Halloween 1919 style

This is my grandmother and a neighbor at Halloween circa 1919.  My grandmother is on the right - I think about 3 years old. How costumes have changed!  It's hard to see here, but my grandmother is wearing little lace-up ankle boots and there is a black cat stuffed animal next to her.  I think they are holding moons on sticks and those are probably their masks and jack-o-lanterns for trick-or-treating hanging behind them.  This is the only holiday that I really miss from the U.S. I was so excited to get 4 trick-or-treaters last year here in Melbourne! It's not quite the same though - kids don't put the same effort into their costumes and you would never see an adult dressed up (boo-hoo!).  Of course, there is no historical context for it here since they didn't burn witches! It would be like a cricket match at Dodger stadium (now THAT would be funny).

Racy Spring Racing!

To kick off the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival, here's a photo of my mother, circa 1955 dressed as a horse "off her rocker". Hahahaha (very apropos if you knew my mum)! This wouldn't have been for Halloween, since this is probably in my grandparents Evanston, Illinois backyard and everything is lush and green.  The trees are in full leaf, the irisis are coming up (my grandmother was an avid gardener - I think I got my green thumb from her) and the grass is dark green, so I'm guessing late Spring, early summer, N. hemisphere. I seem to remember my mother saying this was for a fancy dress ball at the Art Institute of Chicago, where she studied for a semester or two before life got in the way (ie - husband number one)! It's a great outfit and you can see there was definately a girdle under there! Very 1950s. I would imagine that my grandmother probably made this for her. I have a photo of my grandmother dressed in costume at about age 3 (c. 1912) that I'll post soon for Halloween.