Halloween around the world
From pumpkin carving and parades to dogs dressed as pirates, historic photos from the AP archives demonstrate how the popular American tradition of celebrating Halloween has been adopted across the world.
One of the games played at every Halloween party is eating, or rather, trying to eat an apple suspended on a string with your hand behind you. Here are a few of the children of New York's Little Italy who were guests at the Annual Halloween Party sponsored by the Children's Aid Society in New York, Oct. 25, 1939. (AP Photo)
Mary Woevodsky, an English woman on the staff of the American Nurses Club, ties the chin ribbons for Captain Raymond J. Goodhart of Arlington, Va., at the Gala Halloween party staged by the club in London, England, Oct. 11, 1942. (AP Photo)
These jack-o-lanterns offer Dickie Clark, 13, of St. Paul, Mn., a stern warning to mind his manners on Halloween, Oct. 29, 1965. (AP Photo)
With Halloween approaching, an unusual sight was seen in the skies over Bowie, Md., Oct. 28, 1966. Close checking revealed that Marleen Luckman, 17, was playing the part of a witch riding a broomstick. She was caught in mid-air, leaping from a trampoline, on a double exposed film. (AP Photo/William A. Smith)
First lady Betty Ford greets costumed school children from the Washington area, Thursday, Oct. 31, 1974 during a Halloween benefit for the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund on the White House South Lawn. Mrs. Ford gave each of the children a bag of trick-or-treat candy, an apple, and reached into her pocket to put a quarter coin into the UNICEF collection boxes they carried. (AP Photo/Henry Griffin)
Halloween revelers at New York's Studio 54 dance the night away in costumes ranging from burlesque to stellar. The party was held at the New York Discoteque, Oct. 31, 1977. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Rita Brennan, left, and Sharon DeCoste X-ray candy brought in by trick or treaters to the Jordan Hospital in Plymouth, Mass., Oct. 1, 1982. The hospital offered free X-rays of Halloween candy to area residents concerned about the safety of the candy. (AP Photo)
Children, dressed as witches, roller-blade their way around a subdivision at suburban Makati city, Philippines, for the trick or treat Halloween tradition, Friday, Oct.31, 1996. (AP Photo/Alberto Marquez)
Sylvie Thecier, 12, dressed as a witch, stands in the middle of a pumpkin arrangement in the gardens of the Trocadero, Paris, Friday, Oct. 31, 1997. The 8,000 pumpkins line the Trocadero esplanade near the Eiffel Tower, seen in background, - the latest sign that the traditionally American Halloween fete is catching on in France. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
Seven year old Anna poses as a witch with a giant pumpkin at the leisure park Europa-park in Rust, southern Germany, on Friday, Oct. 21, 2005, during a Halloween celebration. The pumpkin weighs 418.8 kg and has a radius of 4.23 meters. It is said to be one of the biggest pumpkins ever measured in Europe. (AP Photo/Winfried Rothermel)
Two people dressed up as aliens entertain the crowd at a Hong Kong downtown street, Sunday, Oct. 3, 2004, as part of this month's Halloween activities. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
A Romanian farmer waits for customers for his Halloween pumpkins in a Bucharest, Romania market Saturday night, Oct. 30, 2004. Celebrating Halloween started after the 1989 fall of the communist rule in Romania and is increasingly popular among young people. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Two boys arrive at a Halloween celebration with their nanny in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2002. In recent years, Halloween has become a popular tradition for the upper classes. (AP Photo/ Pablo Aneli)
Alberto in his costume carries some shopping baskets in a supermarket, in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2002. All employees in this supermarket are disguised in Halloween costumes one day ahead of All Saint's day. (AP Photo/Pablo Aneli)
Thousands of participants clad in Halloween-style costumes march in the main street in Kawasaki, south of Tokyo, Sunday, Oct. 30, 2005, during one of the biggest Halloween celebrations in Japan. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)
A Filipino girl arranges Halloween displays which are being sold from 500 to 1,000 pesos (about US$10 to $20) along a street in Manila, Philippines, Sunday, Oct. 30, 2005. The Philippines, a former U.S. colony, has adapted several American traditions, including Halloween. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
A woman sells pumpkins for Halloween in Warsaw, Poland, Monday, Oct. 29, 2007. The American holiday has become more popular during the past years in the eastern European country. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Text and photo curation by Kathryn Bubien