Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Goes Christmas Shopping - 1953

It's time for another "Little Golden Book" from my childhood!  This one is titled, Mickey Mouse Goes Christmas Shopping.  (Last December, I posted another Christmas-themed Little Golden Book, Donald Duck and Santa Claus.)

The title page credits Annie North Bedford for the story.  She authored quite a few children's books, including Frosty The Snowman, and Walt Disney's Little Man Of Disneyland.

Credit is also given to Bob Moore and Xavier Atencio, from the Walt Disney Studios, for the illustrations.  Bob Moore helped to animate some of Disney's feature films, such as Dumbo.  He also designed the Orange Bird mascot for the Florida Citrus Commission (1971), the U.S. postage stamp honoring Walt Disney (1968), and Sam the Eagle, the mascot of the 1984 U.S. Olympics.  Xavier Atencio was an artist at the Disney Studios from 1938 to 1965.  He then became an Imagineer and is probably best known for writing the scripts and theme songs for Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion attractions.

The book has a copyright date of 1953.  However, this particular copy would have been purchased for my brother and me, about 15 years later.

The inside of the back cover, listed other Little Golden Book titles that were available:

And the back cover listed some "activity" books that were also from Golden Press.

Happy holidays, to all!

A Vintage Halloween Potpourri - Part 2

Two years ago, I did something on this blog that I had never done before.  I posted childhood photos of my brother and myself, without the white ovals over our faces!  ;-)  Those photos can be seen here:  A Vintage Halloween Potpourri (Part 1).  Today, we have some extra photos, which I did not include in that post from two years ago.

First up, are a few more photos from 1968.  My father followed us as we went "trick or treating," and took some photos along the way.

One of the houses in our neighborhood had a jack-o'-lantern, carved from one of the largest pumpkins I had ever seen.

Awwww!  I remember this neighbor.  Her name was Mrs. Irish.

I'm only including this next pic, because it is so freaky-looking, making it appropriate for Halloween.  I'm not sure what happened here.  All of these pictures were color Polaroid photos, so I'm not sure why this particular one came out in black and white, or why it looks so "distressed."  My Halloween post from two years ago, included a much better photo than this (in color), of us in these same costumes, posing at home with our own carved jack-o'-lantern.  (That large white spot on the far right just might be a "real" ghost!)

Next, we have two extra photos from 1969.  That year, our next door neighbor's grandchildren came to our neighborhood to "trick or treat."  They are the two kids in the middle.  My brother's costume was labeled "Igor," and I was a "Skeleton."  Once again, pics of us in these costumes, posing with that year's carved pumpkin, were also included in my previous Halloween post.

Funny, I still remember when this man opened his door, and was wearing this mask.  I'm guessing the mask was supposed to be a goat, since it has a billy goat-style beard hanging off of the chin.  Unless that was the man's real beard.

This was the very last "Ben Cooper" costume that I ever wore.  I don't have any pictures of my self in the costume, but I wore it for Halloween of 1972.  Out of all my childhood Halloween costumes that I have saved, it is the most "complete," since I also have the original box that it came in.

 

The box has "Walt Disney World Costume" printed on it.  Walt Disney World would have only been open one year, at this point.

The side of the box has Disney On Parade printed on it.  Disney On Parade was a traveling arena show that had begun in 1969 and continued through 1974, with a new version created each year.

The "stamped" price tag shows that it was purchased at Kmart, and cost $2.88.

Information from the back of the box: 

This next costume is not from my childhood.  I found this one at my local Salvation Army Store, back in the 1990s.

The name of this costume was simply, "Monster."  The  manufacturer was "Collegeville," and the price tag shows that it was originally purchased at "Quigley's Department Store, for $1.87.

I had never heard of that store, but upon searching online, it appears there were nine Quigley's located throughout the Los Angeles area.  The store pictured below, was located in Long Beach, California.

SCAAAAARY!

The black design of the monster on the costume, is "flocked," or as described on the box, a "Velvet Touch" decoration.

Here are a few more Halloween cards, from my childhood.  These first three were given to me by my aunt and uncle, who sent us Halloween cards every year.  This one is from the 1970s:

The little gray square inside the frame of the mirror was a reflective silver type of material.  I'm not sure if the joke was that it was suppose to show you your reflection, or that it wasn't supposed to.  What little you can see of yourself in it, is very distorted. 

This card was printed in black and white on the outside.....

.....and full color on the inside.

I think this card might have been from the early 1980s:

Inside:

The doors, paintings, and other objects inside the card open up to reveal "surprises":

This last card dates back to the late 1960s, and is not signed.  It is quite large in size.  I remember it being brought out every year, and just used as a Halloween decoration.

The lips are lenticular, and change from "normal," to "puckered."  The line inside is a play on the phrase, "Kiss me, you fool!"  (Incidentally, that phrase itself is adapted from the 1915 silent film, A Fool There Was, in which Theda Berra tells a man, "Kiss me, my fool!")

And here is yet another "spooky" book from my childhood.

This book of Spooky Rhymes and Riddles, was ordered through my elementary school's "Scholastic Book" sales program.

It has a 1972 copyright date.

Here is just a sampling of the pages inside:

The back cover:

We will end today, with this Halloween-themed cover, from a November 1971 issue of Walt Disney's Donald Duck comic book.  I'm assuming even though it was a "November" issue, that it was probably released in the month of October.  Oddly enough, the story mentioned on the cover, "The Monster That Wasn't," didn't have anything to do with Halloween.

Inside, was this advertisement to send away for a "Scary, Life Size Monster Ghost."  The eyes glow in the dark, it's over 7 feet tall, it obeys your commands, and it costs only $1.00!  How could any kid resist that?  And then of course, there's the obligatory "Sea-Monkeys" advertisement.

 Happy Halloween, everyone!