Underrated American Revolution Halloween Costumes
With Halloween right around the corner, it's time to think about the perfect costume. Sure, you could find a classic "colonial" getup from your nearest Halloween store and call it a day, but why not step it up a notch? We came up with five other ideas inspired by figures from the Revolutionary era that will provide the perfect inspiration for this spooky season.
To make it even easier, you can find a lot of these items from the Museum Shop!
Sybil Ludington
We all know the story of Paul Revere’s famous midnight ride, but do you know about the 16-year-old New Yorker who also made a midnight ride two years later? This year, pay homage to Sybil Ludington — who rode 40 miles from Putnam County, New York, on April 26, 1777, to warn of a British attack nearby Danbury, Connecticut — by taking cues from the famous images of her sporting a green dress and a red cape and hoisting a stick like the one she used to knock on neighbors’ doors. Though not historically accurate, you could accessorize with an umbrella to signify the driving rainstorm through which she rode to warn of the British Army’s impending attack.
From the Museum Shop:
Ben Franklin and a kite (couple's costume)
If you’re looking to add a more electric component to your couple’s costume, this one has the creative spark you and your partner need this Halloween. Find your nearest round spectacles for Ben and cut up and decorate some poster board to make a kite and represent one of the Revolutionary thinker’s most famous experiments. Tape on some string (hemp string, to be exact) as the kite tail and tie a key to the string. Better yet, tie your house key to the kite so you won’t have to worry about losing it during any spooky festivities! (Note: we do not advise waiting for a lightning strike.)
The Schuyler Sisters (group costume)
With the popularity of Hamilton, maybe this one isn’t so underrated, but that wouldn’t make it any less fun to enlist two friends (or if you have two sisters) and dress up as Angelica, Eliza… and Peggy Schuyler using dresses to match their pink, blue, and yellow color scheme. Work!
From the Museum Shop:
Revolutionary Privateer
Why dress up like a typical pirate or sailor when you can dress as some of the most well-known privateers of the sea during the Revolutionary era? This one is all about the accessories. Find a telescope, like the one used by Captain John Paul Jones; write up a captain’s commission to signify Commodore John Barry’s role as first commissioned officer of the U.S. Navy in 1776 (and sport some green to nod to his Irish heritage); or find some sail canvas and rope to represent James Forten’s history as one of the most successful sailmakers in Philadelphia.
From the Museum Shop:
Revolutionary Pets
While everyone else dresses up as a cat, trade your whiskers for dog ears this Halloween as you try your paw at embodying one of the many dogs George Washington kept on his estate at Mount Vernon, like dalmatian Madame Moose or French hound, Vulcan. Or if you’re feeling more obscure, you could also fashion a gray furry tail and carry some acorns as Ben Franklin’s beloved pet squirrel, Mungo.
