A distinctly American blend of Halloween traditions emerged by the late 1800s. Into the 20th century, the holiday was mostly an innocent celebration of mystery and fun, but friends and neighbors often exchanged seasonal greeting cards that evoked Halloween's superstitious origins. This colorful example alludes to olden customs and beliefs about the spiritual world.

Halloween's superstitious origins gave way to a national celebration of mystery and innocent fun in 20th-century America. Seasonal greeting cards commonly exchanged by friends and neighbors during Halloween reflect a distinctly American blend of olden customs and modern life. A traditional jack-o-lantern drives a contemporary automobile on this clever card from 1908.

Halloween's superstitious origins gave way to a national celebration of mystery and innocent fun in 20th-century America. Seasonal greeting cards commonly exchanged by friends and neighbors during Halloween reflected a distinctly American blend of olden customs and modern life. Witchcraft, fortune-telling, and contemporary advances in flight come together on this clever card from the early 1910s.

A distinctly American blend of Halloween traditions emerged by the late 1800s. Into the 20th century, the holiday was mostly an innocent celebration of mystery and fun, but friends and neighbors often exchanged seasonal greeting cards that evoked Halloween's superstitious origins. This colorful example alludes to olden customs and beliefs involving witchcraft, owls, and black cats.

Halloween's superstitious origins gave way to a national celebration of mystery and innocent fun in 20th-century America. Seasonal greeting postcards commonly exchanged by friends and neighbors during Halloween reflected a distinctly American blend of olden customs and modern life. This colorful example from 1914 combines traditional superstitious symbols with a contemporary automobile.

Halloween's superstitious origins gave way to a national celebration of mystery and innocent fun in 20th-century America. Seasonal greeting postcards commonly exchanged by friends and neighbors during Halloween reflected a distinctly American blend of olden customs and modern life. This colorful example from about 1915 features traditional superstitious symbols and a whimsical "airplane."

The first American Halloween gatherings were designed as matchmaking parties for young people, with games to "predict" matrimonial futures and ample opportunity for innocent flirtation. Friends and neighbors often exchanged seasonal greeting postcards - such as this colorful example from about 1912 - that depicted these holiday amusements.

By the late 1800s, a distinct blend of Halloween customs had emerged in the United States. The holiday was mostly an innocent celebration of mystery and fun into the 20th century, though traditions often reflected Halloween's supernatural origins. This colorful, spooky greeting postcard from 1913 alludes to olden customs and beliefs about the spiritual world.

A distinctly American blend of Halloween traditions emerged by the late 1800s. Into the 20th century, the holiday was mostly an innocent celebration of mystery and fun, but friends and neighbors often exchanged seasonal greeting postcards that evoked Halloween's superstitious origins. This colorful example includes a witch and a jack-o-lantern -- two symbols of Halloween's superstitious origins.

During the 1800s, Irish immigrants had a great influence on the celebration of Halloween in the United States. They substituted traditional lanterns carved from hollowed-out turnips with pumpkins, a squash native to America. This colorful postcard features these jack-o-lanterns, which had become the symbol of the American Halloween by the turn of the 20th century.

Halloween's superstitious origins gave way to a national celebration of mystery and innocent fun in 20th-century America. Seasonal greeting postcards commonly exchanged by friends and neighbors during Halloween reflected a distinctly American blend of olden customs and modern life. This colorful example from about 1920 features a traditional Halloween jack-o-lantern as the cockpit of a whimsical "airplane."

By the late 1800s, a distinct blend of Halloween customs had emerged in the United States. The holiday was mostly an innocent celebration of mystery and fun into the 20th century, though traditions often reflected Halloween's supernatural origins. This colorful postcard reminds the reader, "Don't be scared of Goblins and Ghosts"; witches will scare them away if you make a noise like an owl.

A distinctly American blend of Halloween traditions emerged by the late 1800s. Into the 20th century, the holiday became a national celebration of mystery and innocent fun. Often, friends and neighbors exchanged seasonal greeting cards. Though many Americans consider black cats as omens of bad luck, the sentiment on this colorful postcard expresses wishes of good luck on Halloween.

A jack-o-lantern is a traditional symbol of Halloween. The tradition began in the Celtic regions of Europe, specifically Ireland, where people hollowed out root vegetables, such as turnips, and lit them with candles or burning coal or embers. As immigrants flooded into the United States in the 1800s they used the pumpkin -- native to America -- as a natural substitute.

By 1900, articles in magazines and newspapers had helped spread and popularize Halloween customs and images like jack o-lanterns, black cats, witches, or bobbing for apples to a national audience. Some people marked the holiday by mailing a Halloween-themed postcard greeting to family or friends. During the first two decades of the 20th century, sending postcards was an easy--and popular--way to communicate.