From rite of passage to rap sheet: The year Marshfield said ‘enough’

By the 1930s, Halloween became a “rite of passage” for adolescent boys.
Halloween night transformed American towns into stages for youthful mischief, where teenage boys proved their courage and cunning through increasingly bold pranks — sometimes even elaborate acts of vandalism that communities grudgingly accepted.

For some, the pranks had served as an informal test of manhood—a way for boys to demonstrate their transition toward adulthood by outwitting authority figures and executing plans that required cooperation, stealth and physical daring.

Though property damage was hardly admirable, these Halloween adventures created bonds between participants and gave them stories they would retell for decades.

By Halloween 1935, Marshfield had reached its breaking point with Halloween pranks, after 30 street direction signs were knocked over and broken.

The following day, a reward was being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the vandals.

Public Works Board Chair Leo Fehrenbach pointed out that the signs were “expensive and that replacement would cause the city considerable expense.

Apparently, the signs were broken by an automobile,” he said.

A number of advertising signs were also down and moved to new locations.

The following year, the city took things more seriously.

“Tonight is Halloween, when sheet-draped ‘spooks’ roam abroad and jack-o-lanterns leer through windows,” an Oct. 31, 1936, News-Herald article stated. “And that is about the extent that Halloween pranks will be allowed to go (on) in Marshfield, Chief of Police William Paape has warned.

“There will be six special police cars cruising the streets of Marshfield tonight to keep Halloween damage to a minimum.

“The boys and girls who enjoy a little innocent fun and bring no harm to no one or to any property need fear nothing from police. But there the fun-making must stop.”

That year, about 25 young men were charged with vandalism.
“True to their word, police were busy Saturday night holding in check the would-be funsters who carried their fun beyond the bounds of propriety,” the News Herald stated.

“The roundup amounted to some 25 boys, 16 to 18 years of age, and four of them appeared in municipal court this morning. Judge M.E. Adler ordered them to get busy with brooms and shovels and clean up the garbage cans they spilled, put back all the property they moved, fix the fences they broke down.

“When the boys objected that they ‘weren’t the only ones,’ the judge ordered them to get the rest of their gang to help. And he ordered police officers to supervise the job to see that it was well done.”

One of the officers said that a “victim” praised the young men, stating, “You can thank them for me for tearing down the picket fence that I’ve wanted to get rid of for a long time.”