21 replies to this topic

[Chmnofbrd]

I am leaving tomorrow to take a cruise to Nova Scotia so I thought I would post these 60's shots to wish everyone a Happy Haunted Halloween.
Remember before they decided that masks were dangerous we all had these costumes that included the mask held on with the elastic string in the back.













A typical 60's Halloween party


Here is one that you could have picked up in Woolworth's


The talented moms picked up a Simplicity pattern


Sometimes the grownups got into the act


Sometimes things got wild

[worldsfairent]

Thanks for the typically great pix, Chairman... and Bon Voyage!

[specialbunny]

those are fantastic photos! thanks for posting them!!

[Elizabeth Klug]

I remember those plastic Halloween masks. They were always so sharp on the edges you could almost draw blood with them!!

[Randy Treadway]

The rubber bands to hold the masks on were always so thin and cheap they would inevitably break before Halloween trick-or-treating was done and you'd try to tie the broken ends of the rubber band together to hold your mask on.

Who can remember the costumes you wore when trick-or-treating when you were a kid? I think I had a new one every year because I grew so fast the previous year's costume wouldn't fit (and of course being the oldest I never got any hand-me-downs).
Boy, it's really vague in my brain. I remember my brother Rick was a red devil one year. Seems like maybe I was a pirate one time, but I don't really remember very well.
I remember in about 1962 or so I was a popular TV character, but for the life of me I can't remember who it was. Maybe Huckleberry Hound.

Now remembering what kind of treats you got in your sack or bag- the memories of that are MUCH more vivid!
Back then there wasn't the fear that parents have today, so there were a lot of home-made treats and not so much pre-wrapped candy, although there was some of that too.
Home made cookies. I especially remember peanut butter cookies that were still warm straight out of the oven into kids bags at the front door. The smell was wonderful.
Popcorn balls- remember that? In all kinds of colors, or rainbow. It's been years since I've ate a popcorn ball.
Candied apples.
My favorite wrapped candy was Sugar Daddies, until somebody gave me a Sugar Mamma which I discovered was HUGE and might last for an hour or two.

[worldsfairent]

I also remember the way those hard masks would "sweat" inside as you breathed against whatever tiny, ill-placed ventilation holes they offered! I went as Scooby Doo one year and nearly passed out. "Zoinks!"

In my neighborhood, there were three houses I'll never forget. One belonged to a Tulsa area hypnotist who changed all his outdoor bulbs to creepy black light and would sloooooowwwly open the door with a creak and give you the "evil eye" as he handed you a "magic wooden token" that was basically just an advertisement for his show at some local night club. But honestly, you were just so happy to have survived the ordeal without being hypnotized into believing you were a chicken-- it really didn't matter. The second house belonged to a joyless dentist-- who not only lectured each kid on the ravages of sugar-induced tooth decay, but also handed out a toothbrush and some newfangled thing called floss to every last one of us. I remember using the floss one year to tie up all my sister's Barbies. And finally, there was the one old woman at the end of the culdesac who spent god-knows-how-long-and-how-much making literally HUNDREDS of carmel and candied apples-- and this long before you could even buy any ready-made kinds in the store. She would have them set up in the foyer of her home-- which smelled like heaven-- and then invite you in to choose whichever one you wanted. That's right-- just to recap-- a STRANGE WOMAN would invite you INTO HER HOME and offer you an UNWRAPPED, UNSANTIZED piece of FRUIT that she'd HAND-DIPPED into UNKNOWN SWEET, STICKY SUBSTANCES. Never thought twice about it. And lemme tell ya, every year we never failed to "save the best for last" making a final treasured stop by her house before heading home. Then one year, the old lady finally died-- and maybe her passing simply coincided with that inevitable point when every kid starts to feel too old for trick or treating-- but for me, Halloween was never the same again.

I can only hope my kids enjoy it half as much as I did.

[attachment=0:1db78]Pre-TeenWolf.jpg[/attachment:1db78]
Yours Truly - circa 1977, when I finally outgrew the store-bought costumes and spent hours in the bathroom with crepe hair and a bottle of spirit gum to transform myself into Pre-Teen Wolf! I even stuck it on my chest-- and man, did that itch! Aaaaoooooooowwwwwwwwwwww!!!

[Glen Schultzberg]

Great pics as usual Chairman. Sorry I'm a bit late for commenting on all things Halloween. I remember those cheap plastic masks with the flimsy elastics being produced into the late 70s. One year I was a Stormtrooper (from Star Wars, not WWII )--probably 1978 or 79. I actually really enjoyed the oportunity to have a store bought costume because my family had a big box up in the attic of old Halloween costumes that we would recycle year after year (I was the youngest of nine children). Looking back I realize that those "hand-me-downs" were more imaginitive and of better quality than most of the cheap store bought ones, but still, it was nice to go around the neighborhood pretending to be a Stormtrooper!

Trey, great Halloween stories (and what a great costume--I appreciate all the work and discomfort you had to endure to make that one happen!). The dentist admonishing kids and handing out toothbrushes sounds like an archetypal character from some classic story of kids trick-or-treating on Halloween. Great stuff.

I also remember the variety of stuff you'd get in the days before fear (and, yes, caution) of things not usually associated with Halloween took over the holiday. I never actually got candied apples, but never returned home without at least one or two plain old apples. Again, somethig I didn't really appreciate as a kid looking for a sugar high, but something which I now miss seeing as a Halloween treat option. And, while I say this was in the days before Halloween changed for the safer (if not better), I do remember hearing stories of razor blades being stuck into apples even back then. Made me eat them a little more carefully (or a convenient excuse not to eat the apples, in favor of the wrapped candy ).

[Mike Kraus]

Big urban legend around here was: Chicklets (gum with a hard, white coating) and Ex-Lax chewables looked the same.
Supposedly, mean men would remove the gum from the Chicklets box and insert Ex-Lax.

[j4sing]

haha I put the chocolate ex-lax into someone's brownie once. Once.

[Mike Kraus]

Hee-hee, I can imagine why only once!

Maybe it wasn't Ex-lax, as you've pointed out that was chocolate-like. But there was a laxative that looked like Chicklets.....

[j4sing]

Nope, ex-lax chocolated laxative. Little square package, it had a laxative loaded chocolate bar inside, broke into tiny pez sized pieces. Yep, positive it was ex lax. I think they still make em, but I wouldn't know, I've never sought them out. The ones that went into the brownie were stolen from my dad lol. Hey, I was just a kid hee hee

[Chmnofbrd]

Its almost time for another Halloween



This little guy has a lot of different things going on here

[Randy Treadway]

That costume is downright scary.
And the guy with the blond wig is kind of weird too. [rim shot please ]

...uhhhhh....what exactly are the strategically placed balloons supposed to represent for the poor kid wearing them?

[Chmnofbrd]

The adults get in the act

[Chmnofbrd]

Sadly in these overly PC times, most kids can't wear Halloween costumes to school anymore