Just like fashion has evolved throughout history, so too have Halloween costumes. Over the years, the costumes have transitioned from truly frightening, homemade disguises to ward off bad spirits, to costumes that were often mass-produced. The costumes of the past were often truly ghoulish rather than just horror-inspired. And when the pictures of the old costumes are colorized, the horror becomes more alive.
Source: (Bored Panda/colorized).
The early costumes reflect the history of the holiday itself. It started with a Celtic festival, Samhain. For Samhain, people lit bonfires and donned costumes to keep ghosts away. Samhain marked the end of summer and the return of the darkness of winter. They believed that during Samhain, the gods were visible to mankind and ghosts, faeries and imps roamed freely. This, of course, allowed for supernatural mischief. To ward off that mischief, some gave treats to the gods and others dressed in disguises to keep the spirits from mistaking them for a fellow spirit. Some wore all white, while others dressed up as animals. They built bonfires and made sacrifices, both plant and animal, to the gods. In 9th century Wales, boys and girls dressed up as the opposite gender and went out on the 9th century version of trick-or-treating.
Then Came All Saints Day
Then, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as All Saints Day in the eighth century. In the 11th century, Christianity incorporated Halloween, including costumes, as they attempted to reframe the holiday as its own. All Saints Day began to incorporate parts of Samhain and soon, the night before All Saints Day became known as All Hallows Eve. This, of course, became Halloween. Although people were no longer wearing costumes to disguise themselves from the spirits, but to carry on this part of the tradition.
Souling and Mumming
Source: (Pinterest/colorized).
People wore outfits to represent the souls of the dead in medieval England and Ireland and went from house to house to collect spice-filled “soul cakes” in a Christian custom called “souling.” In the late 15th century, the practice of mumming started, in which people began wearing outfits to personify demons and recited verses, songs, and plays for food.
Perhaps The Real Horror Is Commercialization
Source: (Bored Panda/colorized).
With these roots in warding off evil spirits and honoring the dead, early Halloween costumes in America were terrifying. Halloween was considered a day that was not normal and acting outside of norms was accepted. Halloween costumes served another purpose, as people used them to hide behind and play tricks on their neighbors. Irish and Scottish emigrants to the US in the 18th century brought Halloween with them and once in the new world, it began to spread. During the Victorian era, with the rise of Gothic literature, some of the popular costumes included bats, and ghosts, and some of the costumes were inspired by Egyptian themes. In America, they designed costumes with the items they had available, creating some truly scary disguises. It wasn’t until the 1920s that the first costumes were being manufactured in the U.S. The three biggest companies manufacturing costumes at the time were Collegeville Flag and Manufacturing Company (which got its start as a flag company and switched to costumes in the 1920s), H. Halpern Company, and Ben Cooper. H. Halpern (which was better known as Halco), was the first company to license fictional characters for their costumes and later, Ben Cooper started the trend of dressing up as icons from pop culture. In the 1920s and ‘30s, people also were dressing as pirates, hobos and other people on the fringe of society.
Reframing The Holiday Again
Two more vintage pics which are scary even without the color. Source: (Tumblr).
By the 1940s, perhaps encouraged by the anonymity of costumes, the night had become a night of destruction, with people engaging in pranks and even damaging property. Because of this, people started to try to reframe the holiday once again, making it a holiday for small children. After World War II, the costumes changed to being more fun than terrifying, and people were showing their faces. That’s not to say that scary costumes were no longer worn, but instead, they were inspired by horror movies, especially in the 1970s and ‘80s.
