Throw a Spooktacular Soirée with Nostalgic Halloween Party Ideas from the BHG Archives

We combed through our archives from the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s for some favorite Halloween party motifs, recipes, and ideas.

Characterized by their cartoonish graphics and sweet-rather-than-scary charm, jack-o’-lanterns, ghosts, black cats, witches, and owls hit just the right nostalgic but stylish note for your boo bash.

Hand Out Halloween Party Crackers

Treat your guests to these party cracker favors filled with surprises like candy corn, stickers, or jokes written on slips of paper. For each, upcycle an empty toilet paper roll or form a tube from poster board; wrap in tissue paper and twist-tie the ends. Top it off with corrugated cardstock and a vintage decal glued to a cardstock circle.

Make DIY Vintage Halloween Decor

Display DIY paper ornaments on a moody black tree in a vignette or string them together with twine for a table or entry garland. (We found this hand-dyed goose feather Small Black Halloween Tree at Christmas Traditions for $100.)

To form watchful owls, cut and glue cardstock details onto honeycomb balls (we found a pack of 20 for about $11 on Amazon). The black cats and jack-o’-lanterns are formed with strips held together at the top and bottom with brad fasteners.

Goofy grins are brought to life with these pumpkin pals. Cut bits of cardstock for their faces and glue onto 3-inch honey comb spheres. Finish with witch hats and pleated-ribbon collars. For the stand, wrap a treat cup with patterned cardstock.

We used retro motifs to adorn our decorations. You can buy premade assortments online (we found 20 designs for $7 on Etsy) or search “free vintage Halloween decals” to find royalty-free options to print and cut out.

Enjoy Timeless Party Recipes

Black Cat Empanadas

These zesty horror-d’oeuvres were inspired by a Black Cat Tart we shared in 1955. Then: Mini raisin pies were topped with cat-shape dough cutouts. Now: Cut purchased pie pastry into cat faces and fill with a spicy mixture of black beans, salsa, and cheese. Before baking, press black sesame seeds onto the surface of the pastry for fur and shape the whiskers, eyes, and nose from leftover pastry. Serve with queso or salsa for dipping.

Cheesy Biscuit Pumpkins

This pumpkin-shape snack seems fancy but is actually easy to achieve. Cut strips of canned biscuits and wrap them around balls of deli cheese. Sage leaves and pretzel- stick stems complete the look.

Halloween Sugar Cookies

We pulled inspo from Halloween art in our archives to create the faces on these cookies, but you can also come up with your own funny or spooky faces.

Surprise Popcorn Balls

These treats look like the classic balls, but they have a surprise inside. Each is formed around a mini candy bar (use a variety of flavors) and drizzled with milk chocolate. For take-home favors, wrap balls in patterned waxed paper and pop them into purchased bags. We decorated ours with printed jack-o’-lantern faces and added pipe cleaner handles.