It’s October, which means you’re currently juggling soccer pickup, a work deadline, and a child who announced this morning that they need a costume for the class party. Tomorrow. And no, they don’t want to be the thing you already bought.

While you’re mentally calculating whether a bedsheet and a Sharpie count as a “ghost,” let’s take a quick, fun detour down memory lane.

What Were We All Wearing Back Then?

You can learn a lot about a year just by looking at what people wore trick-or-treating. Halloween costumes are basically a time capsule of whatever movie, TV show, or pop star everyone was obsessed with.

The folks at Reader’s Digest went year by year and put together a full list of the most popular Halloween costume for every year from 1950 to 2005. Grab your coffee (the one you’ve reheated three times) and find your year.

The ’50s and ’60s: Classic Monsters and Moon Landings

These years were all about cartoon heroes, spooky classics, and a little space-age wonder.

• 1953: Mickey Mouse
• 1954: Batman
• 1957: Frankenstein’s Monster
• 1965: Sonny Bono and Cher
• 1967: Morticia Addams from The Addams Family
• 1969: Astronaut

That 1969 pick makes perfect sense. Neil Armstrong walked on the moon that summer, so naturally every kid on the block wanted a helmet and a jumpsuit.

The ’70s and ’80s: Big Movies, Bigger Hair

This is where things get fun. Hollywood took over Halloween, and honestly, a few of these were scary for reasons that had nothing to do with monsters.

• 1971: Willy Wonka
• 1975: Dr. Frank-N-Furter from The Rocky Horror Picture Show
• 1978: Michael Myers from Halloween
• 1981: Indiana Jones
• 1984: Madonna
• 1988: Beetlejuice
• 1989: Ghostbusters

If you were a kid in the ’80s, there’s a good chance a parent teased your hair into a Madonna masterpiece or you strapped a vacuum-cleaner “proton pack” to your back. No judgment. Okay, a little judgment.

The ’90s and Early 2000s: Hello, Nostalgia

And here’s the section where a lot of us start screaming “THAT WAS ME!” at our phones.

• 1993: Power Rangers
• 1996: The Spice Girls
• 1998: Ghostface from Scream
• 2000: Britney Spears
• 2001: Harry Potter and Hermione Granger
• 2002: Spider-Man
• 2005: Darth Vader

Be honest: you and your besties were the Spice Girls in 1996, and someone got stuck being Posh because nobody else wanted to. (It was the quiet one. It’s always the quiet one.)

Bonus Mom Hack

Here’s the best part: so many of these are back in style right now. Ghostbusters, Willy Wonka, Spider-Man, and Harry Potter are still huge with kids. Dig through your old photos, find your own childhood costume, and recreate it with your kids for a throwback family costume. Instant cute picture, minimal effort. You’re welcome.

Want to see whether your exact birth year made the cut? Check out the complete year-by-year Halloween costume list from Reader’s Digest.

Now It’s Your Turn!

What was the most popular costume the year YOU were born, and did you ever actually wear it? Even better, what’s the most iconic costume you ever rocked as a kid? Head over to our Facebook and Instagram and tell us in the comments. Bonus points if you share the photo! 🎃