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30 Halloween Costumes Best Left In History

Updated on Oct 31, 2021. Originally added on Oct 27, 2015 by Daniel Pinna

While witches, ghosts, and vampires are commonplace Halloween costumes today, I bet you won't recognize many of the costumes our ancestors dressed in.

Spooky, silly, homemade, and store bought - these photos show the creative and often whimsy Halloween costumes from previous decades. How many of these costumes do you recognize?

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Homemade Halloween Costumes from the Past

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The classics: Popeye and Uncle Sam

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Why are 1920's skeleton costumes way better than modern ones?

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Run out of costume ideas?

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Decorate the pumpkin and plop your child next to it.

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A deranged bunny? Okay . . .

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I guess this is what witches looked like even before Wizard of Oz came out

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Aww . . . a cute bunch of little devils

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They've got their EYES on YOU

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In the early 1900s, fake mediums would advertise double exposure film as proof of spirits appearing in the photo

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I think the girl herself is spooky enough!

Okay, this is B-movie actress Nan Grey

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But this is the cutest witch we've seen (they're not all ugly!) and after all of those spooky photos we thought we'd leave you with this!

It's not the costume that's scary . . .

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This unknown boy possibly dressed for Halloween may not be innately scary but as a parent, I'd definitely be scared for him to go trick or treating with those crutches!

How we celebrate Halloween today has changed over the past 100 years - most notably with the prevalence of manufactured costumes - but the activities have remained the same: Dressing up in costume, begging for candy while trick or treating, partying until you drop, and scaring each other!

History of Halloween: Originally celebrated as Samhain (the beginning of a New Year for the Celts), in the melting pot of the United States Halloween has grown to a mixture of celebrating Hallow's Eve, All Saints Day, All Souls Day, and the Day of the Dead, creating a holiday for children and adults to dress up and party. Children party with candy, adults with . . . well, you know!

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