Does Mischief Night even exist anymore?
- Thread starter bac2therac
- Start date
yeah RUhudson....funny how diverse NJ is culturally sometimes even within the same town....ethnic pockets everywhere...actually I was born in Newarks North Ward at St Micheals hospital near Bloomfield Ave and until i was 26 never lived more than 4 miles in a line away along Broadway through Belleville outside of 3 yrs in the Marine's..68/71....very heavily Italian then though I'm of Scottish and Irish descent....i thought it was a great place to grow up then. Nutley was another place i hung out and still like....I had a gf in Clifton near the Nutley border and hung in a bar then called the Canary Inn...we liked going there cause it was open until 3 AM..LOL...Girls name was Linda Hoffman...
Same here in Ridgewood. Probably had something to do with people stealing cabbage from farms back in the day. Funny how regional the name is. Mischief, Devils, Goosy Night, Hell Night etc.
It does in my town, you look for cars or homes with Pen St or Syracuse stuff on them.
northern NJ - Goosey Night! that is the proper and only name
Hell Night was an North Jersey thing in the worst neighborhoods aka projects in Newark, Irvington, the oranges, etc. It was a term used in the late 1970's and 1980's. I don't think anyone calls it that anymore. That said, I wouldn't go there late tonight if I were you.
Just in case
Just in case
Ah Mischief Night...
When I was a kid, this was my favorite night of the year. Me and my pals would head out just after dark to see what kind of mischief we could get into. You know, the usual stuff: rapes, muggings, vandalizing store fronts. When we were in our teens, we'd even take down a 7/11 or two just for laughs.
Those were the days. Nowadays, you get arrested for tossing toilet paper up a tree. SMH
When I was a kid, this was my favorite night of the year. Me and my pals would head out just after dark to see what kind of mischief we could get into. You know, the usual stuff: rapes, muggings, vandalizing store fronts. When we were in our teens, we'd even take down a 7/11 or two just for laughs.
Those were the days. Nowadays, you get arrested for tossing toilet paper up a tree. SMH
Don't worry, Ferguson, Missouri carried on your traditions.
I have been researching this (informally) ever since I entered Rutgers College in 1967 from Fair Lawn, and to my surprise, kids from central Jersey had never heard if Goosey Night. From what I have learned, it seems Goosey Night originated in Paterson and spread to towns settled by Patersonians.
Willingboro was North Jersey to this kid in Vineland.
And mischief night was amateur night, kind of like drunks feel about St Patrick's Day. The real fun was in late December, taking thrown out Christmas trees off of curbs & into the woods. Let them dry up real good and in early February pull them out to the road, light 'em up & run before they flare up 30 feet & the cops are called. By the time the cops get there, they're out.
I had thought maybe you were from Camden.Hell Night was an North Jersey thing in the worst neighborhoods aka projects in Newark, Irvington, the oranges, etc. It was a term used in the late 1970's and 1980's. I don't think anyone calls it that anymore. That said, I wouldn't go there late tonight if I were you.
Just in case
Was scheduled for WHS class of 81. Moved from WIllingboro (Twin Hills) to Central Jersey in March of my Junior year. (That was fun)
In Highland Park it was a major event. The last year I remember was in the early 70's when a van with Indiana plates got attacked while sitting at a light on route 27/Raritan avenue .There were so many eggs and shave cream and some unidentifiable lab creations fired at them that they could not see through the windows to drive and were too shocked or petrified to exit the vehicle. At the time at 15 years old I was just beaming with pride but now all these years later? Still beaming. Good times. Good times...imp:
imp:My Goosey night Moment of Glory came when a buddy of mine and I found a "Anarchist's Cookbook" recipe for homemade napalm.
A quart of diesel, a few crumbled up styrofoam plates, a half bar of shaved Ivory soap and a few globs of Vaseline. We put it in a glass jar and let the plates "dissolve." We fitted it with a molotov cocktail style fuse. We lit it and threw it on the parking lot of our grammar school. It burned so hot it melted a 18"x18"x6" deep hole in the pavement. lol. I never ran so hard, for so long in my entire life. lol
A quart of diesel, a few crumbled up styrofoam plates, a half bar of shaved Ivory soap and a few globs of Vaseline. We put it in a glass jar and let the plates "dissolve." We fitted it with a molotov cocktail style fuse. We lit it and threw it on the parking lot of our grammar school. It burned so hot it melted a 18"x18"x6" deep hole in the pavement. lol. I never ran so hard, for so long in my entire life. lol
I loved mischief night. Never anything that bad. Mainly soaping car windows and ringing door bells. TP was not in the mix. Always one kid who snuk out eggs. The fun was always getting chased by the guys who would take your baseball or wiffle ball if it landed in his yard. They would spend the night looking out the window.
Seels, where you at in JT?
Seels, where you at in JT?
Every once in a while I'll tell my kids some of the glory days stories when my mom is around. The faces are fantastic.
In Belleville it was Mischief Night; where I work (Elmwood Park) I've heard the kids call it Goosey Night but no one has really mentioned it in a few years now. IMO 9/11 was a big factor in its de-emphasis over the years. After we had such a devastating/impactful event I think the "mayhem" from something like a Mischief Night just left a bad taste in everyone's mouth.
As a kid I remember 'pumpkin smashing' being a big thing on Mischief Night (and my house got hit a few times with that). Also remember stuff like 'ring and run', kids TP'ing bushes/ trees, etc.
Joe P.
As a kid I remember 'pumpkin smashing' being a big thing on Mischief Night (and my house got hit a few times with that). Also remember stuff like 'ring and run', kids TP'ing bushes/ trees, etc.
Joe P.
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Yeah JoeRU...yer a Belleville guy....my friends and i picked the wrong house in the Valley with the dog crap in the bag doorbell thing in 62 and a big Korean War vet chased and caught a ''tough'' friend of mine and tied him to a tree...we laugh today about it but was scary then..
Joe was it you who had some Polish ancestry and a dad grew up in 60/70s Belleville...wouldn't be Moraski/Rosamilia would it...Yosh...
And the ones that do get a visit from the BATFE
Hey Nicky, my family was from Italy on both sides (Dad graduated BHS in '78; I followed in '98). I actually just got back from walking my dog about a mile and a half (Hawthorne) and outside of the remnants of 1 egg on the ground I saw absolutely nothing of note.
Joe P.
Joe P.
I never did a full cruise in the Navy.
The cool kids get flown on and off ships to do their jobs and come home.
Boats make me sea sick anyway.