By Larry Clinton, Sausalito Historical Society
ILLUSTRATION FROM 1940S TEXTBOOK
Over the decades, Sausalito’s leaders learned that organized fun can help cut down on Hallowe’en vandalism.
Back in 1905, the Sausalito News reported on a themed costume party that got a bit out of hand:
Hallowe'en was very delightfully celebrated at the Lantern Club by the giving of a "Looking Backwards" party, which proved to be one of the most enjoyable affairs which has taken place in Sausalito in many a day. The club rooms were very attractively decorated in true old Hallowe'en fashion. Pumpkin faces looked out from everywhere, and very clever faces they were, too. There was nothing lacking in Hallowe'en decorations and good old Hallowe'en fun. Most of the merry makers arrived in dominoes and all sorts of masks — both fore and aft. Many of the makeups were highly amusing. The music was good, and about midnight a light supper was indulged in. Downstairs the card players enjoyed five hundred [a popular social card game back in those days].
However, the paper’s unnamed “lady reporter,” noted:
It is whispered about that many of the youngsters of the most staid residents quite overdid the Hallowe'en celebrating by removing gates and doing many other seemingly harmless things. But lo! there is trouble brewing! Boys will be boys!
By 1939, the paper was warning residents: “Hallowe’en Fun OK—But Don’t Go Too Far”:
The News does not wish to interfere with any youngster’s fun on Hallowe’en night, October 31, but we advise all the younger generation in Sausalito to be careful that their mischievousness does not outstep the bounds of harmless fun. For Police Chief Antone Quadros announced this week that he would have twelve special cops on duty Hallowe'en night to see that no damage is done to property.
In the 1940s, a safe and sane Hallowe’en parade was established by a young men’s group called the
Sausalito 20-30 Club: Here’s how the Sausalito News announced the group’s seventh annual Hallowe’en parade in 1947.:
The parade will start at 7 p.m. at the firehouse, Johnson and Caledonia streets. All members of the 20-30 Club will be in costume, and the club will sponsor a special float on a Hallowe’en theme. Other floats may also participate, joining the costumed children. Ice cream and cookies will be served by the P-T-A, after prizes have been awarded for the best costumes in all age groups. Every child who enters the parade will receive a gift from the 20-30 Club, and any child planning to enter is reminded that he or she has only one week more in which to get that costume ready.
In Marin City the Community Service office announced a similar event. According to the paper:
In an effort to insure well-mannered spooks and goblins, come Hallowe’en, come October 31, plans got under way last week for a gigantic party for all of Marin City’s children. The program will open with a big parade held at the school grounds, with a prize awarded to some lucky student from each grade, for the best costume. Following the parade, the children will march into the Auditorium for a program which is still in the planning stage. The Boy Scouts will present a skit and the Sunday school children of the Community church will contribute to the program. There will also be a 20-minute movie, probably of cartoons suitable for Hallowe’en. A half-hour show is planned by members of the Carolyn Snowden school of the dance from San Francisco. Further details will be announced letter. Project Services, who are sponsoring the gigantic party, are asking for 30 adult volunteers, in order to place adults at the end of every four rows in the Auditorium, and to help in the distribution of treats to be given at the end of the program. In asking for volunteers, Mrs. Ethel Johnson, director of Project Services, said: “Everyone in the community has a stake in the Hallowe’en festivities. We feel that if the children are provided with an evening’s entertainment, that will forestall the usual mischief which is typical of Hallowe’en and often is destructive to community property.’’
The strategy must have worked, because on November 3, the paper reported:
Treats instead of tricks occupied Marin City youngsters so successfully last Sunday night that sheriff’s deputies reported no serious incidents in the celebration of Hallowe’en. Complaints to the sheriff’s office involved only one broken streetlight and one shattered car window. Deputies cruising Mann City on the lookout for mischief makers were able to stop trouble brewing before it came to a boil. They found hundreds of children of all ages and sizes, dresses in a weird assortment of masks and costumes, knocking at doors for treats on their way to and from the Hallowe'en party sponsored by the Go-Getters and Community Services. Several residents of Marin City estimated they each passed out treats to approximately 75 children between the hours of six and ten Hallowe'en night. Mrs. Dorothy Crawford of Dot’s Sweet Shop stated that she gave away 500 bags of candy, a tray of doughnuts, and “more bubble gum than I could count.”
Enjoy Sausalito’s 79th Hallowe’en parade.