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‘Black Halloween’: The year Halloween went off the rails
The 1933-34 Halloween unrest driven by Depression-era hardships led Fargo to pioneer safer celebrations, inspiring national adoption of community parties and trick-or-treating.
- The twin Halloweens of 1933 and 1934 marked a turning point for Fargo, North Dakota and the country as nights of vandalism shifted to safer community celebrations.
- Economic strain and rural hardship drove America in 1933 through the Great Depression and drought, making Halloween a pressure valve for restless boys with too much time and too little to lose.
- Across the country, windows were smashed, cars overturned, and fires set, while North Dakota cities used tear gas and charged youths, including six boys in Fargo charged with malicious mischief.
- Fargo businessman Fred Maage proposed community entertainment and the Junior Chamber of Commerce organized two large Halloween parties, keeping many youths off the streets with almost no vandalism in 1934.
- Following the chaos, communities held parties and house-to-house gatherings that helped create the practice now known as trick-or-treating, and by the late 1930s Halloween headlines shifted to costumes and candy.
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‘Black Halloween’: The year Halloween went off the rails
FARGO — The headline the morning after Halloween 1934 was chilling: “3 West Fargo Youths Shot After Halloween Prank.” The story began: “Eddie Oftelie, 13, received a charge of buckshot in both eyes and his chest from a shotgun in the hands of a West Fargo resident. He is in a Fargo hospital in serious condition. His eyesight may be lost.” The shooting shocked readers, but what made it most disturbing was how unsurprising it seemed. Just a year e…
·Cherokee County, United States
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources15
Leaning Left0Leaning Right7Center5Last UpdatedBias Distribution58% Right
Bias Distribution
- 58% of the sources lean Right
58% Right
C 42%
R 58%
Factuality
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