Everyone Dressed Up in 1923 |
SeacoastNH.com Presents
Historic
Facebook is packed with photos of modern kids modeling their Halloween costumes, but it wasn’t always that way. Our family rarely if ever photographed us three boys heading out for trick or treat. Halloween was a lesser holiday back in those days and not for grown-ups. But Victorians liked to dress up too. (Continued below)
One history Web site sent in by Josiah Pitchforth shows our ancestors dressed as a giant chicken, a cracked egg, and a side of bacon, but not on Halloween. Adult costumes were reserved primarily for festivals, theater productions, pageants, and masquerade balls. This archival photo shows young Kathryn O’Brien at the Portsmouth Tercentenary celebration on August 19, 1923. Another image shows what I assume is her mother Mildred, also in frilly period clothes. A hundred women sewed the costumes. A hundred sopranos sang in the massive chorus. Thousands attended the three-day