A Vintage Halloween

The Preparation

Vintage Halloween paper treat/candy bag.

Oh, to be a kid again on Halloween!  We listened to Halloween records (some of you may recall those black vinyl discs), put decorations of hunched-back black cats and dancing skeletons on every window and door, and my folks always got what seemed like a ton of candy to me then!  Remember those little thin paper bags decorated with all kinds of Halloween images (like the one on the right)?  We sat and put one type of each candy into each little bag.   (These were always my favorites to receive, as it was a surprise to find out what was in them.)

The Costume

Do you remember the smell of the plastic mask with the eye holes cut out and that elastic string that held them in place, if only for a little while?  What about the teeny tiny little breathing hole they had?  People could barely hear you so you had to lift the mask and reveal your identity or yell at the top of your lungs.  And the heat that could build up in those things!  Whew!  Then there were the jumpsuits that went with them.  Sometimes plastic, sometimes some that thin material somewhere between plastic and fabric, they made going to the bathroom a serious challenge!  Naturally, you held it until you got back home, but when you did, the race was on to get out of the contraption before you had an accident.

Me BEFORE...

and AFTER! You KNOW these pictures are old! We actually had three sets of encyclopedias!

As I got older, it was more fun to make up my own costumes.  The first one I really remember was my Mom's idea and it was a gypsy with a long ruffled skirt and these multi-circle gold clip on earrings that were huge!   Having a hairdresser for a Mom rocked because I always had great hair and makeup to go with everything. (Right down to the eyeliner beauty mark!)   Next was Beetle Bailey.  Thank Heaven Dad was military, because it really came in handy for this one!   One of his old flight suits (sans ID and patches) with the legs rolled up for a mile, combat boots with I don't know how many pairs of socks shoved into them so I could walk without them falling off, and a matching olive drab baseball style cap with all of my hair tucked up under it!  Of course, it wouldn't have been right without the freckles, which Mom drew on in a flash with eyeliner.
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Remembering...

Brandon Lee, in his last interview, said something along the lines of (forgive the paraphrasing here) 'we never know when it will be the last time we remember something; we may never remember it again.'  This has lead me to relish those fun memories even more than I probably would have in the first place.

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