In the early 1900s, Halloween celebrations came with an inspired dose of homemade charm. Folks used everyday materials like crepe paper, pumpkins and even old umbrellas to transform their homes for the holiday.
These old-school creations didn’t rely on store-bought supplies but rather on imagination and resourcefulness, turning simple items into festive centerpieces and eerie displays. Black and orange paper streamers, paper-cutout witches and homemade jack-o’-lanterns were other common decorations.
One of the more charming DIY ideas from 1919 was the “big black cat,” made by opening a large umbrella and adding a face with glued-on paper features. Other clever designs included glass fish globes as lanterns, and cornstalks stacked around doorways to create an eerie entrance. It’s a fun to think about how Halloween was celebrated in a time before mass-produced decorations took over.
Below, we’ve culled a charming collection of vintage Halloween photos and decorations from a magazine article originally published in 1919, brimming with DIY inspiration from the past.
Welcome to your old-fashioned ghoul school, courtesy of the clever folks who were around 100 years ago.
Old-fashioned Halloween costume ideas from the 1910s
Shop these vintage-inspired Halloween costumes
Halloween decorations for walls and stairs (1919)
FOR a wall decoration on a stairway, black crépe paper honeycombed over orange looks well, and is easy to do. The tops of the newell 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.
Shop these vintage Halloween decoration wall cut-outs
A clever way to make a big cat for your Halloween decorations
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 up on it? Just look at the fireplace and see.
Shop this vintage Halloween theme!
These cute cardstock scat cats are delightfully vintage and ready for some Halloween fun!
Vintage Halloween decorations for doorways
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.
Dress up the table with these cute themed Halloween decorations
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.
How about adding a sheet ghost to your Halloween decorations?
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 record stories suitable to their years.
Shop these cute indoor/outdoor ghost Halloween decorations
A cauldron full of punch, vintage-style
THIS mask is in place all the evening, when suddenly a girl wearing an orange-paper fringed skirt 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.
ALSO SEE: 4 old-school Halloween party table decorations & menu ideas from 100+ years ago
Original article from 1919: The new Halloween frolics, by Elizabeth Bissell
A spooky doorway with a ghost hiding behind
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