The Halloween trick mischief-making city kids at the turn of the century played on hapless adults

Halloween in New York City these days is much more about treats than tricks. But in the decades around the turn of the 20th century, going door to door to collect candy in a plastic pumpkin wasn’t yet a thing.

So how did the youngsters roaming Gotham in the days of ash barrels and elevated trains celebrate the holiday? Some children attended apple-bobbing events; costume parties were also becoming popular.

But for mischief-making, free-roaming kids, Halloween night was all about playing pranks on other kids and unsuspecting adults.

While their rural peers smashed pumpkins, young New Yorkers soaped shop windows and cut clothes lines. They pulled down fences and gates—a prank that occasionally ended with a prankster getting shot with buckshot by an irritated homeowner.

Source: The Halloween trick mischief-making city kids at the turn of the century played on hapless adults