The History of Halloween Costumes - Short Q&A Reading Comprehension

Sep 30, 2026

Reading comprehension material explaining the origins and evolution of Halloween costumes, beginning with Scotland’s “guising” custom where children sang, told jokes, or recited poems before receiving treats. It traces earlier disguise traditions connected to Samhain, then describes how immigrants carried these practices to America and how early 1900s families made costumes from household materials. The passage highlights the shift to store-bought boxed costumes in the 1930s and the later influence of movies, TV, and popular characters, followed by ten multiple-choice questions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time11 min

AccessFree to download

Questions

Costume origins and tradition

Costume-making and store-bought shifts

Popular characters and main idea

Picture a cold autumn night in Scotland, more than a hundred years ago. A group of children shuffle up to a neighbor's door wearing old coats, painted faces, and masks made of paper. Before they get a single treat, they have to sing a song, tell a joke, or recite a little poem. This custom was called "guising,"a short word for disguising, and it is one of the great-great-grandparents of the Halloween costume. Long before guising, people wore disguises for a very different reason. At an ancient festival called Samhain, folks in Ireland and Scotland told a story that spirits could wander the earth on that night, so some people dressed in disguises hoping to blend in and not be noticed. When immigrants carried these autumn traditions across the ocean to America, the costumes came along in their suitcases and their memories. Once Halloween took root in America, families made their costumes right at home. In the early 1900s, there were no costume stores, so children raided closets and rag bags for old sheets, hats, and mother's dresses. A bedsheet with two eye holes became a ghost, and a burnt cork rubbed on the cheeks turned a kid into a hobo or a clown. Every costume was one of a kind because no two families owned exactly the same junk! Homemade fun ruled until companies spotted a chance to sell something new. In the 1930s, businesses such as the Ben Cooper company began making costumes and masks you could buy ina box. These early store-bought outfits often had a shiny printed smock and a stiff plastic mask held on by a thin rubber band. Suddenly a child could become a witch or a cat without a single stitch of sewing. Those boxed costumes really took off when they started to look like characters kids already loved. After movies and TV arrived, children wanted to dress as superheroes, cartoon stars, and space adventurers they saw on the screen. Today you can be almost anything, from a dinosaur to a taco, and according to a National Retail Federation survey, superheroes and princesses are among the most popular children's costumes year after year. Not bad for a tradition that began with kids in old coats singing for a treat at the door! The History of Halloween Costumes Name: | Solve each problem.
Use the article to answer the question.
1) What did children in Scotland have to do during guising before they received a treat?
A. Knock three times and say a password
B. Sing a song, tell a joke, or recite a poem
C. Leave a coin on the doorstep | | | | | Answers
1.
2.
3. | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | D. Trade one of their own toys away
2) Which structure does the author mainly use to organize this passage?
A. A list of directions for making a costume
B. A comparison of two different countries
C. Time order, tracing costumes from long ago to today
D. A problem and its single solution | | | | | 4.
5.
6. | | | | | | | 3) Why did some people wear disguises at the ancient festival of Samhain?
A. They needed to stay warm on the cold night
B. They hoped to blend in and not be noticed by wandering spirits
C. They wanted to win a prize for the best outfit
D. They were copying costumes from movies | | | | | 7.
8.
9. | | | | | | | 4) What caused children to want to dress as superheroes and cartoon stars?
A. Costume stores ran out of ghost sheets
B. Their parents told them stories about Samhain
C. They saw these characters in movies and on TV
D. Schools required matching costumes for parties | | | | | 10. | | | | | | | 5) What did the early store-bought costumes of the 1930s usually include?
A. A cloth cape and a wooden mask
B. An old coat and a painted paper mask
C. A bedsheet with two eye holes
D. A shiny printed smock and a stiff plastic mask | | | | | | | | | | | | 6) According to the passage, the word "guising" is a short form

FAQs

What must children in Scotland do during guising before they receive a treat?

They have to sing a song, tell a joke, or recite a little poem.

Why did some people wear disguises at the festival of Samhain?

They hoped to blend in and not be noticed by wandering spirits.

What caused store-bought costumes to become especially popular as time went on?

They started to look like characters children already loved from movies and TV.

Sep 30, 2026

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