Halloween has traditions dating back about 2,000 years, including costumes, masks, festivities and jack-o-lanterns. Within the past 100 years, however, Halloween traditions have changed considerably. Although the concept of wearing costumes for trick-or-treating has been around since at least the late 1800s, trends and customs for this staple activity are different decade by decade as popularity for trick-or-treating has increased.

In the early 20th century, trick-or-treating was known as “guising,” where children would dress up in disguises and go door-to-door asking for sweets. These disguises were made up of hats, scarves and other accessories that were easily found around the house– just about every costume was homemade.

Furthermore, mass-produced Halloween costumes were not available in stores until the 1930s, when trick-or-treating became popular. These costumes usually consisted of masks and hats, and sometimes full-body costumes such as monsters, animals or clowns.

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Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, costumes were slowly becoming inspired by popular culture. Trick-or-treaters dressed up as comic book characters, movie stars and cowboys from Western films and TV shows. Ghosts, witches, vampires and other supernatural characters were also extremely popular costumes with many of these costumes still being made at home.

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Since the 1960s, most costumes have been centered around popular culture. Many people choose to dress up as celebrities or characters, although classic supernatural characters are still very prevalent.

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In the past few decades, mass-produced costumes, including intricate costumes of celebrities, characters, and monsters have been extremely popular due to the increased popularity of Halloween-themed stores. Costumes can also be ordered online or assembled from thrift stores.

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There are truly a million ways to make a unique costume for Halloween, which makes it a great holiday for everyone.