning of the Celtic New Year and marked the end of summer.  The Druids believed that, on that one day of the year, all of the spirits, elves, and fairies were allowed to walk the earth.  More than that, they were allowed to meddle in the affairs of the living.  To appease these ghosts and monsters, the Druids made huge bonfires, sacrificed animals, made food offerings, and held celebrations. 

Christians weren’t able to do away with the pagan holiday altogether, so they made November 1^st All Saints Day and proclaimed October 31^st “All Hallow’s Eve.”  The poor would go around and beg from door to door on that night.

The Irish and Scottish immigrants brought the tradition of Mischief Night to America, when they came here during the 1800’s.  They would play pranks and create mischief and then blame it on witches, ghosts and goblins the next day.

Mischief Night doesn’t seem to be nearly as popular these days as it was when I was growing up in Newark, NJ.  I wonder why that is.  Maybe it’s because all the kids who were creating mischief back then are now grown up with their own property to protect.  And let’s face it; it’s a lot more fun to throw an egg at a car window on Mischief Night than it is to have to be the one to clean it off on Halloween morning.