With the dark days of the Great Depression and World War II behind them, Grays Harbor families were ready to celebrate Halloween in style. During the 1950s the Baby Boom generation and their parents transformed the holiday from a night of mischief into a family celebration.
Grays Harbor History: Halloween Celebrations
Halloween became a popular holiday around the turn of the 20th century. Beginning as a night of pranks and petty vandalism, the holiday began to change in the 1930s and war years as more and more children began to trick-or-treat door to door. Besides candy, it was popular to hand out doughnuts, popcorn balls and cookies. A treat was meant to bribe children not to trick homeowners with pranks.
By the 1950s, trick-or-treating was the norm, making the holiday all the more appealing to the growing generation of children. Costumed kids visited their neighbors as well as downtown businesses. In the mid-1950s, local churches began to organize children to “Treat for Others” and collect donations for UNICEF rather than candy.
But despite Halloween’s transformation, pranking and property damage remained a problem during the 1950s. Every year, local police issued warnings and put extra officers on duty. “We want the kids in Aberdeen to have a big time and a lot of fun,” said Aberdeen police chief A.M. Gallagher in 1950, “However, vandalism will not be allowed.”
But officers could not be everywhere. In 1952 alone, 20 Aberdeen streetlights were broken, nine fire hydrants turned on in both Aberdeen and Hoquiam, and the windows of most downtown businesses were soaped. Most miscreants were children and teens. If caught, they were usually let off with a warning like a little boy caught by Hoquiam police hitting another kid and stealing his candy in 1950. After giving the thief a stern lecture, they made him give half his total bag of candy to his victim. This all happened while trick-or-treating at police headquarters!
With so many children out and about on the holiday, safety became all the more important. In 1952 Ellen Quam, children’s librarian at the Aberdeen Public Library, covered a crepe paper tombstone with “clever jingles” warning kids about the consequences of breaking basic safety rules.
“Those ghosts that haunt our streets on Halloween,” concurred Washington State Patrol Chief James A. Pryde in 1955, “are very much alive. Let’s see that they stay alive!”
Grays Harbor Schools Celebrate Halloween
One way to keep kids out of trouble was to hold Halloween activities on or near the holiday. Youth organizations like churches and scouts held parties for their members and the public. Businesses also hosted events. Aberdeen’s Macan and Foss Service Station and Nu-Way Grocery held an annual Halloween party where children in costumes could enjoy hot dogs and games.
Schools also held parties. In 1952 the Aberdeen YMCA sponsored a series of parties at local elementary schools. Civic clubs donated treats. Activities included apple bobbing, doughnuts on strings, riding washtubs, bonfires and ghost stories. They hoped it would keep the “little pseudo ghosts, witches and goblins of grade school age” safe on the holiday, according to an October 31, 1952 article in the Aberdeen World.
That same year over in Hoquiam, the YMCA invited the town’s boys, ages eight through junior high, to a party in their gym on the holiday. They could enjoy pillow fights, pie eating contests, apple bobbing, tug-of-war and a movie. The YMCA women’s auxiliary sponsored the party and served punch and doughnuts to the crowd.
Older children and teens enjoyed costume parties and dances. In 1950, for example, the Girls League of Hoquiam Junior High held their annual jamboree for the school. They decorated the gym with black and orange streamers, coincidently the school’s colors. The Seventh Grade Dramatic Club performed a short play, “Goblin Parade.” There was a costume contest, fortune telling, a choral performance and an eerie piano solo, the “Third Man Theme.”
Halloween Events in Grays Harbor History
While kids had their parties, adults also met in clubs and with friends to celebrate. Groups held parties and dances. The Eagles in both Hoquiam and Aberdeen held annual Halloween night dances, with live music. Dancers could win costume contest prizes.
Spooky movies were also a hit with the adult crowd. D and R Theater in Aberdeen held an annual midnight “Shiver Shudder Show” with two “horrific feature pictures” “guaranteed to get the yell out of you!” according to an article in Aberdeen World, October 28, 1950. To make the night even more special, the theater held other events besides the spooky films. In 1952 they had a stage show, “Asylum of Ghouls” and gave away a free jalopy in 1955. Seats cost only a $1.
With a new emphasis on children and community events, Halloween had been transformed. The Aberdeen World published an article from New York that summed it up in 1951, “Halloween Mere Ghost of Old Self,” mourned the title. “A handful of candy paid in tribute to the masked small fry of the neighborhood,” wrote Robert Farrington, “will save you from the fearful depredations of ‘trick or treat night’…. But the mid-century Halloween is a pale, civilized version of a celebration that once kept leading citizens and police chiefs working for days to undo the damage.”
Halloween has changed little since the 1950s. It remains a popular holiday, enjoyed by many. From trick-or-treating to parties or however you may choose to celebrate, here’s wishing you a Happy Halloween, Grays Harbor!
