20 Spooktacular Photos From Halloween In The 1920s That Show How Much The Holiday Has Changed In A Century

Spooky season lovers rejoice...Halloween is (finally) upon us! Whether you're putting the finishing touches on your costume or planning the menu for your Halloween party, now would be the perfect time for you to take a little break and travel back to the 1920s with me...

Vintage Halloween scene with a person in a ghost costume holding a pitchfork, surrounded by jack-o'-lanterns in front of a house at night
Artmarie / Getty Images

Halloween has had many different connotations and forms of celebration throughout history. But today, we are taking a look back to see just how much things have changed in the last 100 years. (Spoiler alert: Costumes used to be legitimately terrifying). From trick-or-treating to carving jack-o' lanterns — here are 21 spooktacular photos that show how different Halloween looked a century ago:

1.Just some good old-fashioned trick-or-treating:

Three children wearing ghostly masks and holding Jack-o'-lantern baskets stand outside a house, evoking a vintage Halloween scene

I'm sorry, but if modern trick-or-treaters showed up in these costumes, I would just throw the whole bag of candy out on the porch...

Kirn Vintage Stock / Corbis via Getty Images

2.These partygoers enjoying the Halloween festivities in 1928:

A vintage black-and-white photo of a formal Halloween-themed dinner party with guests seated around a decorated table
University Of Southern Californi / Corbis via Getty Images

3.These college kids goofing around before a Halloween bash:

Three young adults wearing Halloween costumes and masks outdoors on a leafy ground
Cincinnati Museum Center / Getty Images

4.This beachy Halloween party (or maybe pageant?):

Six women in swimsuits hold up a large jack-o'-lantern with a witch's hat on a beach. 1930s style
Visual Studies Workshop / Getty Images

5.This festive apple-bobbing contest:

People in festive hats bobbing for apples, laughing, in a vintage setting

An apple a day keeps the doctor away — unless you're mixing saliva with five other people...

Hulton Deutsch / Corbis via Getty Images

6.These friends are buying some pumpkins from a roadside stand:

Three people stand by a vintage car at a pumpkin stand, exchanging and selecting pumpkins among crates of produce

I just know they would have loved Instagram...

H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStock / Getty Images

7.This flapper putting up advertisements for a Halloween party in Greenwich Village:

A woman in a striped dress playfully poses on a signpost in a city street scene, attracting attention from passersby

Back when being a flapper wasn't just a fun costume...

Bettmann / Bettmann Archive

8.These kiddos are picking pumpkins straight from the patch:

Children picking pumpkins and playing by a wooden fence in a field
Bettmann / Bettmann Archive

9.This tiny tot carving a jack-o'-lantern:

Child carving a jack-o'-lantern with a knife, standing next to two pumpkins. The child is wearing a light-colored outfit

As you can see, parents in the 1920s' were very big on knife safety:

George Rinhart / Corbis via Getty Images

10.This mom chose the wiser path and helped her kids carve their jack o' lantern:

A woman in a checkered dress and bonnet carves a pumpkin with two children in knit caps and sweaters watching. It's a vintage Halloween scene
H. Armstrong Roberts/Classicstock / Getty Images

11.This "bewitching" group decided to dress up as a coven:

Seven women in witch costumes, wearing pointed hats, stand in a line for a vintage group photo
Transcendental Graphics / Getty Images

12.Here's Clara Bow celebrating Halloween long before she was the subject of a Taylor Swift song:

Vintage black and white photo of a woman in a checkered romper, holding a jack-o'-lantern decoration, with a background of ghosts and a witch
Bettmann / Bettmann Archive

13.Here she was dressed as a witch:

A person dressed as a witch with a tall hat and a glowing jack-o'-lantern in hand, smiling at the camera
Screen Archives / Getty Images

14.This dapper group was all dressed up and ready to go to a Halloween party:

A group of people in vintage clothing stands in front of a classic car, posing playfully. The setting suggests an early 20th-century style gathering
Kirn Vintage Stock / Corbis via Getty Images

15.Parents were taking photos of their kids in pumpkins even before social media existed:

A person playfully poses inside a large pumpkin prop, with a surprised expression and vintage-style clothing
Underwood Archives / Getty Images

16.These dancers rehearsing for a "spellbinding" performance:

Group of performers from the 1920s in sleeveless dresses gather around a large cauldron on stage, striking expressive poses
Brooke / Getty Images

17.This very convincing (and terrifying) costume:

An old photo of a person appearing headless, humorously holding their head in one arm
adoc-photos/Corbis via Getty Images

18.These diners celebrating Halloween at New York's then-hottest restaurant, Samovar:

Historical image of a lively gathering at The Samovar, Greenwich Village. Patrons are dining, wearing festive attire, with Halloween decorations visible
The New York Historical Society / Getty Images

19.This little Mickey Mouse fan who's all ready for spooky season:

Child dressed in a vintage Mickey Mouse costume, sitting on a carved wooden chest, surrounded by Halloween decorations including a pumpkin
H. Armstrong Roberts/Classicstock / Getty Images

20.And finally, this totally not cursed photo of a family spending a spooky evening in a cornfield:

A group of people stands in a cornfield at night, wearing early 20th-century coats and hats. A man appears blurred in motion
Kirn Vintage Stock / Corbis via Getty Images

Which one of these photos was your favorite? What do you think has changed the most about Halloween in the past century? Let us know in the comments!