Saturday, October 01, 2011

Anything Goes Saturday - Halloween 1951

Happy October, everyone! Halloween has been slowly creeping up on us since August, like some sort of low-grade fever. It's already everywhere you go! Hopefully you aren't sick of it yet, because I plan to celebrate Halloween during each of my "Anything Goes" saturdays this month, with a series of vintage photos from parties thrown by one family, dating from 1951 through 1955. Today's examples are all from 1951, a full 60 years ago.

It is interesting to see the masks and costumes that these kids concoted. Check out the miniature Fu Manchu (a pretty cool mask, and I like his shirt!). Next is Long John Silver (Disney's "Treasure Island" had been a big hit in 1950); a rubber Indian mask resembles one of the Kickapoo Indians from Al Capp's "Li'l Abner"; and a fierce werewolf is next.


Back in those days, a popular costume idea was to borrow mom's clothes and wear lots of makeup. The fellow to our left does not make a very convincing girl! The kid in the middle wants to look like a grownup, and he has Ernie Kovac's "Percy Dovetonsils" glasses! I don't like the looks of that sailor.


Boys pestering girls, it's a tradition. The wearing of "black face" makeup was another commonly seen disguise - one that wouldn't fly today. Not sure what that character in the middle is supposed to be. A drunk who works in a lab??


There's our harem girl again (she's a tall one!), along with a gypsy lass, a pirate wench, a Spanish seƱorita, a ghoul (?), and I don't know WHAT that scary thing is to the right. Perhaps a giant baby (with a twin, apparently).


And finally, there's another boy in girl's clothing, an actual girl in an elegant dress, a home-made dog thingy, a hobo, and a cool Frankenstein's monster.


If you enjoyed this visit to a 60 year-old Halloween party, let me know and I'll continue next week with pictures from 1952. If you didn't like it, I'll find something else to share!

10 comments:

  1. I would love to see more vintage Halloween pics, Major....these photos are a hoot! Wish we could see more of the Pumpkinhead mask in that last pic.

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  2. Keep on trick or treating! You always find the neato coolest slides, so happy halloween month to you!

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  3. Dave, this is the perfect theme for Saturdays in October, keep it up! I was born in 1960, but this is how we celebrated Halloween till I outgrew it (permanently) about age 16, and it's interesting how the costumes and taboos have changed since then.

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  4. Orange Co Native11:55 AM

    Major,

    I find it interesting to see how kids were dressing for Halloween over 50 years ago. A lot of homemade costumes.

    It looks kind of the same as when I was a kid in the early to mid 1960's. It kind of started to change with store bought costumes around the 1980's.

    Show the pics from 1952 as well. It is interesting.

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  5. Are you kidding me???? I LOVED THIS!!! I adore old Halloween pictures. I remember that my friends and I started planning our costumes in JULY!!

    Second photo cracked me up.

    Third photo - ya, no, don't know WHAT those oooogly "babies" are supposed to be. Rosemary's Baby? No, the movie hadn't come out yet.

    I can hardly wait for more!

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  6. these are cool! i remember those great costumes in the boxes with the cellophane window so you could see the colorful masks...that was the best part!

    more Halloween for me, too! :-)

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  7. Hi Maj, yes I'd enjoy some more Halloween people-looking too :)

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  8. Vaughn2:25 PM

    Cool pics. That boy dressed as a girl seems, from his facial expressions, to be regretting his costume of choice, lol!

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  9. Anonymous9:23 PM

    Cute home made ideas lets stop buying everything at wal mart and make our own again...fun

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  10. Let me add my voice "MOAR".

    These are my memories of Halloween.

    Especially nice to see this "pre-goth" view of the holiday. I am really over the dog collars, chains and white-out makeup.

    Lots of kids now in our neighborhood still have sort of home-made costumes, but the "princesses" with the $70 dresses show up once in a while.

    JG

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