Dressing Up, Old School
I recently wrote about the earliest store-bought Halloween costume I can remember owning. Growing up, we typically we made our costumes or cobbled them together from my dad’s old clothes – which meant we we clowns and hobos many times over. Money was usually tight and I can only imagine that I must have begged mercilessly for my mother to allow me to buy one of the boxed costumes at the drugstore.
I chose Fred Flinstone. The costume consisted of a printed plastic sheath you wore like a hospital gown and a hard plastic mask that made your face sweat (not to mention the elastic band that cut into your ears). This was the manufactured costume norm in the 1970s. Don’t believe me? See the ad below. I’m pretty sure that get-up was a one time only deal – not to repeated (primarily because of comfort issues!)
Needless to say, I never had a costume quite as fantastic as a handmade Little Hero Cape but I do have fun memories of dressing up. So, a pre-Halloween request – if you’re kiddo is wearing a Little Hero Cape for trick-or-treating this year – take pictures! We’ll be asking for them in November…and who knows, you might just win something worthy of a superhero.
In a minor to salute to vintage costumes and more of a celebration of the kids who wore them, I offer you the following images from the creative folks at Flickr.com.
1. costumed child with trick dog, 2. David L. Fox in Indian costume, 3. My George Harrison costume, 4. superboy, 5. Halloween #23, 6. high ten, 7. Halloween 1968, 8. meow: halloween 1970, 9. Star Wars, 10. Halloween #25, 11. Halloween #5, 12. dracula and ?
Whoa! Creepy bagheads in the bottom left… Well, let’s face it: they’re all a bit creepy. I’m thinking about Where the Wild Things Are costumes for my kiddos this year. I guess whoever gets to be Max will have a cape.