See How People Used to Celebrate Halloween

1 minute read

Classic Halloween traditions like dressing up and carving pumpkins have been around for a while — much longer than sexy lobster costumes and deep-fried pumpkin space lattes. Here, check out how kids and adults in decades past celebrated the year’s spookiest day.

Apple Bobbing
Children celebrate at a Halloween party in New York City circa 1940.Keystone—Getty Images
Apple Bobbing
A young boy and girl crouch and bob for apples on Halloween circa 1935. Lionel Green—Getty Images
Blindfolded Children Searching for Candle
Blindfolded children search for a candle to try to blow it out in an old Halloween tradition circa 1900s.Bettmann—Corbis
Betty Ford Halloween
First lady Betty Ford greets costumed school children on the White House South Lawn on Oct. 31, 1974 in Washington D.C. during a Halloween benefit for the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund.HENRY GRIFFIN—AP
Boy Wearing Knight Costume
A boy wears a knight costume.Michael Martin—Corbis
Halloween Festival
A Halloween festival held in Anaheim, Ca., on Oct. 20, 1962. AP
Halloween Party in Central Park
Children parade through Central Park in New York City on Oct. 30, 1966. Jacob Harris—AP
Toast Of The Town
Participants in the 10th annual Halloween Parade in New York, Oct. 31, 1983.Ray Stubblebine—AP
Picking Pumpkins
Second-graders pick their pumpkins during a class outing Oct. 19, 1984, at a farm next to their school near Doylestown, Pa. George Widman—AP
Two Young Girls Carving Pumpkin in Golf, Illinois
07 Oct 1930 --- Children carve their own pumpkins for Halloween on Oct 7, 1930.Underwood/Corbis
Boy Carving Pumpkin for Halloween
A boy carves his pumpkin for Halloween circa 1900s.Underwood/Corbis
Boy And Jack-O-Lantern
A young boy looks at a lit jack-o-lantern that he helped carve for Halloween, New York, 1949. Rae Russel—Getty Images

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