Cabbage Night
The most common date for mischief night is October 30th, the day before Halloween, but March 31, the day before April Fool's Day, is becoming a secondary day for mischief.
Traditional practice
Until the nineteenth century, mischief night was celebrated at Halloween (31 October and the eve of winter) or, May Eve (30 April and the eve of summer). the night before Shrove Tuesday and known as Nickanan Night in Cornwall and Dappy-Door Night in Devon) was also celebrated in this way in some places.
In some localities, notably Yorkshire, it occurred on the night before Guy Fawkes Night (4 November) but there are no records of this date being celebrated before the late nineteenth century and it is assumed that festivities were transferred there from the much older folk festivals.
Traditional mischiefs done on this night were:
Knocking and tapping on doors and windows (Knock down ginger)
Daubing objects with whitewash
Smearing of doorknobs with treacle
"T.P.-ing", taking rolls of toilet paper and draping them over trees or homes, etc.
Tying together adjacent door handles to prevent either from opening
Removing gates from their hinges and depositing them elsewhere
Lighting of fires in drainpipes to produce an organ-pipe-like sound
Filling neighbours' yards with forks stuck into the ground
Contemporary practice
The custom survives but often merged with the American Trick or Treat.
In Yorkshire, it is also known as "Miggy Night", "Tick-Tack Night", "Corn Night", "Trick Night" and "Micky Night". In Liverpool, it is known as "Mizzy Night"(but unlike in Yorkshire, it is celebrated on October 30th).
Mischief night is becoming popular in Ireland, where teenagers get the week around Halloween off school.
This means that many of the nights running up to October 31 are used by teenagers for acts of minor vandalism.
In the Philadelphia Region, October 30th is referred to as "Mischief Night" where mischievous teens "practice" by soaping car windows, and in the Northeastern United States as Goosey Night and Doorbell Night. It is always on the evening of October 30, the eve of Halloween.
Detroit's Devil's Night tradition includes vandalism and arson, along with more harmless pranks.
It is known as "Gate Night" in Winnipeg, Canada and as Mat Night in Quebec, Canada, always on the October 30, the eve of Halloween. It is also commonly known as "Devil's Night" in many places throughout Canada.
Orson Welles presented the Mercury Theatre's War of the Worlds on October 30, 1938.
In parts of New Jersey it is also known as "Goosey Night." In Camden, New Jersey, Mischief Night had escalated to the point where widespread arsons were committed in the 1990s. Over 130 arsons were committed in that city on the night of October 30, 1991.
Modern tricks are toilet papering yards and buildings, powder-bombing and egging cars and people and homes, using soap to write on windows, "forking" yards, setting off consumer fireworks and smashing pumpkins and jack-o'-lanterns. For this reason, local grocery stores often refuse to sell eggs to pre-teens/teens around the time of Halloween.
Areas known to use this term include Northern New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Vermont (Knock n' Run Jersey/Philly).