Halloween, or All Hallows’ Eve, is an amalgamation of various Christian and Pagan traditions and festivals. Everything we know about the celebration: costumes, trick-or-treating, and traditional games, come from a long history of festivals and religious ceremonies dating back to the 8th century. By the time Larry Racioppo was growing up in South Brooklyn in the middle of the 20th century, Halloween, as we know it today, had been fully established as an American tradition. 

In the 1970s, Racioppo set out to photograph Halloween in his old neighborhood. Each year for six years, he went out and captured the spirit of the day. The black-and-white images of superheroes, tiny tin men, skeletons, and witches remind viewers of the simple joy and mild self-consciousness of being a child on Halloween. The New York Public Library acquired these images in 2011, and we’re happy to reshare them as a reminder of the spirit of the season. 

To view all of the photos from Larry Racioppo’s Halloween collection, visit our Digital Collections.