This tradition started because Halloween pranks had gotten out of hand, resulting in hundreds of calls to the police department and a number of arrests for vandalism. In 1938 some 550 calls to report vandalism were made to the police. In an effort to address the problem, October 30 was designated as Beggars' Night and the emphasis was on harmless "tricks" such as a song or poem or stunt or musical number ... which has evolved into jokes.
In recent years the number of kids visiting our house has dropped off, but most of the ones that came did have jokes to share. Tonight I was very much surprised that hardly any of those visiting us had jokes to tell. "Do you have a joke?", I asked one little boy dressed up as one of the modern super heroes I don't recognize. "No," he said. "I just want candy."
Another little boy, also without a joke, wasn't content to have me hand out candy. He reached up and grabbed the large bowl I was holding and barked, "I want to get my own candy!" I informed him that I would be handing out the candy ... and somehow managed to avoid him tipping out the contents of the bowl.
Some typical examples of Beggars' Night jokes from previous years:
- Why didn't the skeleton cross the street? Because he didn't have any guts.
- What do skeletons say before they begin dining? Bone appetit!
- Where do baby ghosts go during the day? Day-scare centers.
- What is a ghost's favorite syrup flavor? Boo-berry.
- What is a mummy's favorite type of music? Rap music.
- Why do witches wear name tags? Because they can't tell which witch is which.
- How do you light up a soccer stadium? With a soccer match. (Not a Halloween joke, I know, but better than nothing.)
- And -- the most questionable joke of the evening -- Have you seen the movie "Constipated" yet? Of course not; it hasn't come out yet!
Happy Halloween, er, Beggars' Night!
1 comment:
It annoys me that kids don't tell jokes out here in Utah. I think they should have to work a little harder for their candy, like we had to! ;)
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