Popular Halloween Costumes Throughout History

Every year there are Halloween costumes that are, by far, the most popular (see how many Sarah Palin and Jokers you can count this year.) So we decided to take a look back and see what some of the more popular costumes were throughout time. Here are seven of them.

Neanderthals – The Saber-Toothed Tiger
Since cavemen had small brains and were afraid of simple things such as fire and rain, they didn't have a lot to work with in the costume department. So most of them just put any skull they found on the their head and shuffle over to nearby caves for treats such as other skulls, dirt and feces.

Ancient Egyptians – The Pyramid
If it’s one thing the Egyptians were known for, it’s slaves and pyramids. And since no self-respecting Egyptian would dress up as a slave for fear that someone would actually mistake them for one and then enslave them and make them drag pyramid-making boulders until they died, most of them donned a pyramid before going out trick-or-treating. It was, by far, the smartest costume of the era.

The Roman Era – The Gladiator
As you can see from this painting “The Last Supper Before We Go Out Trick-Or-Treating,” there were many popular costumes at the end of the Roman Era. But since this was Jesus’ special party, and since he was the living son of God and savior to all mankind, most historians have deduced that the Gladiator was far and away the most popular costume.

The Vikings – Vikings
In the Nordic language, “trick-or-treat” directly translates to “rape-and-pillage.” When they learned about this “trick-or-treating” custom, the Vikings loved it so much that they dressed up as themselves and went “trick-or-treating” year-round all over the world until there was no other continent left to "trick-or-treat." (Especially "treat.")

The Wild West – Diarrhea
The leading cause of death for the cowboys of Western North America during the 1800s was dehydration caused by diarrhea. It was such a popular way to die, that it was all they knew. And since it was all they knew, it was the only Halloween costume idea most of them could come up with.

The Great Depression – Bags
Bags reached their height of popularity in America during the 1930s. They were so popular that they were used for anything from pillows to shoes to pets to, of course, Halloween costumes. Another custom of the time that has lost some of it’s popularity was that every Halloween night the children would give their mother their bag costume and she would turn it into a sandwich that could feed a family of seven for a week.

BONUS COSTUME: THE FUTURE OF HALLOWEEN – HUMANS
We all know that robots are going to take over the world. And when they do, our robot conquerors will probably adopt some of the traditions of their human underlings.  Lots of people dress up as robots for Halloween, so it’s only logical to think that a real robots will dress up as humans while asking its fellow robots for spare oil and bolts.  The work-oriented life of an average robot doesn’t leave a lot of time for costume-making, so their human costumes will probably be fairly crude and thrown-together, but if robots could laugh, they’d all have a good chuckle at whichever robot came up with the most clever human mask (hint: old lady masks will be a huge hit).