When costumes were worn on Thanksgiving
We might not know which one was first, the egg or the chicken, but we do know that before Halloween and the trick of treat, there was Thanksgiving, turkey and costumed people. Yes, the tradition of dressing up in costumes, making noise on the streets to chase away bad spirits and go to costume parties happened on Thanksgiving.
According to the National Public Radio, people enjoyed dressing up so much that it became “the busiest time of the year for manufacturers of and dealers in masks and false faces”, as described by the LA Times in 1897.
As if the costume tradition was not enough to confuse the heck out of the modern Americans, children also wore costumes and went from house to house, asking “Anything for Thanksgiving?”. Guess what they received from adults? You’ve guessed it: candies! But just like many people loved the tradition, others hated it with a passion, so much that New York’s school superintendent claimed it was not compatible with “modernity” and it was only created to “annoy adults”. As early as 1930, going door to door for treats turned into Halloween’s trick or treating while the costume tradition turned into the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Thankfully, the next thing went up in smoke…..
5 thoughts on “8 Baffling Things You Won’t Believe People Did 100 Years Ago”
I’m 80 years old and I’ve NEVER heard of this old law. I was born in the St. Louis, MO area.
Did you know, Rita, that the mayor is defunding the police and St. Louis is beating Chicago in murder rate now?
When I was a little girl
When I was a little girl my mother made my costume, but that was before mothers worked outside the home. Mostly I went as a hobo or a clown.
I started smocking in High school. I remember saying “they” can’t make American’s stop smoking. How can they enforce it ? LOL
“The first orphanage in America was first opened in 1729 for white children”…
Let’s be fair here, in America then there were practically nothing BUT white children. This sounds like it was established as a racist institution. I doubt the Indians were going to put their war orphans in the enemy’s care anyhow.