Halloween 1987?

Happy Throwback Thursday!  I'm that cute lil' princess, and that's my older sister as a gypsy.  I'm not entirely sure what year this picture was taken, but I'm guessing it was sometime between 1986 and 1988.  I still remember that crown as being not only a beloved Halloween costume component, but also a favorite everyday dress up item!  In fact, I'm pretty sure a year or two before THIS photo was taken, my sister wore that same crown as part of her Beauty Pageant Queen costume.

Before moving to Winfield, my trick-or-treating didn't take place around my neighborhood.  We lived in a rather smallish trailer park, so each year, my parents would take me and my sister to the mall in Kanawha City.  Back then, the mall was a bustling shopping center, and every store gave out candy to the trick-or-treaters on Halloween night.  But, before we collected our sugar haul, my mom would drag us into the mall's photo studio for our annual Halloween portrait! I'm sure back then I thought it was a huge drag to have to sit for a formal photo when all I wanted to do was eat candy, but I'm so glad my mom made us take the time to get them done.  I LOVE Halloween and now I have a beautiful photograph of my sister and myself to remind me of how we celebrated my favorite time of year as a child. This costume, like most of mine before the age of 10, was a simple one...a lacy, pink party dress paired with cheap sequined tiara headband...but I remember feeling just like a princess in it!

What was YOUR favorite Halloween costume as a kid? Let me know in the comments below, or join me over at Theresa's Haunted History Facebook page and share your own photos!  Happy Halloween 365, everyone!

Halloween Comes to the WV School for the Deaf

Today's Throwback Thursday photograph was found at the West Virginia State Archives website as part of its Picture of the Week feature!  According to the description given, this festively dressed group is celebrating a Halloween party at the West Virginia School for the Deaf, some time during the 1960's.

The WV Schools for the Deaf and Blind are still in existence today and are located on a historic campus in Romney, Hampshire County. Dating back to 1870, the first class consisted of 25 deaf and 5 blind students.  And, I'm pleased to report that 50+ years later, the schools are still embracing the fun and whimsy of Halloween!  The photo below is of Ms. Emerick-Engle's 2016-2017 5th grade class at the WV School for the Blind!

Looking for MORE historic West Virginia Halloween photographs?  Check out my post, HALLOWEEN IN WEST VIRGINIA! 

Luke's 2015 Halloween Costume

It's August! The true countdown to Halloween has begun. In addition to starting our party planning, the family and I have begun tossing around costume ideas. Last year, Luke wanted to be a vampire. I found this surprisingly  complete and fair quality classic ensemble at Walmart for around $15. All we added was a little hair gel and some plastic fangs! We tried some white face makeup, but that was a fail. My son is just too hairy and it ended up looking weird. Fortunately for his costume, he's also pretty darn pale anyway, so it worked out.

This photo is of Luke getting ready to go to a party at our local YMCA. He had been taking swim lessons there for a couple of months, so I decided to take him while Aaron was working late on his radio show. We had an awesome time---tons of games, candy, a dance party, and seeing one of his swim instructors all decked out made for a fun evening. He wore the same costume to his school Halloween party, for trick-or-treat, and for my boyfriend's brother's party. And, almost a year later, I still think this costume is completely adorable. In a weird twist of fate, one of his best friends from the neighborhood decided SHE was going to be a vampire too. Her vampire dress complemented his suit so well it looked like they planned the whole thing. It really was the cutest thing EVER. I'm not sure he can top that this year, but I look forward to seeing what he comes up with.

Is Your Halloween Costume Racist?

I know we've still got MONTHS to go before most people even being thinking about and planning their Halloween costume, but for those of us who want to get an early start....

The guys over at College Humor have compiled this helpful infographic to make sure your costume is socially acceptable in this politically correct world we live in.  I hope you find this as useful as I have!

A Vintage Ohio Halloween

Did you enjoy Halloween in West Virginia, a vintage collection of photographs from the Mountain State?  If so, you're sure to like today's Throwback Thursday post as well.  The Ohio Memory Project has an awesome collection of searchable documents, including newspaper archives, historic photographs, and other primary sources.  Of course I had to search the photos for 'Halloween' and was pleasantly surprised at the results!  Here's a few of the photos I found!

This first one is really intriguing.  Apparently, it wasn't in poor taste in Worthington, Ohio, circa 1950 to dress up as HITLER for Halloween...so long as you were doing it to express a popular belief that the Nazi dictator really wasn't dead.  More information can be found HERE.

Here are some slightly more acceptable costumes.  These contestants are awaiting the judges' decision in a Halloween costume contest on October 30, 1937 at Edgemont Elms in Dayton.

This final picture was taken at a Genoa Halloween party around 1900  Although the party-goers have largely decided against wearing costumes, the jack-o-lanterns are spot on!

 * More Halloween photos from the Ohio Memory Project archives! *

Sexy Costume Fails

Halloween gives us the opportunity to be anything or anyone we want to be...for at LEAST one night.  Many of us wear things on Halloween that we wouldn't be caught *dead* in any other time of year.  And, unfortunately, that has led to this huge rise in the 'sexy' costume---any costume you can think of probably has a low-cut, tight, spandex version.  Of course we're all familiar with the sexy nurse, the sexy maid and the sexy female cop, but there's also options such as the sexy Scooby Doo, the sexy Sponge Bob, and the sexy Minion.  There's even a sexy Hitler.

Let that sink in.

Justin Meyers has curated a collection of these sexy costumes...but with a twist.  The article below is a list of ten sexy costumes that just totally missed their mark, or if you prefer, "Sexy Costume Fails."  I've posted one example that I'm sure horror fans in particular can appreciate!

10 Sexy Halloween Costumes That Are Just...Wrong, by Justin Meyers

Human Centipede Costume