For many years, one of the major civic celebrations in New York City was Evacuation Day, which was celebrated each November 25th to mark the day the Americans secured the city following the end of hostilities with the British. Several years later, President George Washington issued a proclamation decreeing that a day of “public thanksgiving and prayer” would be held on November 26th, 1789. This proclamation was very much in line with the older tradition of declaring days of thanksgiving, which had roots going back to early Christian and Pagan rituals.
These days of thanks were often decreed by religious leaders seeking to reinforce something that they viewed as divine providence, such as a victory in battle or signing of a favorable treaty (one must note that this day did of course not apply to those, often Native peoples or other groups, who were vanquished or displaced as a result). Although these observances are often associated with practices in and around New England, days of thanks were observed in New Netherland as well. On September 6th, 1645, one such thanksgiving marked the end of Kieft’s War. Another was held in 1654 to give thanks for the peace treaty between the Dutch and British that ended the First Anglo-Dutch War.
After the British takeover of New Netherland in 1664, the periodic days of thanksgiving remained. These days could also be declared when a great natural phenomena appeared, such as the comet that shone in the sky in 1680, or to celebrate the King’s birthday or that the Queen was pregnant. However, throughout the 18th century, fewer days of thanksgiving were held, and public celebrations centered around parades and marches. By the 1780s, July 4th and Evacuation Day were being solidified as the two biggest civic observances, and there were additional processions for special occasions such as in 1788, where the city turned out for a massive parade in honor of the ratification of the Constitution.
The Hamilton float going around Bowling Green. To the left is old Fort George, which was demolished in 1790. The Kennedy Mansion at 1 Broadway was where George Washington stayed in 1776, and it was used as the headquarters for British commanders during the occupation of the city. From The story of the city of New York by Charles Burr Todd.
Patriotic events, particularly those centering around connections to the Revolutionary War, would continue to be held throughout the 1800s, such as the tremendous reception given to the Marquis de Lafayette when he began his grand tour of the United States in 1824, and the semi-centennial of Washington’s Inauguration in 1839. The city also celebrated important advancements such as the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, and the opening of the Croton Aqueduct in 1842. Military parades were routinely held to honor veterans and mark significant victories. Other opportunities for revelry came when notable figures visited the city, such as the singer Jenny Lind in 1850, General Louis Kossuth the next year, and the visit of the Prince of Wales in 1860.
These occasions often had both private and public elements, and it was from the latter that an interesting tradition arose. New Yorkers would often stage their own festivities as an addition to the other official events. These soon took on a life of their own, drawing upon occasions such as Guy Fawkes Night, along with numerous folk traditions such as mumming and mummer’s plays, of which many immigrants who had come to New York would have been well aware. By the 1850s, groups were organizing into small bands, with some overlap between the local shooting societies, fire companies, and neighborhood gangs. They would periodically dress up and parade around the city on Christmas, New Year’s, July 4th, and Thanksgiving, which had been a New York State holiday since 1817, observed on the second Thursday in November.
These “fantasticals” or “fantastics,” as they were called, had colorful names such as the Original Hounds, who were said to be the oldest such group in the city. Others included the Ham Guard Warriors, Gilhooley Musketeers, Square Back Rangers of Cherry Street, Fly Away Volunteers, Gashouse Rangers, the Secondhand Lumber Dealers’ Association, Washington Hook and Ladder Company, Frog Hollow Guards, and the Young Can’t Agrees. In addition to the Manhattan groups, others were formed in the Bronx, such as the Mott Haven Guard; Brooklyn, such as the Slyckville Slenderfoot Army, Mackrelville Rangers, and the Narrowbacks; Staten Island, such as the Only Original Hound Guards; Long Island, such as the Green Rangers and the Ragamuffin Guards; and New Jersey, such as the Horse Marines and the West Hoboken Fantastical Guards.
A Fantasticals parade, 1867. Groups as large as 200 people would gather early in the day, often starting it off with copious amounts of alcohol, and muster en force to begin their journey throughout the streets of the city. Their homemade costumes were often highly outlandish, and, as shown in this view, could sometimes reflect the racist or anti-immigrant perspectives of the group’s members. From Harper’s Weekly, January 12, 1867.
The groups, which included both men and women, dressed up in equally colorful homespun costumes with painted masks, gaudy hats, and splashy banners they held up high. Occasionally they all wore costumes based on a coordinated theme. Other times, the members could outfit themselves however they liked. They dressed as historic figures, military heroes, kings and queens, old Knickerbockers, literary characters, animals, clowns, fairies, wizards, witches, and all manner of imaginative creatures.
Each company had a designated “captain” who would lead the group, and they would parade up and down the streets, dancing to the music from their accompanying bands and delighting passers by and folks peering down from their windows to behold the spectacle. Some would “tax” people by asking them for food or money, and they often stopped at favorite inns and bars to grab a drink before heading on. Many groups would go together to one of the various pleasure grounds to go shooting and riding, often making the journey uptown, to Brooklyn, Staten Island, or New Jersey. Others held dances and concerts, and would do so for the other holidays such as Christmas or New Year’s.
Newly arrived immigrants eating their Thanksgiving dinner in Battery Park. From Harper’s Weekly, November 29, 1884.
Children often followed the fantasticals around, and emulated their elders, dressing in their own homemade costumes for the day. Over time the little followers cultivated a distinctive tradition of their own, and borrowed the idea of the fantastical “tax.” They would dress in increasingly absurd ensembles, with clothes, hats, and accessories that were pilfered from family members, and run around blowing horns and banging drums. Some would approach people in the streets, hoping for a penny or some food to put in their basket. It was reported that as they did this they would say “anything for Thanksgiving?”
Ragamuffins approaching wealthy people on Fifth Avenue to beg for pennies. From Leslie’s Weekly Volume 99, July-December 1904.
By the turn of the 20th century, the old “ranger” parades, as the fantasticals parades were then referred, had largely been surpassed by the ragamuffin parades, and it became the habit of the youngest New Yorkers to don their costumes and join their friends and neighbors for a bit of revelry. Sometimes they included their canine companions in the fun. A few neighborhoods even organized the parades for the children, closing the streets for floats to be pulled along to the delight of the youngsters.
A scene from a Brooklyn ragamuffin parade. These children dressed up their best friend for the occasion. From The Brooklyn Eagle Friday December 1st, 1905.
The ragamuffin parades continued throughout the 1920s, although newspapers decried the aspect of children begging for money and treats. In an attempt to curtail this, the Madison Square Boys’ Club began holding its own ragamuffin parade, offering prizes for the best costumes. However, the tradition remained for several decades before gradually falling out of favor, with dressing up and parading around for treats considered better suited as a Halloween activity. However, some areas maintained the tradition over the years. Today, ragamuffin parades are still held, perhaps the best known of which is the parade held each September in Bay Ridge.
Some zany ragamuffin costumes. The mumming tradition that they emulated is perhaps best reflected in the Philadelphia Mummers parade held each New Year’s Day. From The Evening World, Thursday November 30, 1905.