Tonight would have been Halloween in Des Moines......

 DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — For the first time since 1938, children in Des Moines, Iowa, will go trick-or-treating on Halloween.

Going door-to-door for candy on All Hallows' Eve has long been commonplace throughout the country. But not in Des Moines, where Iowa's capital city took a different approach more than seven decades ago in hopes of tamping down on hooliganism.

Instead, Des Moines children don their costumes on Beggars' Night, typically the day before Halloween. And besides screaming, “Trick-or-Treat,” children are expected to tell a joke before receiving a treat.

This year, Beggars' Night was set for Wednesday, but because of expected heavy rain and thunderstorms, officials delayed trick-or-treating until Thursday, which to the rest of the country is the normal Halloween.

https://www.courthousenews.com/in-a-first-since-1938-des-moines-iowa-kids-will-trick-or-treat-on-halloween/

Cool idea? Sure, why not?

Detroit has Hell Night.

Carbondale, Illinois, used to have Fright Night.

When it comes to bizarre local Halloween traditions, however, few communities can match the Des Moines metro area and its 60-plus-year-old ritual of - well, let's just call it Bad Joke Night.

The flash point came on Halloween in 1938 when Des Moines police answered a record 550 calls concerning vandalism. Krieg, along with the Community Chest' group work council, began a campaign to encourage less violent forms of Halloween fun.

They set aside Oct. 30 as Beggars' Night and got the word out to the public that on that night — and only that night — children would be allowed to go from door to door and say the phrase "tricks for eats." The council urged that "eats should be given only if such a 'trick' as a song, a poem, a stunt or a musical number, either solo or in group participation, is presented."



https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/entertainment/2015/10/13/why-des-moines-has-beggars-night/73865998/

Despite what Des Moines does, what is YOUR Halloween tradition, or WAS your Halloween tradition if you now figure you are too old to partake?




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