Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(orig. US black) a party where the guests buy their refreshments to help pay the rent.

1933		W. Wilson ‘Gimme a Pigfoot’ 🎵 They all congregate at an all-night strut / And what they do is tut-tut-tut .
1938		D. Burley N.Y. Amsterdam News 12 Mar. 17: The old ‘down home house rent strut’ days.
1993		(con. 1930s) I.L. Allen City in Sl. (1995) 75: Some Harlemites called these rent parties jumps, shouts, or struts. The frenetic dancing at rent parties was why they were also called house hops and jump joints.