45 Vintage Snaps of People at Halloween Parties From the 1970s

Halloween parties in the 1970s were vibrant and often reflected the decade’s eclectic culture. People embraced creative and sometimes DIY costumes, often inspired by popular movies, TV shows, and music. Classic monsters like vampires, witches, and ghosts remained popular, but there was also a rise in costumes inspired by the counterculture, such as hippies and rock stars.

Halloween parties were common, with themes ranging from haunted houses to disco-themed bashes, reflecting the era’s dance craze. Costume contests were popular, and people would often gather for games like bobbing for apples or ghost stories.

The music at Halloween parties included everything from rock ‘n’ roll to disco, with songs that evoked spooky themes. The popularity of artists like Alice Cooper, whose theatrical performances often included Halloween themes, also influenced party atmospheres.

Overall, Halloween in the 1970s was a lively mix of traditional customs and the innovative spirit of the era. These fascinating photos were taken by Nick DeWolf that show portraits of people at Halloween parties at Hotel Jerome, Aspen, Colorado from 1975 to 1979.

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1981 Recipe for Making Jack-O’-Lantern Salad

The recipe is from the cookbook Microwave Cooking From Litton, published in 1981. It was very simple to follow so it would be great to do with kids as there’s not much that can go wrong.

Jack-O’-Lantern Salad ingredients:

2 cups hot water

1 packet of orange gelatine mix

2 cups cold water

1 pound carrots (shredded)

Curly Endives

Pitted dates

Celery

Steps:

1. Pour hot water into medium bowl, cover. Microwave at high for 4-6 minutes or until boiling.

2. Stir in gelatin until dissolved. Add cold water. Chill 1-2 hours or until soft set.

3. Stir in shredded carrots. Pour in 9 inch round cake dish. Chill until firm.

4. To serve, unmould gelatin onto plate covered with curly endive. Use dates to form pumpkin face and celery for stem.

18 Amazing Vintage Photographs Captured Children at a Halloween Party in Zionsville, Indiana in 1941

A party isn’t complete without delicious food. Bobbing for apples and eating contests were frequent at early Halloween parties, as well as a table full of sweet goodies like donuts and pies. In 1941, LIFE photographer William C. Shrout joined a group of kids for their Halloween mischief and festivities in Zionsville, Indiana. His photographs show a night of activities not too different from our modern-day celebrations: pumpkin carving, games, bobbing for apples, and, of course, lots of treats!

Halloween parties increased in popularity during the roaring twenties, and even more in the late 1930s. A number of companies in the emerging party industry started creating party idea books, craft templates, and mass-produced costumes. Yet, as seen in these amazing vintage photographs below, homemade costumes were still the most common. Clown and skeleton costumes were especially popular, as you’ll see in the photos.

Children wearing costumes at a Halloween party in Zionsville, Indiana, 1941.

Children arriving at a decorated house for a Halloween party, 1941.

A boy bobbing for apples during a Halloween party, 1941.

Children at a Halloween party standing around a table of Halloween treats, 1941.

Children eating Halloween treats, 1941.

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25 Wonderful Vintage Halloween Postcards From the 1910s

Halloween postcards from the 1910s are delightful images of early 20th-century holiday aesthetics, combining vintage charm with playful imagery. These postcards often featured common Halloween symbols like pumpkins, black cats, witches, and bats but with a friendly, nostalgic twist. Unlike the scarier themes of later Halloween imagery, the 1910s style emphasized whimsy and mystery.

Many postcards from this era include fortune-telling themes, referencing Halloween's association with romance and mystery. People might be shown using mirrors, candles, or other devices to see into the future or attract love.

In these postcards, witches are often depicted with pointed hats and brooms but have a gentler, almost humorous look. They are frequently seen stirring cauldrons or flying across the moon. Pumpkins often have happy, mischievous faces and are typically shown as decorative elements rather than spooky characters. Cats appear as cute or cheeky sidekicks to the witches, rather than ominous symbols, often shown as playful or curious companions.

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45 Intimate Photos of Mayor Kevin White’s Office Halloween Party in 1980

These photos from the Mayor Kevin White Collection that were taken at a Mayor’s Office Halloween party on October 30, 1980 at Daisy Buchanan’s, Boston, Massachusetts.

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Anita Ekberg Being Fitted Into Her Devil Halloween Costume, Photographed at the Hotel Commodore, 1955

Anita Ekberg photographed in her devil Halloween costume, 1955. The costume was for the Art Students League Dream Ball at the Hotel Commodore in New York.

Anita Ekberg (1931–2015) was a Swedish actress and model who became an international star in the 1950s. She is best known for her role in Federico Fellini’s iconic film La Dolce Vita (1960), where she famously wades into the Trevi Fountain in Rome, a scene that became a symbol of cinematic and cultural glamour. In the 1950s, Ekberg’s career was rising, and she worked with several major studios in Hollywood.

During this decade, her beauty and statuesque figure made her a popular pin-up model, and she appeared in films such as Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953) and Blood Alley (1955), alongside stars like John Wayne and Lauren Bacall. Ekberg’s career was defined by her image as a glamorous European beauty, and she was often typecast in roles that capitalized on her allure.

She also had a background in modeling, which helped her gain attention in Hollywood, including winning the Miss Sweden contest in 1950. Her image in the 1950s was associated with the golden age of cinema, and she remains an enduring icon of that era.

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30 Vintage Photos of People at ’60s Halloween Parties

Halloween parties in the 1960s were a mix of traditional customs and the vibrant culture of the era. Many people wore homemade costumes, often inspired by popular movies and TV shows. Classic monsters like vampires, witches, and ghosts were popular, but there was also a rise in characters from films like The Addams Family and Star Trek.

Parties often featured handmade decorations like paper pumpkins, ghosts, and cobwebs. The psychedelic art movement influenced some decorations, with bright colors and whimsical designs. Traditional games like bobbing for apples and pinning the hat on the witch were common. Many parties also included storytelling, with spooky tales told around the bonfire or in dimly lit rooms.

Halloween treats often included homemade cookies, popcorn balls, and candy. The rise of packaged candies like M&Ms and Snickers also influenced what was handed out to trick-or-treaters.

Overall, Halloween in the 1960s was a blend of nostalgia and the evolving cultural landscape, reflecting the creativity and spirit of the decade. Here below is a set of vintage photos that shows people at Halloween parties from the 1960s.

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Photos of Well-Known Women Who Were Representing Different Omens of Bad Luck for the ‘Pageant of the Superstitions’, 1930

London. October 11, 1930. Every charity-minded lady is at the Pageant of the Superstitions at the Haymarket Theatre to benefit the Queen Charlotte Maternity Hospital Maintenance Fund. The Queen Charlotte was one of the oldest maternity hospitals in Europe, founded in 1739. Renamed Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital, it’s now located between East Acton and White City, adjacent to the Hammersmith Hospital. Here’s a selection of photographs of well-known women who were representing different omens of bad luck at the Pageant:

There’s Mrs. Alexander McCorquodale (formerly Barbara Cartland), personifying “Good Luck” in a magnificent horseshoe headdress and glittering ball gown. The good luck charms and talismans with which her dress is adorned, including a four-leaf clover and heart. She carries a lucky black cat in her left hand.  It’s hard to tell from this photo, but is she wearing tiny dolls as earrings?

But Dame Babs was not the only fabulously bedecked peer at the Pageant. Also in attendance was the Hon Mrs. Roland Cubitt, the grandma-ma of the Duchess of Cornwall (formerly known as Camilla Parker-Bowles). She personified the superstition that three candles are considered bad luck. It was believed that you should not burn three candles together because the person nearest the shortest candle would either be the first to marry or the first to die. The House approves of her morbidly brilliant take.

Finally, we have Princess George Imeretinsky in a hat with large horns, embodying “Green.” Finally, we have Princess George Imeretinsky in a hat with large horns, embodying “Green.” The House believes that the Princess is embodying the belief that a person with horns is green — i.e.   experiencing jealously or envy. (And we must not forget that envy is one of the seven deadly sins.)

22 Amazing Vintage Photos of Lon Chaney in the Lost Film “London After Midnight” (1927)

London After Midnight is a 1927 silent horror/mystery film written by Tod Browning and starring Lon Chaney. The film is an adaptation of The Hypnotist, written by Browning as well. The film cost $151,666.14 to produce, and grossed $1,004,000. Chaney’s real-life make-up case can be seen in the last scene of the film sitting on a table, the only time it ever appeared in a film. It is also one of the last major films to star Lon Chaney before his death on August 26, 1930.

Lon Chaney’s makeup for the film included sharpened teeth and the hypnotic eye effect, achieved with special wire fittings which he wore like monocles. Based on surviving accounts, he purposefully gave the “vampire” character an absurd quality, because it was the film’s Scotland Yard detective character, also played by Chaney, in a disguise. Surviving stills show this was the only time Chaney used his famous makeup case as an on-screen prop.

For decades, the mystique of Lon Chaney’s 1927 mystery-thriller, London After Midnight, has pondered the minds of horror buffs, silent film enthusiasts and film collectors alike. Before Dracula (1931), before Mark of the Vampire (1935), London After Midnight was America’s first cinematic delve into the notion of vampirism by incorporating elements of author Bram Stoker’s original novel (Dracula) while careful to sidestep the outright supernatural, as was the style for American “horror” films of the 1920s.

The only known copy of London After Midnight was in possession of MGM Studio, however it was likely destroyed in an explosion. The Evening Vanguard—a local newspaper in Venice, California—reported on August 11, 1965 that the day before there was an explosion on MGM Lot 1, which resulted in the destruction of a concrete film storage vault. The concrete roof of the building collapsed in the ensuing fire, however nobody is believed to have been killed or injured. Unfortunately the Evening Vanguard states that “No estimate of the loss was available.”

It is firmly believed that the last complete copy of the film was destroyed by the fire in 1965. Countless nitrate frames, production stills, pieces of interstitial material and a complete script have, however, survived. Any efforts to find a complete version of the film have proven to be unsuccessful.

A reconstruction of the film was assembled by Rick Schmidlin, a well-known filmmaker and film archivist, using over 200 still shots and a complete script. The film/slideshow is accompanied by an entirely original score from composer Robert Israel. This reconstruction was aired on the television station Turner Classic Movies on August 15, 2002 as part of their tribute to Lon Chaney. The reconstruction is also included on the Lon Chaney Collection DVD set.

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Lovely Found Photos of Kids Dressing Up For Halloween in the 1960s and ’70s

Kids dressing up for Halloween in the 1960s and ’70s had a unique charm and nostalgia. Costumes often reflected popular culture, from classic movie monsters like Dracula and Frankenstein to characters from TV shows and cartoons. Many kids donned simple homemade costumes, often made from bedsheets, cardboard, or fabric scraps, showcasing creativity.

Store-bought costumes became more common in the late 1960s and ’70s, featuring plastic masks and vinyl outfits, often depicting superheroes like Batman or iconic characters from movies like “Star Wars.” Trick-or-treating was a neighborhood event, and kids often went door-to-door, collecting candy in paper bags or pillowcases.

The era also saw an increase in spooky decorations, with homes adorned in cobwebs and skeletons. Halloween was a fun mix of innocent fun and a touch of spookiness, creating lasting memories for those who experienced it. These lovely photos were found by Thomas Hawk that show kids dressing up for Halloween in the 1960s and 1970s.

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Who Remembers These Great Inflatable Head Halloween Costumes?

Around 1979, a new type of costume appeared on store shelves which was quite a departure from anything we’d seen before. “Kooky Spooks” took the costume market by storm.

In an effort to take market share from Ben Cooper and Collegeville, Spearhead Industries, Inc created a new form of Halloween costume that did not cover a child’s face and was totally lightweight.

Most masks from the 1970s and 1980s did not breathe well and some where hard to see with so many a child was hurt or fell due to poor visibility. With Kooky Spooks, each kit composed of inflatable head gear, cape and facial makeup that once completed had a H.R. Pufnstuf type feel with facepaint. Characters included a different types of Pumpkins, Cats, Goblins, Owls, Witches and Clowns.

Although safer, the outfits had their own problems. Basically, the trick or treaters had a beach ball on their head that was difficult to keep on and the facepaint cracked after it dried, Also the generic characters could not match up with the licenced rogues' gallery of choices that Ben Cooper and Collegeville had to offer. By 1981 the company went out of business and so did Kooky Spooks.

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