Why do we wear costumes on Halloween?

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The spooky season is just around the corner, so it will soon be time to take your kids to go Halloween shopping for a costume and candies for trick-or-treating. In addition, it offers a fantastic opportunity for kids and adults to dress up in their favorite costumes every year.

You might be curious about the origins of dressing up for Halloween came from and how costumes have evolved over the years.

The origin of Halloween costumes may date back approximately 2,000 years ago. Historians believe that the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced "SAH-win"), which marked the transition from summer to the darker half of the year in the British Isles, is thought to be the holiday's precursor.

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According to the Library of Congress, Celtic people believed that spirits walked the Earth during the festival. In addition, they wore disguises in order to avoid being harassed and pranked by the evil spirits roaming the Earth, and to confuse the spirits into leave them alone.

When the first wave of Scottish and Irish immigrants arrived in the United States in the 18th century, Halloween traditions and costumes came with them. As a result, Halloween became increasingly popular in the U.S.

Overall, costumes from the first half of the 20th century were described as terrifying. Rather than the culturally-inspired ones of today, people opted for more serious, morbid costumes.

In the 1920s and 1930s, costumes influenced by pop culture began to emerge, as well as major costume manufacturing companies, such as the J. Halpern Company (also known as Halco). Around this time, the company began licensing of fictional characters, such as Popeye, Mickey Mouse and Little Orphan Annie, to name a few. Gypsies, pirates and even homeless people were also common outfit options.

Unfortunately, the Great Depression led to an increase in violence and vandalism as Halloween pranks became a common phenomenon in the U.S. Cities even considered banning the holiday.

Neighborhoods and communities began to do more family-friendly traditions, such as passing out candy to trick-or-treaters, costume parties and decorating houses in an effort to curb illegal and unwanted behavior.

World War II introduced the concept of "sexy costumes," which were brought on by the pin-up photos that were made popular by both the U.S. government and Hollywood. Due to rationing of sugar, trick-or-treating decreased significantly and homemade costumes, especially masks, emerged.

When World War II ended, the television brought pop culture into family households. American Halloween costumes were influenced by entertainment icons, superheroes and comic characters.

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Store-bought and mass-produced costumes became more affordable to the middle class in the 1950s. Since Western movies were popular at the time, kids often dressed up as cowboys and indigenous people, though the latter portrayal was often culturally insensitive. In addition to classic costumes, such as clowns and princesses, kids wore costumes from popular movies and comics, such as Batman or Frankenstein, to name a few.

Starting mainly in the 1970s, LGBTQ+ communities across the United States saw an opportunity to wear outrageous outfits in order to express themselves freely. In addition, presidential masks were prevalent with events such as Watergate and anti-war marches.

A slew of horror, sci-fi and fantasy movies also emerged in the 70s and 1980s, leading to a boom in pop culture-inspired Halloween costumes. These include John Carpenter's "Halloween," Sean S. Cunningham's "Friday the 13th" and Wes Craven's "A Nightmare on Elm Street."

From the 1990s onward, the trend of pop-culture inspired Halloween costumes continues. In addition to candy and decorations, costumes have become a multi-billion-dollar industry and their intent behind these traditions has changed since their introduction to the United States in the mid-1800s.

Overall, Halloween costumes are designed for self-expression and bringing fantasies to life by dressing up as a favorite character or creature.