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Commonwealth Museum   Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin
Commonwealth Museum Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin

Halloween Tricks

Pope Night in Boston, Library of Congress
Pope Night in Boston
- Library of Congress 
There is also the tradition of vandalism on Halloween (the “trick” element.) Some relate this to “Guy Fawkes Day.”
It commemorated the suppression of a plot by Catholic dissidents to blow up the English parliament. Celebrated on November 5 it was called “Pope Night” in colonial Boston. Members of the North and South End gangs fought damaging street battles. Although the connection is not perfectly clear, and “Guy Fawkes Day” seems like a stretch, something about the early evening darkness created problems in many places at that time of year. Halloween was another example.