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!

General Mills Monster Cereals - 50th Anniversary

In 1971, General Mills created two new cereals, "Count Chocula" and "Franken Berry." According to General Mills, these cereals were the very first "chocolate" and "strawberry" flavored cereals, available to consumers.

Joining them in 1973, was "Boo Berry," a blueberry flavored cereal.

In 1974, "Fruit Brute" was added to the line of "monster cereals."  (The original spelling was "Fruit," but it was later changed to "Frute.")

 

Fruit Brute was discontinued in 1982, and replaced by Fruity Yummy Mummy, in 1988 (which itself was discontinued, in 1992).

 

 

Today, only the first three cereals are still manufactured.  And beginning in 2010, they have only been available on a seasonal basis, from September 1st to October 31st, just in time for Halloween.

However, in 2013, all five cereals were released for a limited time.  It was the first time that they had all appeared on the grocery store shelves, together.  Two different versions of packaging were available, for each of the cereals.  There was a "general release" with modern versions of the characters on the boxes, and there was a "limited release," with original character artwork.  The limited release boxes with original artwork (shown above), were exclusive to Target stores.

The boxes with the modern versions of the characters were also available at Target, but they were available at other stores, as well.  Here is what that artwork looked like:

 

 

 

 

All of the monster cereals released in 2013, including the ones with the original/retro art, included this modern artwork on the back of the boxes.

 

 

 

The following year (2014), only three of the monster cereals were released.  Once again, the boxes with original artwork were available exclusively at Target stores.  Not only was the original artwork different than the previous year's releases, but they had also added original graphics to the back of the boxes.

 

Unfortunately, by the time I got to my local Target store that year, Count Chocula was already sold out, so this first image is from the internet:

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Also in 2014, the modern versions of the characters received an update.  This time, General Mills enlisted various "DC Comics" artists, to create new versions of the classic characters.

 

Artwork by Terry and Rachel Dodson:

 

Artwork by Dave Johnson: 

 

 Artwork by Jim Lee:

Like many other cereals from back in the day, the General Mills monster cereals used to have some nice premiums/prizes, included in their boxes.  These next two vintage images show a box of Fruit Brute cereal, advertising "glow-in-the-dark" light switch plate stickers, included inside.

 

 

 

I saved five different versions of these stickers, from my childhood.  And just like the "Wacky Packages" stickers that I collected, I never used any of these.  If you look closely, you can see a tiny rectangular "cut" in the very center of each sticker.  This is the "hole" in the sticker, that would end up going over the switch, when applied to a light switch "plate."  The specific messages on these stickers were all related to the "energy crisis," which was taking place at the time. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first "monster cereals," General Mills has released a new cereal called, "Monster Mash."  It includes the flavors from all five monster cereals, together for the first time, in one box!

 

Happy 50th anniversary, to General Mills' monster cereals!