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| Click to view the entire book in a Flickr gallery |
Halloween by Larry Racioppo is a book I found in the kids' section at the Salem Library one year and took an instant liking to. The book was published in 1980 which was right about my Trick or Treating mid-life. Although I didn't grow up in a place quite as urban as the neighborhoods inside, the photos in this book take me back to what I remember Trick or Treating to be like: the ultimate night of childhood fun.Even though I'm well passed those years, Trick or Treating is something I really enjoy about Halloween. I'm not sure exactly what it is but something about it strongly resonates with me.
I don't think anything produced today will quite capture the hearts and imagination as much as the costumes from my Trick or Treating days. Sure the "costume" was an uncomfortable plastic jumpsuit that would probably go up in an flash if it came near open flame and the mouth slit of the mask cut your tongue but there's just something about them that is, to borrow a phrase from The Middleman, sheer elegance in its simplicity. I still love that style of mask.
Plaid Stallions has scans of a 1980 Ben Cooper catalog if you want to see what costumes were popular that year.
Be sure to visit the other sites in the Countdown to Halloween and enter our Trick or Tweet Giveaway.
I found your blog from the Crypt Keeper's list and checked out a lot of your older posts and this new one. I liked what I read. I will now be checking out your blog on a regular basis, thanks to the Crypt Keeper's Count Down to Halloween.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words, much appreciated!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful book!
ReplyDeleteIt brings back so many memories. . .
Thanks for sharing.
Wow what a great find!
ReplyDeleteI just flipped through the Flickr page and it totally took me back to that time.
I always wanted that skeleton costume (one of the pics was of the skeleton with Frankenstein).
I gotta start checking used book stores and add that one to my Halloween book collection.
Nice post! Keep up the great work!
Looks like quite a fun book. And yeah, there was nothing like the thrill of running about at night in costume on Halloween and getting free candy! Such joys!
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