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Vintage Halloween Fun

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Vintage Halloween

Whenever the word vintage or retro is spoken, it evokes memories of the past that are most often, very pleasant.  Baby-boomers especially remember parties at Halloween with old fashioned games that didn’t need blood and gore to give the kids a thrill, and costumes weren’t composed of intestines and worms and zombies and flashing red lights and green eyes.  Sure, there was a bit of that but a lot was left to the imagination, and that’s why vintage Halloween is so popular.  Think The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock and you’ll get the idea.

An easy fix to your vintage cravings for costumes, at least, is a trip to the local thrift or vintage store.  If you live in the country then the Internet is also a vast resource to partake of.  Here are a few ideas to stir the pot.

Prom & Wedding Dresses or Old Formals

Use these for the Bride of Frankenstein (with gray streak in hair of course), Prom or Beauty Queen (dead, half-dead, or alive), and “ex” wife, or a princess.  The latter can be good or evil or just plain Halloween-style.  This look is good for an ex-silent film star who’s seen better days.  For zombies, don’t get carried away because, after all, this is retro and not Zombieland.

Farmer’s Coveralls or Overalls

These work great for the vintage Halloween look.  The more faded and ragged they are, the better.  You can put these on and be a scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz, or a real hill dweller or country person, even a serial killer from those 70s and 80s cult favorites.  Other characters and real people who would be great dressed in overalls, are farmers, plumbers, Super Mario Brothers, Rosie the Riveter (don’t forget a curly wig and bandanna), and Bob the Builder (use some safe and oversized tools in a belt).

Vintage Uniforms

These may cost a bit more but other than some suitable accessories, they are worth looking after because the look is usually perfect.  Try for any military, nurses, cheerleaders, sports team members, and flight attendants.  They can be sexy or slightly starchy, but don’t get carried away with either look.

Decades Looks

With the 1920s we had flappers and gangsters.  Flappers wore a drop-waisted dress and a headband or cloche hat, and cut their hair short and swingy.  Gangsters need a pin-striped regular suit, a fedora, and a fake machine gun or violin case for pretend.  In the 1930s there were swing kids and jazzmen and they often wore a hat and cane and sported a long pocket watch with chain and a zoot suit.  Bonnie and Clyde wore high trousers, a suit jacket and a fedora (for Clyde) and a depression era dress, beret, and trench coat (for Bonnie).

In the 1940s there was Carmen Miranda with her tropical sarong, swimsuit, halter top and sandals.  Add lots of fake fruit, fringe, pompoms and ruffles to this outfit.  The 1950s produced a lot of icons, such as James Dean and Elvis, and a Greaser girl or Doris Day look.  The basic look for men is easy — dark jeans with rolled cuffs, boots, leather jacket and a white T-shirt with rolled sleeves.  Girls wore tight pants, a scarf and high heels, a leather jacket and a boatneck (curved) shirt.  Doris Day and Sandra Dee loved a cardigan, saddle shoes, circle skirt and petticoat.  You can add appliques to a plain circle skirt if it doesn’t have any.

The 1960s produced Go Go girls such as twiggy (opaque tights, shift dress, heavy eye makeup and patent leather belts etc.), and  Hippies (dig through your old stuff) had bellbottoms, loose and flowery shirts, fringe and headbands).  They still make tie-dye T-shirts and you can purchase these online.  The 1970s meant disco and think of John Travolta dancing…  Anything in glittery lame or platform boots or polyester and big wigs would work.  The 1980s had leather, acid washed denim, studded belts, and on the other end of the spectrum — preppy.

Vintage Halloween Games

You can often find these in antique stores and sometimes thrift stores.  Fortune telling and predicting the future were popular.  Halloween was a time when spirits could communicate with the living.  Harry Houdini followers hold a séance every year per his wishes when he passed on.  Bobbing for apples (either in water or hanging from a string) has been popular for many years and anyone can participate.  It’s cheap to set up as well.

Victorians used to predict when they’d get married by blowing out a candle (they were blindfolded).  The number of puffs it took meant that the time was lengthened and if 3 or more it meant forget about it for the rest of the year!  Another rather quaint game was to put a bunch of colored ribbons in a pile, blindfold a girl, and the ribbons she chose meant her future husband’s college would have that color.  Of course, this works both ways nowadays.

Pumpkin Carving

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Pumpkin carving has long been a Halloween tradition. Jack-o’-lanterns are seen in many homes as the holiday draws near. In fact, even making a trip to the pumpkin patch to select the biggest and best pumpkin has become a family tradition in many homes. Few people ever even wonder how or why it started or realize that this type of squash wasn’t even the original candle holder.

The Origin of the Jack-o’-Lantern 

Legend has it, pumpkin carving and the whole business of jack-o’-lanterns originated, not surprisingly, with a bloke named Jack. This Irish tale of lore varies a bit after that, but the running theme seems to be Jack and the Devil had a run in. Most versions of the story say Jack convinced the Devil to perch himself in a tree after which, Jack whittled the sign of the cross into the bark forcing the Devil to remain in the branches. Jack bargained with the Devil, agreeing to let him down only if he promised not to snatch Jack’s soul following his demise. The Devil, reluctantly agreed.

When Jack did finally kick the bucket, he quickly found out he wasn’t welcome in Heaven. Because of the “restraining order” of sorts against the Devil, Hell couldn’t take him, either. Jack was forced to wander into the dark night with only a hot coal to see his path. Jack located a turnip, carved it and used this as his lantern. His apparition was given the original name Jack the Lantern, or the other version more commonly known.

As for the turnip, or beet in some version, it later became a gourd or pumpkin as people keeping with the tradition found it much easier to work with. The reason for the Halloween tradition was to carve scary faces into the lantern to keep Jack away from homes. Often, the jack-o’-lantern was set out on the night before Halloween to ward off any evil spirits.

Pumpkin Carving 

Some tales seem to claim illuminated pumpkins, gourds, beets, turnips or other types of carved fruits or vegetables were originally placed in homes to help welcome friends of family members who had passed on to the spirit world. Either way, the jack-o’-lantern and pumpkin carving have become a large part of the Halloween tradition. For some people, this is the only decoration they use.

The activity itself is often carried out by the entire family, for a messy but bonding holiday experience. A circle surrounding the stem at the top of the pumpkin, and the top is pulled away and set aside. Next, the inside of the pumpkin is hollowed out by removing the seeds. For extra fun, the seeds can be rinsed off and baked in the oven for a seasonal treat.

Once the pumpkin is cleaned out, the pumpkin carving begins. Usually, a design is first drawn on to the front, or face, of the squash. It may be a simple face design or a more intricate design using a pattern. Though a scary face is the most common look, some people opt for either a more friendly face or a Halloween scene with witches and cats, for example. Once the pattern is actually cut, a candle is placed inside and the top put back.

Some homes choose to have a display of multiple jack-o’-lanterns for optimal décor. This can also be so each member of the family has their very own carved pumpkin.

Alternatives to Carved Pumpkins

The tradition continues to evolve as some homes opt for illuminated devices other than the pumpkin. Aside from other types of carved gourds, some people choose to use decorative jars or punched tins to create and eerie yet decorative holiday look.

A more popular alternative to carved pumpkins in recent years in the electrical jack-o’-lantern, a fake pumpkin that plugs into the wall can still give a hauntingly good look to homes that choose to decorate. There are a couple of reasons some people have made the switch from au natural to electric. One reason is safety. The traditional candle lit jack-o’-lanterns were more of a risk of a fire hazard. The other reason to choose a plug in pumpkin is that it can simply be put away and reused the next year. Not to mention, these types of gourds don’t get targeted for the mischief night tradition of pumpkin smashing.

Whether you choose a pumpkin that runs on candle or electric current, the look of carved pumpkins is sure to be a long time tradition of the Halloween festivities.

Pumpkin Facts

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These pumpkin facts are commonly known: they look good carved up as jack-o’-lanterns for Halloween and taste delicious served up as pie for Thanksgiving. But what else do people really know about pumpkins? Ask someone if the almighty orange one is a fruit or a vegetable, and even that may be beyond their basic collection of pumpkin facts.

Pumpkin Facts 101

In case you were wondering yourself whether a pumpkin is a fruit or a vegetable, the answer is a fruit. Pumpkins are in the squash family and a Cucurbita family member. The cucumber is also within this family, which is ironic since there is often much debate about whether this is a fruit or vegetable as well. The name started with the Greeks with the word Pepon, which translates to mean large melon, was altered by the French, then the British and finally by American colonists to the name we now know and love.

For a little more trivia type information about pumpkins, it might be interesting to know even Alaska grows these fruits. Antarctica is the only continent that does not, because it cannot, grow these fruits. That brings us to the origin of the “large melon” within Native America. These fruits have been cultivated in the States for 5,000 years. It was a Native American Indian crop, picked up and renamed by the colonists. The first pumpkin pie was actually a slightly different version, which consisted of baking a pumpkin that had been filled with honey, spices and milk.

Pumpkins provide fiber, Vitamin A and Vitamin B, iron, protein and potassium. Not to mention, they are also low fat. Pumpkin seeds are also edible. In fact, a popular thing to do with seeds scooped from a pumpkin during carving at Halloween is to give them a good scrub down and pop them in the oven until slightly golden for a tasty treat. That leads into another batch of fun facts about pumpkins—the jack-o’-lantern.

Carving of the Pumpkin

Jack-o’-lanterns in the United States started from Irish immigrants who had previously been using turnips. Once these Irish immigrants saw how much easier it would be to carve a pumpkin as opposed to a turnip, they made the conversion. Of course, you may be wondering why the Irish had been carving turnips in the first place, which leads directly to the history of the jack-o’-lantern.

Irish tales go on about a fellow by the name of Jack who struck up a deal with the Devil while drinking.  Being a miser, the man somehow talked the demon into transforming into a coin to be used to pay their bar tab. Then, clever Jack decided to put that coin in his pocket next to a cross, which would keep the Devil from returning to his natural state. Later, the demon and man made another agreement. In this agreement, if Mr. Stingy would free the Devil from his current state, as currency, the Devil would steer clear of soul snatching this fellow for a decade.

At the end of the decade though, Jack happened to run into the Devil while strolling along a rural road. For good reason, the demon felt he should be able to cash in on grabbing that soul of Mr. Stingy, who agreed but not before a quick fruit snack. Jack again tricked the Devil to climb a tree for an apple, and kept the Devil stuck by carving a cross into the trunk. This time the bargaining went better for Jack who made the demon agree to never touch the man’s soul. Again, the Devil agreed.

Following the stingy man’s death though, it turned out Heaven wasn’t interested in his soul and Hell couldn’t take it. The Devil cast Jack back to Earth giving him a burning coal to light the way. Jack, using the first thing he could find, carved up a turnip and created what became the first jack-o’-lantern.

The Irish kept the turnip tradition going until moving to America an finding a much more sensible thing to use, the pumpkin.

Other Pumpkin Facts 

If you think you feel full after a dessert of pumpkin pie, imagine downing the largest pumpkin pie in history. This “large melon” fruit pie weighed in at 2,020 pounds. It wasn’t even made from the largest pumpkin ever grown. That honor goes to a Wisconsin resident by the name of Chris Stevens, and the prize winning, world record setting pumpkin was a massive 1,810 pounds.

So the next time pumpkin trivia comes up on Jeopardy, you’ll be full of all the pumpkin facts you need.

Pumpkin Carving and Jack-o-lanterns

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Anything goes with today’s Jack O’Lanterns.  You can download carving designs off the internet, order tools for carving, take lessons on how to carve, grow your own or pick your own pumpkins, or buy different-sized ones in the supermarket.  There are pumpkin growing contests and pumpkin launching and dropping ones, too.  A family can choose unique groupings of carved pumpkins or simply create a couple of the classic design for the front porch.  If small children are involved then care needs to be taken as pumpkins get slippery — especially their insides!

A simple way to start and then carve a design is to tape your pattern onto the front of a pumpkin then punch through the lines every quarter inch or so.  This gives the carver an outline which is visible once the pattern is removed.  When a pumpkin is bought, the carver may study it before they begin so that any character points are noticed.  And — pumpkins don’t have to be carved upright, either.  A stem that looks interesting can always be a witch’s nose, for instance.  Remove as much of the pulp beforehand and this may prevent the onset of mold.  If the Jack O’Lantern still molds — have a replacement handy.

Accessories can be used on any carved pumpkin and this just depends on what the design is.  Some pumpkins are much bigger than a person’s head but if they’re about the sane size then a few pieces of old clothing can do the trick.  Thrift stores are also great places to shop for pumpkin accessories. A few people don’t like carving so un-carved but decorated pumpkins are a viable alternative.  This is safer for young children, too.  Pumpkins vary in color and you may find gourds or pumpkins with greenish areas, or dark orange or very pale orange.  Sometimes the pumpkin will have warts and this could be a good one to make a witch from.

There are elaborate pumpkin carving contests on TV and carvers often get inspired after watching these.  Even the pros have bad days and their pumpkins could turn out to be real “lemons”!  Pumpkins are not usually available other than in the Autumn.  If a carver needs to practice then they should purchase several pumpkins in season and then try a design every now and then. Un-carved pumpkins keep for months, although it’s not good to cook them after a long period of time.  Be careful if the carved pumpkins (or whole ones) have been around your house for a while.  Sometimes they can rot and then you’re left with a pumpkin mess when it’s picked up.

Pumpkin flesh can be used in soups and pies but it is hard to prepare and much easier to buy plain pureed pumpkin at the store.  If a carver wants to try something new, the carving should be done outside because there may be an implosion and that gets messy.  Practice on an average sized pumpkin first and then design options may be expanded as the pumpkins get bigger.  Some of the designs by real artists are so elaborate, that unless a carver can see them being carved,  they would never be able to figure out how to recreate the pattern.

Lighting pumpkins is pretty easy and those flameless candles are the best.  The kind you can either recharge or plug into an outlet are the most economical, then there are small light bulbs, as well as candles.  The latter are safe if the pumpkin is isolated or not near vegetation, cloth or trick or treaters.  Ones on fence posts look good, if watched from your window.  Don’t be scared — they only come alive in those creepy Halloween movies..