Superheroes and cute creatures are the most popular Halloween costumes today but that hasn’t always been the case.
Most historians trace Halloween back to the Celtic Samhain festival. During the festival, attendees would dress in disguises made of animal skins and heads to hide from wandering spirits.
Medieval Europe adopted Samhain as a Christian holiday, renaming it Halloween after “All Hallow’s Eve.”
People would dress in outfits inspired by souls of the dead and go from house to house gathering treats or spice-filled goodies called “soul cakes.”
Photo of a Samhain celebration. (Contributed/Wikipedia)
Irish and Scottish immigrants brought Halloween to rural America in the 18th century.
People heavily embraced the Pagan roots of the holiday by dressing in homemade scary and macabre costumes.
The goal of early 20th century costumes wasn’t to appear as a specific character or creature but to conceal one’s identity in spooky style.
Ghosts, witches, black cats and moons would have been popular choices.
In the 1920s and 1930s, neighborhoods started organizing masquerades, costume parties and trick-or-treating to curb the holiday havoc caused by children.
During the 40s, the “Halloween Problem,” or the aforementioned holiday havoc, pushed the government to reframe Halloween as a children’s holiday.
Pop culture themed costumes became prevalent during the post-war era. Superheroes, Disney characters, comic books and celebrities served as inspiration.
Costumes became readily available in stores, and gone were the days of homemade monsters.
Blockbuster hits like “Star Wars”, “Indiana Jones” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street” took over the costume scene of the 70s and 80s.
However, it is important to remember that costumes haven’t always been playful.
Throughout history, many offensive and racist costumes have been popular from black face to appropriated indigenous headdresses to gypsies.
Costumes today reflect a wide range of inspirations from the spooky to the cutesy, but who knows what they’ll look like in the coming decades.
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