Here's one last Hallowe'en post, that will take us up to All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day in the bargain. Boing Boing posted historic photos of American Hallowe'en costumes from 1875 to 1955, taken from the book Haunted Air, which is based on private collection owned by Ossian Brown. The book has an introduction by David Lynch. The costumes sure are spooky. This is what Hallowe'en looked like before Walmart and online costume outlets.
These are fantastic--I cannot get enough of vintage halloween--I wish the craft/Halloween stores would get smart and make a section based on retro/vintage Halloween.
ReplyDeleteLove them! Better a creepy Halloween than a slutty one. So tired of boobs taking the place of imagination.
ReplyDeleteAutumn and Andrea, thanks for the comments; these costumes are the real thing, aren't they? Even more amazing that the photos come from a private collection. I wish I'd thought of collecting something like that.
ReplyDeleteLet's see, home made Batman costume, full Hulk make up and wig, and of course the stereotypical Hollywood image of the witch all spring to mind from my childhood.
ReplyDeleteBut what was really scary were the home made costumes with *skill*, who made the demon or skull look more than a little too real. The scary-house-with-black-light-and-music in my neighborhood had those, and inspired me as I grew older.
The downside here, of course, is the old razors in the apples, etc of that time period. -J