Halloween in New Jersey has been a community affair for well over a century. One of the earliest examples dates to 1909, when clowns from the Hollywood Charity Amateur Circus performed at Monmouth Memorial Hospital to raise funds for the facility.
Clowns from the Hollywood Charity Amateur Circus took a break to pose for a photo before a fundraising performance at Monmouth Memorial Hospital in 1909. Courtesy of the Pach Collection.
By 1915, even law enforcement got into the spirit. The New Jersey Association of Police Chiefs dressed as convicts for a fundraising dinner at Olympic Park in Irvington — using humor to support their community.
The New Jersey Association of Police Chiefs dressed as convicts for a fundraising dinner held at Olympic Park in Irvington in 1915. Courtesy of the New Jersey Historical Society.
Parades became a cornerstone of the holiday across the state. Fair Lawn’s annual costume parade circled Memorial Park, drawing large crowds year after year.
Participants in Fair Lawn’s annual costume parade are shown in this undated photo. The parade traveled around Memorial Park. Courtesy of the Fair Lawn Historic Preservation Commission.
Linden staged a major parade in 1952, with marchers filling the 300 block of Wood Avenue. Children from the Morristown Neighborhood House, founded in 1898, also gathered to watch their local parade in October 1948.
Marchers in Linden’s 1952 Halloween parade pass the 300 block of Wood Avenue. Courtesy of the Linden Historical Soicety.Children from Morristown Neighborhood House, founded in 1898, are shown watching a Halloween parade in October 1948. Courtesy of Neighborhood House.
The Little Silver Fire Department sponsored its own annual parade, as documented in photos from 1974. In Clementon, festivities expanded beyond marching — children used washable paints to decorate local storefronts in window-painting contests.
The annual Halloween parade sponsored by the Little Silver Fire Department is shown in this 1974 photo. Courtesy of the Little Silver Fire Department.Some of the participants in Clementon’s annual Halloween parade are shown in this undated photo. Activities also included window-painting contests, where children used washable paints to decorate storefronts. Courtesy of the Borough of Clementon.
Local contests and school parties were equally popular. Highland Park’s Herman Katz Day included a costume contest, and the 1954 winners were photographed for the record. Younger children celebrated at places like the Red Bank Manor Nursery School, which hosted parties in a basement on Spring Street in the early 1950s.
Herman Katz Day in Highland Park featured an annual costume contest; here are the 1954 winners. Courtesy of the Highland Park Historical Society.A photo of an early-1950s Halloween party at the Red Bank Manor Nursery School in Red Bank. The school was located in the basement of the apartments on Spring Street. Courtesy of the Red Bank Historic Preservation Commission.
Trick-or-treating stretched across decades and neighborhoods. In 1944, three children stood ready on the corner of East 25th Street and Eighth Avenue in Paterson. By 1976, a group of six children in Edison sat together sorting through their candy haul.
Three unidentified children are ready for trick-or-treating in Paterson as seen in this 1944 photo taken at East 25th Street and Eighth Avenue. Courtesy of the Passaic County Historical Society.Six unidentified children are shown sorting through their goodies after trick or treating in Edison in 1976. Star-Ledger archive photo.
Backyards and shore landmarks made equally memorable backdrops. In 1975, Peter Wahler, Beth Starr, and Pam Spiwak posed in a Cranbury backyard dressed as doctors and patients. In 1973, Helen Howard and her daughter Gerry visited the Castle of Frankenstein on Fun Pier in Wildwood, where vampire character Jamie James joined the fun.
Is there a doctor in the backyard? From left, Peter Wahler, Beth Starr and Pam Spiwak posed for this photo in 1975 in Cranbury. Courtesy of the Cranbury Historic and Preservation Society.Helen Howard, center, is about to experience love at first bite from vampire Jamie James in front of the Castle of Frankenstein on Fun Pier in Wildwood in 1973. Helen’s daughter Gerry is the ghoul on the left. Courtesy of Larry Mosher.
Kevin Clark is a historian and writer who is passionate about sharing the stories and significance behind historical photos. He loves to explore hidden histories and cultural contexts behind the images, providing a unique insight into the past.
