Halloween Frolics From The Past

 The New Halloween Frolics
by Elizabeth Bissell, 1919

Vintage Halloween Decorations from 1919...

 

Corresponding Descriptions of Halloween Decorations:

1. "Startlingly stunning, but graceful withal, is the doorway decoration. The pumpkin heads should all be the same size; the perspective of the photograph makes them appear here in assorted sizes. At the side of the doorway stack corn shocks or bunches of tall grass.''
   
2. "For a wall decoration on a stairway black crepe paper honeycombed over orange looks well and is easy to do. the tops of the newel posts are rounded by pieces of wire, and an owl is set in the midst of a lotus flower. The ''witch in the woods'' would make a fine background for a twin-witch fortune teller seated in the foreground.''
3. ''Would you think that a huge cat's head could be made by simply opening a big black umbrella and pasting eyes, nose, mouth, ears and whiskers upon it? Just look at the fireplace and see."
4. "For the decoration of the table a Japanese umbrella is used as a foundation for the hanging centerpiece. The funny-faced lanterns are glass fish globes, and tiny red or blue light bulbs could be dropped into them. The place-card people have fortunes fastened to their backs."
5. "This mask is in place all the evening, when suddenly a girl walks back of it, slips her head into the mask, ties the cape around her neck, and then steps through the fringed curtain into the room, leaving the doorway curtain intact. This new ''stunt'' makes a lot of fun. She may then serve "witches' brew" (fruit punch) from the kettle."
6. "The ghost is a talking machine "all dressed up" with sheets. A ghost-story record produces a realistic effect, especially in a darkened room. Children will be delighted with prerecorded stories suitable to their age."
7. "On the left a cardboard ghost is fastened to the inside of the door with tacks. Then the door is shut. The one in the party who can best take a joke and stand a shock is sent on some pretense to open the door, then the ghost leaps out before him. This original stunt has been tried out and was most successfully funny."
8. "A picturesque as pretty is this window decoration. The details are from a new crepe-paper design recently put on the market. Placed in a room with French doors decorated as in the lower left-hand picture on this page, one begins to feel the real Halloween atmosphere that lends itself to frolicking."
   

See how decorate doors for Halloween:

• Decorating classroom doors for trick-or-treaters to visit...
• DIY Halloween Decor Hacks from TODAY show...