The chosen date for Beggars Night varies and is typically dependent on the day Halloween falls each year.
[8] In Des Moines Beggars Night falls on October 30 and children ring doorbells, say "Trick or Treat", then tell riddles or jokes such as, "What did the priest say when the church caught on fire?"
[11] The tradition began in 1938, after early Halloween celebrations were rife with violence and vandalism; Beggars Night was adopted in hopes of deterring the chaos and providing a safer environment.
[12] Des Moines and surrounding communities have continued to hold Beggars Nights on October 30 in lieu of traditional Halloween trick-or-treating; city law maintained that date for the next 86 years.
[11] In Columbus, Ohio, a 1954 police report claimed that Halloween festivities had gotten too rowdy, and the city discontinued Trick-or-Treating.
However, the majority of residents (and adjacent neighborhoods of similar socioeconomic status) continue to celebrate Beggars Night.