Miscellany Mondays: Hallowe'en 1951
Disturbing rowdyism mars the Halloween parade
In the weeks leading up to Halloween in 1951, the Andover Townsman newspaper reported with great enthusiasm and fanfare about the third annual community Hallowe’en parade. There were to be small neighborhood parades around town, including Ballardvale, but the main event was downtown.
The event was organized by a number of civic organizations including the Andover Recreation committee, American Legion, the Disabled American veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Andover Youth Center, the PTA groups of West, Ballardvale, Indian Ridge, and Central schools, the Firemen’s Relief Association, Andover Service Club, and middle school and high school students and teachers.
Andover Townsman, October 11, 1951
“A Hallowe’en observance that will surpass all previous celebrations of its kind is in the making for the youngsters of the town…The highlight of the occasion will be the big parade downtown starting at 6:30pm, when all the youngsters in costume will march up Main Street to Memorial Auditorium were another exciting entertainment will be provided.”
Children from the Indian Ridge School (on Cuba Street, since demolished) and Ballardvale would board buses to return to their neighborhoods for their entertainment.
Excitement grew as the big day grew closer.
The parade would be led by the Punchard High School All-Girl band.
An editorial in the October 25th Townsman noted that:
“Hallowe'en is the night for the appearance of hobgoblins on the streets, for the grotesque figures with jack-o-lanterns, for the bobbing for apples, for fun and frolic. It is the night when juvenile energies are looking for some outlet. Too many times in the past such energies have led to mischief and the destruction of property. To direct these energies into some wholesome fun and to provide entertainment without damage to private property the community Hallowe'en party was started in Andover two years ago. It was an immediate success. A year later it was one of the biggest events in the town.”
I didn’t find any mention of the troubles that started two years before in town.
Unfortunately, it appears that even with all the community’s efforts, some disturbing events occurred. From the November 8th Townsman,
Rowdyism Mars Hallowe’en Event
The disturbing element of rowdyism was injected into the community Hallowe’en celebration last Wednesday evening by a small group of boys from Phillips academy.
They participated in a series of events which culminated in police action after complaints had been made that several girls had been molested.
Squads of police officers toured the streets with the girls in police cruisers looking for the culprits. School officials cooperated with the police in an investigation that carried on until midnight and was taken up again Thursday morning during which several boys were at the police station for questioning.
The trouble started as the Hallowe'en parade headed by the All-Girl band of Punchard was going along Main street between lines of hundreds of spectators on the sidewalks. A group of boys came marching four abreast down the street singing and shouting, and before they crashed headlong into the band at Chestnut street, veered up on the sidewalk. They held their ranks and marched along until the band passed them, then turned out into the roadway and broke into the procession.
Some started to snake-dance in and around the rear ranks of the band but after about half a minute of this horse-play pulled out of the parade and started to follow it to the Memorial auditorium. They were denied admission to the auditorium where a special program for children followed the parade. The boys split up into smaller groups, some leaving the immediate area and others milling around where by this time several Punchard students hearing of the disturbance, had gathered. Police which for the evening had been augmented by the auxiliary police, firemen and several veterans in uniform, soon broke up a gathering near Punchard avenue and Bartlet street. Shortly afterward a false alarm was sounded from box 46, Main and Morton streets.
A little later, according to investigating officers, some of the boys joined a group of girls who were making "trick or treat" visits to houses on Morton street. The girls wanted to "shake" the boys, and confiding their intention to the householder were let out the back door while the boys remained in front of the house.
Police report that as soon as they got out of the house the girls began to run and the boys gave chase. The girls went through a hedge, the boys quickly overtook them and it was claimed that a couple were tackled football-style and thrown to the ground.
Complaints brought the police into the picture. Two boys were brought to the station Wednesday night and Chief George A. Dane with Officer James R. Lynch continued the investigation Thursday when others were brought to the station for questioning. During the activity around the police station Wednesday night a young man reported that while his car was parked up near Phillips street a window had been broken.
This editorial appeared in the November 8th issue.
It’s not clear how the “disciplinary action” took place, perhaps through the academy and the parents. The case does not appear to have gone to court. I didn’t find mention of the case in the November or December issues of the Andover Townsman.
Not to be deterred, later in the same November 8th newspaper issue, plans for the upcoming Thanksgiving parade were announced. (Santa arrived by helicopter that year!) But then, Thanksgiving is usually associated with pranks the way Halloween is. That parade appears to have gone of without a hitch.
The All-Girl Band would be a major feature of that parade, as well.
The topic of “Juveniles and Crime” continued into the November 15th issue of the Townsman, with this editorial.
Andover Police Chief George A. Dane was referenced in the same editorial saying that, “while movies and comic books have a lot to do with it, most of the things that contribute to juvenile delinquency to right back to the homes.”
If you’d like to read about Halloween in the 19th century — and the community’s concern about Halloween misbehavior then — click here to read the story on History Buzz. Click here to read a post about Halloween costumes in the History Center’s collection. The two are posts we sent out before we set up History Buzz on Substack. You can explore these two stories, and many more, on History Buzz!
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Thank you!
~Elaine
References:
Digitized versions of the Andover Townsman can be found on the Memorial Hall Library website.
Andover Townsman, October 11, 1951
Andover Townsman, October 18, 1951
Andover Townsman, October 25, 1951