Posted on 11/01/2019 8:39:18 AM PDT by C19fan
It hasn’t happened in nearly thirty-five years, but Michigan residents are finally seeing brighter Octobers. It is a reputation Michiganders are happy to let go. Along with being home to some of the nation’s roughest cities, Michigan is also the only state in the union to ever have a problem with Devil’s night.
Randolph Nilson is familiar with the day and says, “On Devils night it would be the night before Halloween and that’s when people would go out and do mischievous things.”
At its height in the mid-eighties as many as 800 fires would burn across Michigan cities in one night. That could include both abandoned houses and cars, all for fun.
(Excerpt) Read more at abc10up.com ...
“Mischief Night” here in central NJ, though I don’t think a lot of kids do much of it anymore.
Every night is Devils Night in Chicago.
I never heard of the night before Halloween being called anything or of any mischief until this year.
Kids today
Too busy playing video games.
Lazy pukes.
I lived in Michigan in the late 80’s. It was a real serious deal.
Not only in Detroit but in smaller cities like Flint, Lansing and Saginaw. A lot of it teens who were really looking to cause havoc. Some of it neighbors who saw no other option to make the local crack house go away.
Detroit has torn down whole neighborhoods of abandoned houses.
So has other cities like Youngstown.
Mischief Night was big in my grandparents time and place (Newark, NJ - 1930s/40s). Mostly petty vandalism and fights back then. By the time I arrived, it had died as a tradition although shaving cream fights were popular on halloween on Long Island in the 1980s.
Good news. Thanks for posting. HOORAY Detroiters!
They grew old.
A crack house in the Bronx would still cost you $350K to purchase at minimum once the crackheads are chased out. It’s a different world.
That sounds like a typical holiday evening in the better neighborhoods of Paris, and various cities of Sweden.
When I was a kid it was called “beggars night”, and it was just an extra night to go out and get more candy. lol
Not too many kids did it because it wasn’t very successful. lolol
Worst thing I did was hit some kid in the face with a bag of flour. I paid dearly for that one.
From what I’m hearing things in Detroit have gotten a whole lot better since they declared bankruptcy. Money that had previously all been going to pensions is now available to pay for street lights, infrastructure repairs and the demolition of abandoned buildings.
Of course if you’re a retired Detroit cop or firefighter you took one up the shorts.
Grew up there in the 70s... Fond memories of Devil’s night.. Thought folks all over did it like that...
Two words — Alice Cooper.
In the Deep South we only had Halloween
Egging mostly
Alice Cooper? Devil’s Night?
Then I have the article for you;
https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8541651/jack-white-alice-cooper-parkinsons-benefit-detroit
Jack White and Alice Cooper Trade Stories, Talk Baseball at Special Parkinson’s Benefit In Detroit
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