Ghosts of Halloweens Past

I was visiting The Planet of Janet and she does a feature called Fun Monday (NaBloPoMo draftees, there's another themed day for you!). Today's is all about Halloween and features some picture of Janet in costumes from years ago. She invited readers to post their pictures in costumes and tell of Halloween's past.

I don't have a single picture in a Halloween costume. It's a shame, because there are some good ones to show, too.

My earliest Halloween memory was when we still lived in Rockville Centre and Mom took us over to the Woolworth's in Baldwin to get boxed costumes one year. I must have been five and it was the first time we'd gotten boxed ones. Anyone over the age of 30 has to know what I'm talking about, the flammable, simply shaped costumes with the mask that would make your face sweat, even though it was very cold outside.

I remember it being the day before laundry day and not having clean shirts for me, so I went out in a sweater and corderoys to do the shopping-and I got a princess costume in pink and blond hair. Hmmm, that may be why I'm not a huge fan of pink or princesses. The costumes were needed so we could attend a party at the Rec Center, where we bobbed for apples and listened to music on the speakers in the gym.

The next year, we moved into the house in Merrick and four of us were ghosts! Mom had purchased new sheets for the beds in the new house, so we got to cut up a bunch of white flat sheets. I remember going up and down the length of on of the side streets of our neighborhood, easily 150 houses. My bag was FULL that year!

The subsequent years ushered in the creation of our own costumes. I was a martian one year (Janet was about 13 years ahead of me) and I used part of my girl scout uniform to make it. I got a few skeins of yellow yarn and fashioned a really long braid, which came out of my inside out beret. It got a lot of compliments.

In high school, Halloween weekend was also the weekend of our Drama department productions, so we'd have cast/costume parties. I won a prize one year for what I think was my best effort ever, a Nestle Crunch Bar. (that one turned out incredible).

My first year of college, I had a Halloween party for the radio station staff and I was a Hershey kiss. This was when mini dresses were all the rage, so I used one of those. The idea was great, but the execution turned out to be a pretty skinny treat.

Nowadays, it's all about the kids and their ideas. If I can find my Snow White dress, I'll wear it while handing out the treats. After I get pictures of the kids, of course, because they might be asked to show them on their blogs someday!

What about you? What have you been for Halloween? Got any pictures to share?


At least there are some Halloween costumes appearing in this post! From 2001.