Several centuries ago, Western Europeans believed All
Hallows Eve, or Hallowe’en, was the night when all departed souls had the
chance to wander the Earth and seek vengeance on their enemies. In order to not
be recognized, those living began disguising themselves in costumes. The
tradition continued in one form or another and eventually was brought to the
New World.
In 19th century America, Halloween became more
about costumes and sweets, and costume parades and parties became popular.
Gradually, only children were expected to dress up for Halloween, and costumes
were usually homemade. These photos date back about 100 years.
With the growth in popularity of trick-or-treating during
the 1930s, retailers began producing and selling costumes in stores. The
costumes depicted everything from Uncle Sam to scary monsters from those new
Hollywood movies. Some of the masks alone were pretty creepy, even the homemade
ones.
In the 1950s, costumes started becoming more elaborate.
For Halloween 2014, the most popular costume for girls is predicted
to be Elsa from the movie Frozen. And
there will be plenty of boys going as Spiderman, according to the costume
manufacturers.
Thankfully, dressing up in a scary pumpkin head seems to
have gone out of fashion, for now anyway.
Happy Halloween!
Fun pictures thank you. We don't celebrate Halloween here.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the history and pics!
ReplyDeleteMy sister, brother, and I had a ball on Halloween. Our mom made our sacks out of pillowcases, and we made a haul in our neighborhood. It was good fun. As we outgrew trick-or-treating, people were starting to hand out filth, and we'd hear about needles hidden in apples. Nowadays, I hear about Halloween as a sinister occasion that we shouldn't be involved in, but as kids, we were oblivious to all that. It was simply a fun time to dress up in silly costumes and get candy.
ReplyDeleteHalloween is a holiday that's changed over the years--for the better, I think.
ReplyDelete