OT - Childhood Halloween Costume Memories

It has beenno secret how much I enjoy this holiday. I thought it mnight be fun to go back in time and remember the Halooween costumes of our childhood. Do you remember your costumes? Which ones were your favorites? Here are some of mine...

For my first Trick or Treat, I was Cinderella. Then for a couple of years after that, I was the Sea Hag from the Popeye cartoons. I am not sure why I chose that one, but I did and I wore it more than once. Maybe that is when my preference for the scary started. One of my Aunts lived with us for a couple of years and she had a very interesting closet. One year, I wore one of her old dresses, which was a black ****tail tyle of dress with a big fancy hat and a feather boa. When I was older (this is a 60's thing), we dressed up like beatnicks. We wore black tights with our Dad's grey sweatshirt on top, with a beret on our head and a long cigarette lighter with a cigarette. We wore white makeup (eye shadow, lips, and nails). One time, a go-go dancer that lived in the neighborhood did our eyes up in black and whitre stripes, polka dots, etc. We thought it was sooooo cool.

So, what are your memories???

Debbie

All hail the Halloween Queen!! 

Most of our costumes were of the boxed variety - you know, the kind where the box had the little cellphone window so you could "see" the plastic mask inside.  The mask had that elastic strap held on by two staples and was hot as hell!!!!!  I remember being Bugs Bunny, Casper, Wilma Flintstone, Holly Hobbie, etc.  

In our rowhome neighborhood, EVERY SINGLE HOUSE was lit up and giving out candy.  Sometimes, we'd have to go home and empty our pumpkins out because they were so full!! It's sweet that KB now carry the same pumpkins that we did!! 

Sadly, more homes are dark now than lit up.  I guess because people no longer have small children, the safety factor, etc., but I think it's a sad statement of today's world.  My Mom decorates the house all up - there are lights up out front, along with with all kinds of porch decorations and indoor decorations. 

Of course, I always want to dress the dog up, but no dog we've ever had will cooperate, so I'll have to be content with Happy's little t-shirt that has "Trick or Treat" printed on it with candy corns!!!  And she has a Halloween bandana!!!

Thanks for the walk down memory lane, Deb!!

T

When we first lived in Baltimore (1st through 3rd grade) we lived in row houses that had a small concrete barrier between the porches. It was so easy to Trick or Treat because all we had to do was swing our legs over the barriers to go to the next house. We did not have to go up and down the porch steps. It was very productive! After that we moved to New Jersey and they did not have row houses. But by then I was older and we could certainly cover a lot of ground. There was one house that used to have us come into the house and try to succeed at a task. If we succeeded, we got the treat and if we did not, we were tricked. You are right. Nowadays, I would be very concerned about kids going into any house where we did not know the people.

Like Tia I think mine were "boxed"  but I do recall one Halloween party my brothers held in
their early twenties ( that would have made me 10 or 11)  All their friends came over and
they had the funniest costumes -  I dressed in a Hawiaan MuMu- ( Mom and Dad
had just come back from vacation)  Dad even had a shirt to match moms Mumu LOL
One couple came as a phone booth - and of course there was Dracula and the normal
monsters - one guy came in a diaper - I swear It was freezing that year.

Another Halloween I remember involved an aunt visiting from Florida -  We had her pose
with a dummy sitting on our sofa - just when they snapped the picture the "dummy"
hugged her - One of my brothers dressed up of course LOL

Thanks for the post to make me remember these Deb

Hi Debbie,

I must say I do not have any Halloween memories. My mother was Pentecostal and celebrating Halloween was a big NO NO... So I could never dress up or trick or treat! 

Now when I got married at a very young age I made up for lost time!  LOL my favorite costume was being a Witch, then I was a French maid, a female pirate, a fancy dress with big feathers gloves and make up... One time I was dressed like the 70's with a big afro and platform shoes. Oh and lets not forget the grim reaper. lol  I also threw big halloween bashes and my Mom used to get so mad and tell me I was going straight to hell. lol   You know I miss her so much I wouldn't mind having her here giving me grief about celebrating a pagan day! 

I do remember those costumes in boxes I always wanted one. I remember promising myself that I would never put my kids through what my parents put me through. Kids were cruel to me and always made fun of me because I couldn't participate.

So when I had my kids i made sure to never miss one halloween for them and I lived vicariously through them!  LOL

Thank you so much for posting this.

Oh Cira,

I am so sorry you missed out on the fun as a child, but glad you had the opportunity to play when you were older. I sometimes forget that this holiday is religiously based. I just think of it as a fun excuse to pretend and have fun. But for those who are concerned about the religious aspects, it is a much more serious matter. I can certainly understand and respect their decision to believe differently.

I had a friend in High School who was raised by her elderly Uncle and Grandparents. I was shocked to discover that she never had an Easter Basket, never celebrated Halloween, etc. In her case it was not for religious reasons. To this day, she does not enjoy the Halloween Holiday (she did let her daughter participate as she was growing up). She had me come to her house one year to give out the candy at her door just so she would not have to do it. When I had a house, I used to always dress up for my Trick or Treaters! Now I live in a condo and we do not get any kids.

Thanks for sharing!

Debbie

Boxed costumes....heaven forbid...that was just not allowed in our household.  I remember being a ghost - white sheet with holes cut out for eyes and a homemade holly hobby costume.  Unfortunately my memory of my younger days is not very complete.  But the tradition carried on...50's chick with the ribboned ponytail, rolled up jeans, bobby socks and one of Dad's old sweaters, homemade Elvira costume. a domino, rollerskating chearleader (made the skirt).  fun, fun, fun...

Unfortunately we're one of those homes that have no candy, but that is because in the 7 years that I've been here we've had maybe 2 knocks on the door.  Plus we're either not home in time or are out for the evening.

Happy Halloween all!

me last year



Anyone else have any?

This is me in the office last year, caught while washing a dish at the sink. It is hard to see from the distance, but I had assorted tiny touches, i.e. spiders, skulls, etc. interwoven into the get-up.

This picture also shows part of the spread we put out. There was all day grazing. There were different types of things in the morning versus the afternoon. This year will be pretty similar. I will just look quite different.

http://www.obesityhelp.com/myoh/uzone,photos/action,gallery/ albumId,50024/curPhoto,338384/

I am not sure if this link will work. This pic is in my profile. Hopefully it will display.

Debbie

It works Deb :  and it shows how great you did this past year  - you should be proud