On Halloween a hundred years ago, if you were in Omaha, you could use the occasion to buy a phonograph for your family at the Burgess-Nash Company. While you were there, you could get your Halloween dinner for 65 cents. Or, if you were on a budget, you could get a lunch of chicken a la king in the mezzanine for 35 cents.
The ad appeared in the Omaha Bee, October 31, 1923.
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If you were getting ready for Halloween a hundred years ago, the place to go was Loft, whose trademark was “penny a pound profit.” Both chocolates and hard candies (with the characteristic orange tint) went for about 54-59 cents per pound (which works out to $9.54 to $10.42 after in 2022 dollars, after inflation.)
The store was said to have an immense assortment and the lowest prices in the city, which formed a combination that defied all forms of competition. The “high grade” 59 cent chocolates came in an attractively decorated container in keeping with that great night of mysterious doings. For tholse on a budget, you could get six pumpkin head scarecrow lollipos or six marshmallow jelly funny faces for 19 cents.
For exact store locations, readers were directed to the telephone directory. The ad appeared in the New York Evening World, October 27, 1922.
Twenty-two persons died in the storm, which was followed by record cold temperatures that hindered snow removal. Schools were closed the following day, a Friday, with some remaining closed the following Monday.
Trick or treating was largely a victim of the storm. At the time, I lived in an apartment building, so had a handful of kids from the building trick or treating. But for most, the traditional activity was impossible.
You can view WCCO-TV coverage of the storm at this video, posted courtesy of TC Media Now:
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For Halloween, I am doing a special broadcast for the neighborhood. If you discovered this page from that broadcast, welcome to OneTubeRadio.com, a blog covering mostly radio history, but also other eclectic topics. If you are outside of our broadcast range, you can listen to the full broadcast by clicking the play button below:
Tonight’s broadcast features War of the Worlds, originally broadcast on CBS radio on October 30, 1938. It also includes Halloween music from French artist Chez Mon Plaisir, who has graciously placed the music in the public domain under a Creative Commons 0 license. It is available for download at FreeMusicArchive.org.
Reception reports are welcome. You can contact us at como-radio@usa.net.
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The Windy City youngsters shown here have been collecting Social Security for a few years now, but in 1960, they were celebrating Halloween at Jackie Robinson Park, Chicago.
And in 1947, the young women shown below were participants in the Anaheim, CA, Halloween Slick Chick Beauty Contest.
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The picture above was taken a hundred years ago today on Halloween 1919. This young woman in Texas or Oklahoma is dressed up as a Gypsy as her Halloween costume.
The photo is courtesy of Jennifer of Jennifer Chronicles blog, jenx67.com, and used with her permission. It came from a photo album she found in an Oklahoma City flea market. The gypsy in the photo was probably the owner of the album, since she appeared in many of the pictures. A common theme of the album is soldiers at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, along with their girlfriends. Other pictures show this woman dressed as a Red Cross nurse. You can see more photos from the album at this link and at this link.
For Halloween this year, we offer this Halloween craft project from 75 years ago, courtesy of the November 1943 issue of Popular Science. Wartime shortages of Halloween decorations needn’t have put a damper on things, since you could just make these. They could be placed around the room for decorations, or serve as nut holders or place tag holders at the Halloween dinner table.
All that was needed were some walnuts, pipe cleaners, and a few miscellaneous bits that could be found around the shop. The main cuts were done with a coping saw, with the nut held in a vice. The magazine provided instructions on how to finish up the tiny goblins.
Before the kids had video games, they kept themselves occupied with things like paper dolls, and this Halloween set from the October 1917 issue of Ladies’ Home Journal was practically guaranteed to keep the little goblins busy. The magazine suggested that the page could be mounted on muslin or linen before cutting, which would make sure they would last longer without the tabs tearing quite so easily. The magazine also suggested that a one inch strip of cardboard at the waistline, bent slightly, would allow the dolls to stand. A slit can be cut along the dotted line on the hats, allowing them to slip on to the respective doll.
Another article in the magazine stated that despite the war, there should be some pleasure, and suggested some party ideas for Halloween.
By clicking on the image above, you can get a full-size image in case you want to try your hand with some century old paper dolls.
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The illustration above is from a Halloween a century ago, taken from the 1916 book “Handicraft for Handy Girls: Practical Plans for Work and Play.” The book describes how to construct this “Witch’s wigwam,” complete with caldron, harvest moon, and make-believe fire.
Kids a century ago were thoroughly modern, so the make-believe fire is electrical, consisting of an electric light beneath a few sticks, with a piece of red tissue paper covering the lamp. The moonlight effect is created by placing another electric lamp behind the moon. The book suggests that the room can be lighted entirely by the moonlight and firelight thus produced.
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The illustration here is from Halloween a century ago, from the 1915 book Story Plays Old And New, Volume 3.
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