“A person should always choose a costume that is in direct contrast to her own personality.”  (Lucy Van Pelt, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown)

From the mid-1800s to early 1900s costumed dances, parties, theatricals, and of course, Halloween events, were frequent, well-attended events in the Lackawanna Valley. One Scranton couple, now buried in the Dunmore Cemetery, provided costuming to countless merrymakers and performers for almost four decades.

Katherine Horn, born in Germany in 1839, came to the United States in 1859. John Fahrenholt, born in Germany in 1844, came to the United States in 1866.  The two were married in St. Luke’s Church in Scranton in August 1871. During their marriage, the couple had 11 children, but only three –  Violet, Theodore, and  Henry- survived to adulthood. 

Earliest accounts of the Fahrenholt’s show that, following their marriage, the couple assisted Katherine’s father, John, in the daily operation of his hotel located on Penn Avenue in Scranton.

By the 1880s, John and Katherine Fahrenholt were in business for themselves as suppliers of costumes. Fahrenholt’s, a full-fledged costume shop on Penn Avenue, carried a complete line of masks, wigs and makeup. 

Katherine designed and constructed costumes. John traveled throughout the Lackawanna Valley with portions of the store inventory for rental to those residing outside of Scranton. One regular town on the sales route was Carbondale where Fahrenholt’s supplied costumes for numerous parades and balls. 

In addition to providing costumes for valley residents, over their years in business, John and Katherine branched out in their financial endeavors. Visitors to Fahrenholt’s Penn Avenue establishment could also purchase an array of confections and ice cream. 

Over the years, the store was also stocked with a line of men’s clothing, a barber shop and John Fahrenholt was also a real estate and steamship ticket agent. One reason for the varied offerings was that despite the success of the costume store,  possibly it was not enough to consistently sustain the family. Damage and loss of costuming was an expected part of the enterprise. 

One example of this was the 1896 Carbondale Fourth of July parade. Torrential rains caused considerable damage to a substantial number of costumes.

In his discouragement on this occasion, John Fahrenholt stated that the costumes were reduced to being only usable for linings, and that despite not having any competition for 150 miles, the costume business did not pay. Regardless of this setback, Fahrenholt’s continued to dress partygoers and theatricals for another two decades.

Katherine Fahrenholt died at the age of 78 on July 28, 1917 of  a gastric ulcer. John followed her in death on December 23, 1918 at the age of 74r from acute gastritis. The couple who provided beautiful disguises to Northeastern Pennsylvania revelers for decades now rest peacefully together in Section Twenty-two of the Dunmore Cemetery.