{"id":53677,"date":"2019-10-30T10:46:58","date_gmt":"2019-10-30T14:46:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=53677"},"modified":"2023-09-22T11:31:53","modified_gmt":"2023-09-22T15:31:53","slug":"halloween-costumes-from-past-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/halloween-costumes-from-past-years.html","title":{"rendered":"Halloween Costumes from Past Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega searches old newspapers to see what costumes were used in Halloweens past. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Halloween is tomorrow and it\u2019s the night that the parade of goblins and spooks come to their neighbors\u2019 doors hoping for lots of treats without any tricks. Growing up, my costume usually consisted of what we had around the house that we could use to create a Halloween look. Later, I thought I had become much cooler when my parents broke down and allowed the purchase of an \u201cofficial\u201d Halloween costume that came in a box with the cellophane window \u2013 complete with a plastic mask and outfit that made us sweat in the not-quite-fall Southern California weather.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: the author and her brother ready for Halloween in the 1970s. Credit: Gena Philibert-Ortega.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Looking through GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a>, it\u2019s interesting to find styles of Halloween costumes and how they reflect the time period and popular culture. While old newspaper articles do give ideas for how to put together a costume inexpensively, I also found articles dating back to the early 20th century for stores boasting of their ready-made costumes or their selection of fabrics so that you could make your own costume. Whether the costume was homemade or purchased, it\u2019s obvious that people have long enjoyed the day off from reality that Halloween provides.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a quick look back at some easy-to-make costumes from yesteryear.<\/p>\n

1920s<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, what were the costumes from the Flapper age like? This 1922 newspaper article suggests starting with a slip or some other cloth foundation and then adding to it \u201ctulle, crepe paper or cheesecloth.\u201d Costume ideas run the gamut of plant life, such as a rose or a turnip, to people such as a Hawaiian dancer.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Flint Journal (Flint, Michigan), 28 October 1922, page 5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1930s<\/strong><\/p>\n

Betty Furness, an actress who later worked in consumer affairs, shares some of her ideas for Halloween costumes in this newspaper article from 1937. Her illustrated ideas include a Merry-Go-Round, Buck Rogers, and the perennial favorite \u2013 a ghost which requires a \u201chair of serpentine, big home-made cotton gloves, a white satin gown, and a thin white veil.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buck Rogers was most likely a popular choice. He was introduced in 1928, but by the 1930s he started having space adventures which might have influenced the costume shown in this article.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio), 24 October 1937, page 46<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1950s<\/strong><\/p>\n

If all you want is that one thing that will make the difference between \u201cevery day\u201d to \u201cHalloween festive,\u201d you could make a skeleton mask or a witch\u2019s hat from items in your house, according to this newspaper article from 1955. The skeleton mask uses tin foil and is molded to the wearer\u2019s face.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Seattle, Washington), 28 October 1955, page 37<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1960s<\/strong><\/p>\n

For those who need something FAST and really have to use what they have on hand, you could take this flippant suggestion from a 1967 newspaper advice column to \u201cCinderella\u201d who didn\u2019t want to spend any money on the costume party she was attending.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Chicago Daily News (Chicago, Illinois), 11 October 1967, page 38<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1970s<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fast forward to the 1970s and easy-to-make costumes are still important, but the suggestions are different and include a pumpkin, a clown, and a tom cat. This article points out that \u201cUnusual Halloween costumes are relatively easy and inexpensive to make\u2026 the biggest expenditure is time, and with a young child that’s always time well spent.\u201d Other costume ideas mentioned that seem to never go out of style include witches, demons, and pirates.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
State Times Advocate (Baton Rouge, Louisiana), 23 October 1977, page 60<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Who Will You Be This Year?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now\u2019s the time to figure out the answer to that question. Luckily historical newspapers might give you an easy, cheap, and unusual answer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega searches old newspapers to see what costumes were used in Halloweens past.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":53713,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12703],"tags":[5561,59],"class_list":["post-53677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holidays","tag-costumes","tag-halloween"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/illustration-1031-2019-featured-graphic-halloween.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53677"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53677\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94797,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53677\/revisions\/94797"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}