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A big part of this "playing pretend" is in the costumes. Growing up, I had some great ones. My mother, Carol, designed almost all of the Halloween costumes I wore. This is a run-through of the costumes I wore from ages 4 to 10.
Age 4 (1984)- Harlequin Clown
This costume was a hand-me-down from my brother, but I still loved it.
Age 5, Kindergarten (1985)- Scarecrow
This costume was one of the cutest I've ever seen. I think it was for this reason that I found scarecrows interesting from this time on. I like scarecrows if they're cute. Scary scarecrows are not much fun.
Age 6, 1st Grade (1986)- Lion-O
I didn't like this costume. My mother didn't make this one! It was store-bought, and lousy at that. My mother started working for the USPS in 1986 and was too busy to make a costume. The character was interesting enough, but the suit was cheap plastic that easily tore when I first put it on, and the paper mache mask, with brittle rubberband, was a disaster from the start. Lion-O was the hero character in TVs "Thundercats" cartoon series. I think we settled on Lion-O because it was the best we could find in the store at the time. I would have rather had He-Man, because I didn't follow the "Thundercats" show or toys. He-Man was my favorite adventure cartoon star growing up.
Age 7, 2nd Grade (1987)- California Raisin
This was quite a clever patent! My Mom made the wrinkly raisin suit from black trash bags stuffed with newspaper! This was a great costume! I still love those singing, dancing raisins!
Age 8, 3rd Grade (1988)- Spider-Man
Boy, was I big into Spider-Man. I loved the character for years before this, and just started collecting the comics. My mother was very inventive with this costume, and she did well with the materials available, but it wasn't anywhere near as cool as the 5th grade Spider-Man costume. Still, a job well-done.
Age 9, 4th Grade (1989)- Pirate
I thought pirates were cool because they were mean, tough characters. In 1989, pirates were not at all popular with kids. At least not in my area. I think pirates were last really popular in the 1950s. What made me think pirate? I wanted a costume I knew no one else would have, and I had a fondness for old media even back then. This was another great Mom-original. Pirates did not become hugely popular in my lifetime until the first "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie in 2003. Nowadays, kids would fight to get their hands on such a costume.
Age 10, 5th Grade (1990)- Spider-Man
I found a latex Spider-Man mask on discount at a store long before Halloween and decided that I wanted to be Spider-Man again. Mom had a lot more time to put together a superior costume to the 1988 original. She did wonderful.
I knew 5th grade was going to be my last go-around in a Halloween costume. I was mature for my age, and took going to middle school seriously. There would be no costume for 6th grade or any year after that. I had a lot of fun when I did it, but knew when my time was past. I still love seeing little kids in their Halloween costumes, but in recent years the numbers have been dwindling. I hope there is a Halloween revival so we can keep this tradition strong.
