Membership

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Success! Now Check Your Email

To complete Subscribe, click the confirmation link in your inbox. If it doesn’t arrive within 3 minutes, check your spam folder.

Ok, Thanks
Viewfinder

A Public Domain Halloween

A selection of photographic gems celebrating the great fall tradition of Halloween

Unseen Editor profile image
by Unseen Editor
Updated
A Public Domain Halloween

Lurking within the public archives are a diaspora of photographs documenting the United States in all its diversity, providing us with a glimpse into 20th century American life. Here's a selection of gems celebrating the great fall tradition of Halloween.

Remastered photographs by Jordan J. Lloyd.

"Image 4 of Halloween decorations on Route 30; Farm markets on Route 30, New Jersey." Photograph by Joseph P. Czarnecki. October 30th, 1983, New Jersey, United States (⇲ Library of Congress)
"Spooky doorway to a Halloween-season attraction in Fort Worth, Texas." Photograph by Carol M. Highsmith. September 8th, 2014, Fort Worth, Texas, United States (⇲ Library of Congress)
"[Kids wearing masks for Halloween]" Photograph by Angelo Rizzuto. October 1964, New York, United States (⇲ Library of Congress)
"Children Enjoy a Halloween Party at the Lewis Center. Photograph Taken for the Bureau of Recreation." Photograph by Pittsburgh City Photographer. October 29th, 1925, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States (⇲ University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh City Photographer Collection)
"Halloween party at State Normal School, Kearney, Nebraska." Photograph by Solomon D. Butcher. 1908, Kearney, Nebraska, United States (⇲ Library of Congress)

[L] "Halloweeen Image." Photograph by Martin Brown. c.1973, Ohio, United States (⇲ US National Archives and Records Administration). [R] "Girls Inspect Pumpkin [a]t the Kenwood School Halloween Party. [Nancy Lee] Holmberg is on the left." Photograph by Powell Krueger. 1944, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States (⇲ Hennepin County Library Digital Collections)

[L] "Halloween: Three boys on porch steps cutting faces in pumpkins." Photograph by Unknown Photographer. c.1917, United States (⇲ Library of Congress). [R] "The children crowd and push to reach the refreshments at Halloween party in Shafter migrant camp. California." Photograph by Dorothea Lange. November 1938, Kern County, California, United States (⇲ Library of Congress)

"The children crowd and push to reach the refreshments at Halloween party in Shafter migrant camp. California." Photograph by Dorothea Lange. November 1938, Kern County, California, United States (⇲ Library of Congress)
"Halloween party at Shafter migrant camp, California." Photograph by Dorothea Lange. November 1938, Kern County, California, United States (⇲ New York Public Library Digital Collections)
"Image 1 of Warren Grove Firehouse Halloween party, Warren Grove, New Jersey." Photograph by Nora Jane Rubinstein. October 29th, 1983, New Jersey, United States (⇲ Library of Congress)
"Image 12 of Warren Grove Firehouse Halloween party, Warren Grove, New Jersey." Photograph by Nora Jane Rubinstein. October 29th, 1983, New Jersey, United States (⇲ Library of Congress)

Curated by Unseen Histories, Viewfinder points the lens at photographs, maps, and ephemera uncovered from the worlds' archives.

Unseen Histories Store

From Archive to Art Print

SHOP PRINTS
Unseen Histories relies on your patronage to operate. A small portion from every print sale from the Unseen Histories Store is reinvested into Unseen Histories to bring the past to life.
Unseen Editor profile image
by Unseen Editor
Updated

Subscribe to our Newsletter

A free roundup of new history books, long-form pieces and more; curated by Unseen Histories.

Read More