Halloween 2020 will likely look different than in past years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends avoiding coming into direct contact with trick-or-treaters, suggests giving candy outside rather than from your front door, and of course, wearing a mask. Though the CDC also specifies that a Halloween mask is not a suitable substitute for a protective mask, and warns against wearing a costume mask on top of a cloth mask because it could make breathing challenging.
With COVID-19 rates still a concern, some may avoid trick-or-treating, parties, and parades altogether. But without a doubt, costumes will still be worn, whether to be shown off on social media or to be admired by socially-distant passerby.
To celebrate the tradition of dressing up for Halloween, Stacker scoured the archives to find 50 photos of Halloween costumes from 1865 to today. The usual suspects pop up throughout the centuries—cats, witches, ghosts, and ghouls—but pop culture references also make an appearance, from Darth Vader to Ronald Reagan.
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London Stereoscopic Company / Getty ImagesHalloween pumpkin mask
A figure wearing a white cape and a Halloween pumpkin mask takes a person by surprise in their kitchen, circa 1865.
Historic Photo Archive / Getty ImagesGhost
A person wearing a ghost costume behind a table with Halloween decorations in a rural schoolhouse, circa 1905.
Kirn Vintage Stock / Getty ImagesEarly 20th-century group photo
Young men in costumes pose for a group photo at the beginning of the 20th century.
Transcendental Graphics / Getty ImagesA coven of witches
A group of women costumed as a coven of witches pose for a Halloween photo, circa 1910, in the United States.
Kirn Vintage Stock / Getty ImagesCriminals
Three young men are dressed up as a jail prisoner, Annie Oakley, and spade playing card.
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Kirn Vintage Stock / Getty ImagesHalloween elf
A young woman dressed as an elf for Halloween on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Kirn Vintage Stock / Getty ImagesLittle Bo Peep
A young woman dressed as Little Bo Peep poses for a Halloween photo on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Bettmann // Getty Images/GettyA mixed bag
A group of children wear costumes ranging from a skeleton ghost to a witch in an undated photo.
Kirn Vintage Stock / Getty ImagesGhosts
A trio of kids dressed up as ghosts are ready for trick-or-treating, circa 1925.
Underwood Archives / Getty ImagesWitch
A young woman dressed as a witch holds a broom on Halloween in the late 1920s or early 1930s.
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Bettmann / Getty ImagesGood witch
A portrait of a young woman at a Halloween party dressed in a silk party dress and a pointed hat, circa 1940s.
Bettmann / Getty ImagesNurse and toy soldier
A group of young children dressed up for Halloween trick or treat in Jersey City, New Jersey, circa 1940s.
John Springer Collection / Getty ImagesSkeleton
Louis Armstrong on stage is frightened by a skeleton during the song “Skeleton in the Closet,” from the movie “Pennies from Heaven.”
Kirn Vintage Stock / Getty ImagesDevil
A man dressed as the devil and a woman dressed as an armless sculpture show off their costumes, circa 1940.
Kirn Vintage Stock / Getty ImagesPig
A woman with a pig mask poses for a photo, circa 1940.
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H. Armstrong Roberts / Getty ImagesPirate
A woman wearing a pirate costume, circa 1940s.
H. Armstrong Roberts / Getty ImagesJack-o’-lantern
A little girl poses in a fancy outfit holding a paper mache jack-o’-lantern, circa 1945.
Robert Abbott Sengstacke / Getty ImagesCowboy
American child—and future photojournalist—Robert Abbott Sengstacke (left) poses dressed as a cowboy with other children at a Halloween party, circa late 1940s.
De Carvalho Collection / Getty ImagesCat
American actress and model Dusty Anderson wearing a Halloween cat costume in the late ’40s for a publicity shot.
Hulton Archive / Getty ImagesRabbit
Children in costumes arriving at a Halloween party, circa 1955. A sign on the door warns “BEWARE GHOSTS ARE WITHIN!”
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Michael Ochs Archives / Getty ImagesSputnik and a Soviet officer
A couple dressed as Sputnik and a Soviet officer attend a party on Oct. 31, 1957, in Los Angeles.
Denver Post / Getty ImagesRoyalty, a clown, and a cheetah
Students (Michelle Gordon, Jimmy Dallarosa, and Wendy Meyer) at Secrest School Plans Carnival in 1969 trying on costumes.
American Stock / Getty ImagesA knight and her friends
A group of children wearing Halloween costumes wait in a trick-or-treat line to receive apples from an officer at a police precinct, circa 1960.
Bettmann / Getty ImagesMickey Mouse and Felix the Cat
Kirk, 6, and Carey Tressman, 7, wear costumes with reflective tape to keep them safe while trick-or-treating in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1960.
USC Libraries / Getty ImagesBoy from Mars
Four-year old William Caban, dressed as a boy from Mars, visits a Los Angeles police station on Oct. 31, 1961.
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The Boston Globe / Getty ImagesA scarecrow, jack-o’-lantern, and some friends
A group of children dressed for Halloween stand together on a porch at a house in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Oct. 21, 1961.
The Boston Globe / Getty ImagesA record player and a ghost
Five-year-old Stephen Knapp, dressed as a record player, and 7-year-old John McNichol, dressed as ghost, ask for contributions to UNICEF along Newbury Street in Boston on Oct. 31, 1974.
Images Of Our Lives / Getty ImagesA gypsy, Groucho Marx, and a witch
Four children in Halloween costumes get ready to trick or treat, circa 1975.
H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStock / Getty ImagesMary Had a Little Lamb
A girl dressed as Mary from “Mary had a Little Lamb” for Halloween, circa 1970s.
The Boston Globe / Getty ImagesC-3P0 and Darth Vader
Louis Seltvitella as C-3P0 and Jim Webb as Darth Vader walk downstairs at Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Oct. 31, 1977.
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Harvey L. Silver / Getty ImagesPaul Stanley from Kiss
An 11-year-old Kiss fan poses in his Paul Stanley makeup on Halloween 1971.
Francois LE DIASCORN / Getty ImagesA chef and Uncle Fester with Thing
A chef with a knife in his head stands near Uncle Fester and Thing from “The Addams Family,” circa 1980s.
Francois LE DIASCORN / Getty ImagesSpider-Man
A young child trick-or-treating in a Spider-Man costume in Suncook, New Hampshire, circa 1980s.
Francois LE DIASCORN / Getty ImagesPhantoms
Ghostly phantoms on Halloween Eve, circa 1980, in Salem, Massachusetts.
Bettmann / Getty ImagesJimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan
Two kids wearing masks of President Jimmy Carter and GOP presidential hopeful Ronald Reagan go trick-or-treating on Oct. 31, 1980.
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ullstein bild / Getty ImagesVarious children’s cosumes
Children and adults dressed up for Halloween 1985.
Joe Sohm/Visions of America / Getty ImagesCampbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup, Snow White, a ballerina, and a football player
An adult and children dressed in Halloween costumes, Webster Groves, Missouri, circa 1990.
Photofusion / Getty ImagesA cat and some ghouls
Children trick-or-treating wearing ghoulish costumes on Halloween in the U.K., circa 1990.
Joe Sohm/Visions of America / Getty ImagesA witch, ghoul, ninja, and pirate
Children dressed in Halloween costumes in Oak View, California, 1996.
Los Angeles Times / Getty ImagesWhere’s Waldo
Terry Hartshorn and Sharon Hartshorn pose for a caricature artist in “Where’s Waldo” costumes during the Halloween bash to benefit theater company Stopgap in 1996.
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The Boston Globe / Getty ImagesLions
Aliyha Alleyne, 3, left, and Kadeem Dixon, 5, dressed as lions from “The Lion King” pose during a costume contest at the Franklin Park Zoo’s annual Zoo Howl in Boston on Oct. 31, 1998.
Eric Miller / Getty ImagesUncle Sam and Statue of Liberty
Heidi Miller, an officer with the Bloomington, Minnesota, Police Department passes out candy to trick-or-treaters on Oct. 31, 2001, at the Mall of America.
Mario Tama / Getty ImagesDr. Evil
A person dressed up as “Austin Powers'” character Dr. Evil for the Halloween Parade in Manhattan.
James Devaney/WireImage / Getty ImagesDonald Trump
Katie Couric dresses up as Donald Trump on the Halloween episode of “The Today Show” at NBC Studios in New York City on Oct. 29, 2004.
David Cheskin – PA Images/PA Images via Getty ImagesScream and monster
Children in costume look in through a window in Peebles, Scottish Borders, in the U.K. on Oct. 31, 2005.
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Sergio Dionisio / Getty ImagesScream
A young boy poses in a “Scream” mask with an axe on Halloween in North Bondi, Sydney, Australia, on Oct. 31, 2008.
TIMOTHY A. CLARY / Getty ImagesAn iPad
Oscar the Bichon Frise dressed as an iPad during the Tompkins Square Park 20th Annual Halloween Dog Parade, Oct. 23, 2010, in New York City.
Anadolu Agency / Getty ImagesDonald Trump
Masks depicting Donald Trump are displayed for sale at a Halloween costume store in Mexico City on Oct. 21, 2016.
Gareth Cattermole / Getty ImagesPost Malone
Rita Ora dresses as Post Malone for the KISS Haunted House Party at the SSE Arena in London on Oct. 26, 2018.
Chelsea Guglielmino / Getty ImagesCaptain America and Wonder Woman
Participants dressed as Captain America and Wonder Woman—and baby Wonder Woman—are seen at the Haute Dog Howl’oween Parade at Marina Vista Park in Long Beach, California, on Oct. 27, 2019.
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