Creepy Vintage Halloween Photos

@David. Blame advertisements then, as now. Many of these were sold at ‘emporiums’ such as Sears, along with the directions for the make-up if one couldn’t afford the masks. It is actually the photography that makes so many of them so ‘scary’. Home photography was just coming into it’s own. Most of these were probably taken with a Kodac ‘Brownie’ camera, no flash. Completely ‘point and shoot. No other directions given. The costumes that weren’t from a store were copied from pictures from the catalogues. Another thing to bear in mind is that most of the commercial costumes and virtually all of the masks were made from celluloid and would (and DID) go up from just a spark from a candle or bonfire! And, think again. The ‘monsters’ represented here are NOTHING compared to their modern day counterparts. (Which is why we always made our kids costumes ourselves. ‘Scary’ is one thing, gross and bloody is another. (Worst of all is the trend towards ‘sexy scary’ combined!) No, we will continue making Halloween costumes ourselves, or let our kids make their own. Once they are ‘independent’ they will be able to buy whatever they choose. Not yet though.