Talk:Mischief Night

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Locations[edit]

article claimed to be a north east USA thing, but i know that we have it here in liverpool, england. not sure where else in the UK has it, though... but i just removed the location from the article.— Preceding unsigned comment added by Soft Lad (talk • contribs) 09:51, 20 October 2006

Re: The merging with Devils night[edit]

I say no. The Devils Night article focuses on the Detroit incidences of arson, the Mischief Night article is about the ‘holiday’ itself. Two pages are needed, though renaming the Devil's Night article to “Devil’s night arson” might be a good call.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.76.27.95 (talk • contribs) 04:20, 5 November 2006

I agree - Devil's Night is a very real phenom in Detroit that has had serious and long lasting consequences for the city fabric, the architecture and the culture/morale. To call or associate it with "mischief" is ridiculous, as it involves very serious crimes. littleone (talk) 00:44, 31 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

4 November[edit]

Its celebrated in Yorkshire and other places in Britain on Nov. 4th - because that is the day that Guy Falkes and the other gun powder plotters were causing mischief- i.e laying the powder underneath the houses of parliament.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.128.250.254 (talk • contribs) 13:51, 5 November 2006

Country & date[edit]

I'm really confused by this article now. Originally, it seemed to be describing an event in North America; now it's mostly about Britain. I'd never heard of it in Britain before 10 years ago, and thought it was an import from the US, like the rest of Halloween; this suggests its a long-held tradition. It also seems like a veiled form of anti-social behaviour, and this suggests it's just a bit of fun. And what day are we talking about, the day before Halloween, or the day before Bonfire Night? Can anyone shed any light on this? Swanny 13 Nov 2006 In Yorkshire it's the day before bonfire night. A children's festival, since adults would have faced dire consequences. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.22.136.254 (talk) 12:53, 28 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]

My father-in-law attended St Peter's School in York in the 1930s, and they were not allowed out on mischief night (November 4th), as Guy Fawkes was an "old boy" of the School. So it dates at least that far back. Danensis (talk) 11:29, 31 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

the article states its a recent thing in places such as liverpool and ireland, but how do you know this? also swanny it is the day before halloween.
Mischief Night is celebrated in the UK on November the 4th. It is completely different to Devils Night Jonnimont 21:34, 26 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
This illustrates my point; Jonnimont reckons the night is 4th November, Unsigned says its 30th October. It would help to know where you are writing from, as my experience is it's pretty localized. I'm writing from Liverpool, where it's about 10 years old, and on the 30th. I've not come across it anywhere else; they don't even have it in St Helens, 10 miles up the road. The link to BBC Yorkshire suggests it's older there, and is on the 4th, but even there I'm wondering how widespread it is; people there I've spoken to haven't heard of it. So I'm suggesting this needs clarifying; any other suggestions? Swanny 9 Dec 2006

reply to swanny on dec 9 2006

i'm from liverpool myself. here it's the night before halloween for definite. all the kids go around causing mischief of varying degrees depending on how bold the group of kids are or the particular estate you're on at the time. i've been aware of it for about 10 years as well, and even participated in my younger years, but this year my area was quiet with a notable increase in police presence. - unsigned 19th december 2006

I'm from Yorkshire and it is always 4 November here. My family's own knowledge takes it back to the early part of the 20th century, but I believe it's a much older tradition than that. The article seems to be muddling a number of different traditions, from different locales. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.147.25.190 (talk) 20:07, 9 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

It's called Mischief Night in America[edit]

I never heard of cabbage night or goosey night in my life, and I live in NJ 64.236.245.243 21:22, 16 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I live in NJ and I've always heard it called Mischief Night as well. I believe it has to do with regional dialects.--Jersey Devil 00:59, 28 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'm from Liverpool in England and I know of it occuring on the 30th. Never heard of some of the things it suggests are done in England (T.P-ing and placing bologna on cars!?) I think these are American tricks but I have never seen them in Liverpool before. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.133.60.27 (talk) 11:20, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]
My mom claims that when she was a kid (in Brooklyn and Rosedale, Queens) people went trick-or-treating with the "trick" being to take a chalk and mark the sidewalk (or was it door?) in front of people's houses with silly drawings, etc. (The "trick" occurred if the treat wasn't given to the kid). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.36.214.143 (talk) 15:06, 31 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]
in worksop england where i live its know as Mischievous night —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kazuya1337 (talk • contribs) 16:38, 10 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
We called it Devil's Night in Southern Maryland when I was a boy. 155.213.224.59 (talk) 13:11, 30 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Goosey Night is common in Northeastern New Jersey from what I remember growing up there. Nobody ever said "Mischief Night", but it was probably from town to town ... which is an interesting phenomenon I guess considering how small the area is. I think it's interesting that Goosey Night is used in England. I have no idea how it ended up here ... though I guess there's that whole colony thing. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.81.124.213 (talk) 02:17, 11 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I grew up in Wayne New Jersey in the 60's and 70's and it was called Goosey Night.....I just assumed the rest of country had this as well.....it is interesting to see how regional it is. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.41.38.234 (talk) 17:25, 1 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Here in North Yorkshire, I grew up with Mischief Night being on 4th November, however, my husband `grew up closer to Middlesbrough and it was/is on the 30th October. So it must be a localised thing. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mrstiz (talk • contribs) 06:57, 1 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
It is definitely not "goosey night," that is absurd. I live in NJ, I've never even heard that mentioned.69.249.86.5 (talk) 20:54, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Well, to add to the "I'm from X and we call it Y" entries, I live in Vermont and it's always been called "cabbage night" around here for as long as I can remember. --rsgdodge (talk) 22:19, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]


Regarding NJ anyway, I think the way it is now is pretty accurate: "In northern New Jersey and the Philadelphia region, October 30 is referred to as Mischief Night,.....particularly Passaic County, October 30 is also known as Cabbage Night or Goosey Night." ...Where I am from in Essex County, we say Mischief Night, but I went to William Paterson Univ, and got to meet lots of people from around the state, and some Bergen and Passaic people definitely do call it Goosey or Cabbage night. Spettro9 (talk) 01:18, 24 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I also grew up in Passaic County, Northern NJ in separate towns over the course of a decade at both ends of the county and it was always referred to as Goosey Night. I cannot confirm how far outside that area but I believe parts of Sussex County referred to it as Goosey Night as well. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.77.153.8 (talk) 00:17, 31 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I've lived in Teterboro, in Bergen County, my entire life and in all of the surrounding towns, we knew it as Cabbage Night. As I got older and met people from other towns in Bergen County, such as Franklin Lakes, I frequently heard it referred to as Goosey Night. I spend much of my time now in Morris and Passaic County where they look at me funny if I refer to it as anything but Mischief Night. In my opinion, if one of the names is going to be recognized in the article, then all of them should be mentioned. JohnBWatt (talk) 08:23, 31 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I'm grew up in the Vineland/Buena area (Atlantic & Cumberland Counties) and we always called it Mischief night too. I don't know people who called it anything else. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.83.177.20 (talk) 15:03, 3 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I grew up in Bergen County NJ in the 50s & 60s and we referred to it as "Cabbage Night". I never heard of the term "Goosey Night" in all my years there.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.190.98.216 (talk • contribs) 1 November 2010

For the benefit of anyone else with an "I live in X, and we call it Y" comment, the external links section has a dialect survey see here, so ou can check on your area. There's quite a lot of overlap, so whatever you know is probably right... Swanny18 (talk) 21:18, 2 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]
PS One thing that's interesting about the survey is that 70% of the people asked had no word at all for it...Swanny18 (talk) 21:22, 2 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I would like to chime in with another "I live in X and we call it Y" comment. I grew up in N. KY in the 70s and 80s and everyone, EVERYONE, called it Cabbage Night. I had never even heard of the term "Mischief Night" (or Goosey Night)until I searched wikipedia for "Cabbage night". Why it was called Cabbage Night I don't know, as we usually soaped windows and threw toilet paper in trees, but Cabbage Night it was. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.141.152.197 (talk) 03:42, 19 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
The outside link at the bottom of the page includes info. on "Goosey Night". A secondary source for this and similar terms is http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/10/its_a_jersey_thing_nj_only_state_to_call_tonight_mischief_night.html. "Goosey Night" also has an entry at Wiktionary, where it is sourced. (There are a few references on YouTube, but those count as primary sources. For the record, I grew up in Paterson and North Haledon calling it Goosey Night.) SeoMac (talk) 00:59, 8 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Devil's Night[edit]

Since roughly 1998, the Detroit Police Department and various Neighbourhood Watch groups have teamed up to do night patrols of citizens and police, watching out for people setting abandoned houses on fire, to reduce crime and take back their neighoubourhoods from senseless violence and crime, calling it "Angels' Night" and it has grown every year since. perhaps this should be mtnioned in the main article? It's not just a metro detroit thing: people in Toronto, Windsor, London, Flint, Lansing, Toledo, and Cleveland do it, too. I'm very sure baltimore and the Northeast Corridor cities do it as well. RingtailedFox • Talk • Contribs 23:47, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Clean-up?[edit]

is it just me or is this page in need of a little grammar & other edits? how do you "bar rub soap.." on car windows? I know you can "RUB A BAR OF SOAP," or even "RUB A SOAP BAR..." but not whatever is written in this article-- and that is really only one example. --162.80.36.13 (talk) 18:13, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Mischief Night in Germany?[edit]

The History section says "In Germany, Mischief Night still is celebrated the night before 1 May." As such this statement is not correct. The night is commonly known as Walpurgis Night. And while Mischief Night may have the same origin, today it certainly isn't the same. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.179.70.199 (talk) 13:43, 30 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

"In Germany, Mischief Night is still celebrated on May 1." - it is the evening of April 30 when "Hexennacht" happens (see above also "Walpurgisnacht", though this is vary traditional name) happens - children will be on the streets doing pranks, but rarely this will last beyond midnight obviously. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2003:7A:E01:901:A8CE:A280:BAA0:7735 (talk) 18:26, 30 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Quebec[edit]

The article says ""Mat Night" in Quebec (Unconfirmed, See "The Basketball Jones")" I have no idea what this Basketball Jones has to do with anything and there is no related link. However I grew up in an English speaking Community in Quebec near Montreal and we always called it Mat night because the classic prank was to steal a neighbor's door mat. I have no idea what the French Canadian equivalent is or what it is called in other part of Canada. In I didn't realize it had any other name.174.91.223.242 (talk) 00:41, 31 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

From Talk:Angels' Night[edit]

There is no history given. when did this start?Kdammers (talk) 12:16, 28 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I've added a paragraph from the Devil's Night page on this. Swanny18 (talk) 17:45, 10 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Notes on some sources to build this article with:

--Orlady (talk) 15:44, 13 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

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Corn Night[edit]

You mention Corn Night, but not why it is called Corn Night in certain places. I grew up in Red Wing, MN, where Corn Night is celebrated the night before Halloween. Along with the other pranks mentioned (like TPing and soaping), the main activity of Corn Night was to throw dry corn kernels at the neighbors' windows. I read somewhere, but have not been able to verify, that it comes from a tradition that on the night before All Hallow's Eve, throwing corn on the neighbors' doors scared off evil spirits. (unsigned comment)

I grew up in Western PA and throwing corn at people's houses/windows was something we did all throughout raiding season (usually a week or so before Halloween). 2603:8001:2A00:7428:ADB7:6F24:6969:51CE (talk) 04:54, 3 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]

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