Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. an organized social event, designed to make money for the sponsor.

1923		H.C. Witwer Fighting Blood 158: I have a terrible time at Barbara Worthington’s racket. The reason is because I don’t dance a stroke!
1927		(con. 1890s) H. Asbury Gangs of N.Y. 270: All gave frequent social affairs, which they called rackets, resorting to intimidation to compel merchants and other business men to buy tickets. These methods were generally adopted by the gangsters [...] and it became customary for a gangster who was widely known as a desperado and a killer to organize an association of which he was the only member, and then give as many rackets in the course of the year as the traffic would bear.
1931		(con. 1900s) C.W. Willemse Behind The Green Lights 139: Picnic grounds were plentiful [...] and every Sunday were occupied by dollar beer ‘rackets’ from distant parts of the city. A ‘racket’ then meaning a gathering, not a type of criminal activity.
1981		H. Gould Fort Apache, The Bronx 90: We were gonna throw a racket for Captain Dugan but with all the different tours and all it just didn’t work out. So we set up a collection to buy him a going away present.

2. a large party.

1882		Buffalo Wkly Exp. (NY) 4 May 1/5: Looks as if I’d been out on a tear last night, a regular howling racket as the boys say’.
1900		Bulletin (Sydney) 17 Feb. 12/3: The ceremony came off (D.V.) at the Australian Church at 8 o’clock, and the rest of the ‘racket’ at Menzies.
1913		T.A. Dorgan in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993) 124: I’m taking you to a swell racket and I don’t want you to pull any of that I seen and I done stuff.
1927		H.C. Witwer Classics in Sl. 68: When this kid found out that the Capulet racket was a mask affair, him and a couple of pals named Benvolio and Mercutio, rents costumes and eases into the house without nobody tumblin’ to who they was.
1934		H. Roth Call It Sleep (1977) 414: Throw a racket up at your joint, will ye? Give him an invite.
1986		C. Stroud Close Pursuit (1988) 32: Stokovich and Dudley had met once, at a pre-racket racket Kennedy had thrown for one of his buddies.
2015		‘Harry Brandt’ Whites 5: Another was last seen at a retirement racket down in the Ninth, so maybe you should find out if he’s in any shape to come in at all.

3. an organized dance, held in a dancehall and frequented by lower-class young people.

1910		Committee of Fourteen Social Evil in N.Y. City 55: Beside the inside dance hall with its bar, there are a number of casinos with small parks adjacent which are used by special clubs, private parties and other organizations for ‘rackets’ and ‘picnics.’.
1913		G.J. Kneeland Commercialized Prostitution in N.Y. City 68: Their halls may be rented [...] for the purpose of giving an ‘affair’ or a ‘racket,’ as a ball is sometimes called.
1943		J. Mitchell McSorley’s Wonderful Saloon (2001) 131: He rewarded some by permitting them to run balls, or ‘rackets’.
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 173/1: Racket, n. [...] 4. Any dance, party, or social function.
1964		H. Selby Jr Last Exit to Brooklyn 86: Murphy tellsim the Raven S.A.C. is goin ta throw a racket soon.
1993		(ref. to ca. 1900) I.L. Allen City in Sl. (1995) 67: In the slang of the day [i.e. 1900], these affairs were called rackets, blow outs, or hops.