rent party

American  

noun

1. (especially during the Great Depression) a party with music and dancing, given to raise money for the host's rent by collecting a contribution from each guest.

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Etymology

Origin of rent party

An Americanism dating back to 1925–30

Example Sentences

The company also said it was launching an option this summer to rent party and coach buses, and passenger vans through its U.S. app in collaboration with rental service US Coachways.

From Reuters • May 16, 2022

Langston Hughes even kept a collection of rent party advertisements from the Harlem Renaissance period.

From Slate • Jul. 23, 2020

At a rent party that Abbi’s friend Ilana hosts, she trips over her guests as she tries to shield them from the rats that have overrun her 550-square-foot two-bedroom in Gowanus, Brooklyn.

From New York Times • Sep. 16, 2016

The idea is as old as passing a hat, "an Internet version of a rent party," quipped Barbara Koenen, director of the Chicago Artists Resource.

From Chicago Tribune • Mar. 9, 2011

With the food going, the music blowing, 145th Street was like a huge rent party without the door charge.

From "145th Street: Short Stories" by Walter Dean Myers