Photo Friday: Halloween Isn't Just for Kids Edition (1966-1976)

Good morning!

Well, we had gale force winds here in Nashville last night, so I hope all the brave little trick or treaters who faced the wildly unpredictable weather here in the 615 were rewarded for the efforts with heaps and heaps of chocolates and sour candies! Me, I hid in the house with only tangential lighting on, watching American Horror Story: Coven, and eating chana saag out of the Appetite for Reduction cookbook (that book has been my JAM lately...hit after hit! Like a Huey record!). The lights dimmed at one, very creepy moment, and the winds howled past my window all night, but everything's ok on the first of November so far! I plan on hitting the estate sales today with my Pappy, as he has a teacher's holiday and I have Friday off. Not too shabby!!

While Halloween is technically over, calendar-wise, don't think She Was a Bird recognizes the passage of this date as a reason to stop posting about All Hallow's Eve...heck no! You'll get a recap of my weekend partying at Kate's annual bash, and this, today's post on Halloweens of the sixties' and seventies', and then MAYBE I will relent in my jack o lantern like spirit and go back to normal blogging. MAYBE.

Today, I found a million photos of kids' parents, with and without kids, dressed up for Halloween, circa year of our Lord 1966-1976. You know you want to look! Let's!

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While the boys have opted for licensed costumes, a pretty little ballerina (covered up in a button up sweater, it must have been cold that year!) stands with her brothers on the sidewalk, a proud mama just slightly behind them in the background. It only now occurs to me that, like everything in my grandparents' generation, even if you didn't don a costume, escorting tiny Halloweeners to and from your neighbor's houses in the pursuit of candy was more than enough reason to dress to the nines. Here, the mom is rocking a fire engine red pantsuit, and doesn't she look like a pip! I love how "together" this ensemble is. The little tinman has abandoned his stroller for a photo opportunity! Nothing not to love about this pic.

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Here's a mom channeling Tura Satana in Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! to accompay a tiny Huckleberry Hound on his trick or treat outings. These seem to be just opaque tights worn outside a girdle! But, if you got it, heck, flaunt it, she looks cute in her little black rabbit ears. The matching lollipops are an inspired touch, and they both look adorable.

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This mom gets my vote for best DIY costume-- where I've seen some moms spend an Andrew Lloyd Weber stage production worth of time, effort, and money on a child's Halloween costume, this one gets my "best in show" vote for being so PROFESSIONALLY home made and meticulously turned out. While it still is obviously crafted by hand, it's been done with such around the house materials that looking at this pitch-perfect Big Bird makes you feel sorry you didn't think creatively enough to do it yourself! With all Woolworth's paper products, probably totaling less than the cost of a ham sandwich, this kid looks like a million bucks! Hats off to you, Mom of Big Bird.

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Watch out, a bunch of teenage Flintstone neighbors dead ahead! I love the "my folks' living room" setting of this photo, complete with dust-ruffled, golden rod couch and barrel shaded lamp. Fun fact: the clubs in their hands are actually gourds from their parents' (the user's grandparents') backyard!! I love that the men are still wearing dirty trainers and socks WITH their prehistoric garb. Still, points for the hat and the tie, respectively. This was a double date for the parents of the person who posted the photo, and from the looks of it, a successful one!!

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Dang, sexy nun! If I had legs like that, maybe I'd be a sexy nun, too! The 1966 party spread behind her is making me wish I threw a party this year. Wood paneling, succession of ever taller votives-- this is the life I want!!

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I love how 90% of vintage photos of ones' grandparents or parents make one think that whatever life their parents were leading in 19xx, it was a way cuter, more fun version of the one we're leading now. Look at these apples suspended on strings in a cinder-block basement! These kids are having a whale of time, and doesn't it just make you want to drop everything and join them in the zeitgeist of this moment! I wonder if it's because we have too many photos of everything, from the important to the ultra mundane, that we don't get little slice of life photos like this as much as we used to. I'll have to make an effort to find out.

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Last but not least--- THE BEST. PHOTO. OF THEM ALL. Look at pretty leopard-print leotard girl and her "mummy's-the-word" companion! AAAAAH, in their awesome vintage living room complete with space age  tv, vinyl ottoman, and encyclopedia set! I WANT THIS TO BE MY LIFE. The sunglasses are killin' it worse than y'all have ever killed it. TOP MARKS, somebody-else's-parents!!

Did your parents ever dress up for Halloween? Remember any memorable times they took your trick or treating? What Halloween traditions do you hope to pass on to your kids? Let's talk!

That's all for today, but I will see you right back here on Monday for more tips and quips. Keep a good thought for me in the costume department on Saturday, I hope it all works out! See you next week. :)