Halloween Archives - Page 2 of 5 - The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

Oct52015 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

A Gallery of Vintage Beistle Halloween Decorations, Part 3

It's been a few years since my last gallery of vintage Beistle Halloween decorations, and I've collected some cool images so it's time to share once again. This time I'm focusing on Beistle products exclusively from the 1940s. Eagle-eyed readers may notice the name "Luhrs" pop up in this gallery. This refers to H.E. Luhrs, who was the son-in-law of company founder Martin Luther Beistle and served as president of the company. So with that bit of history out of the way, let's look at the gallery! And don't forget to check out my first and second Beistle Halloween decoration galleries.

Nov82013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Thanksgiving, the Incredible Shrinking Holiday

Rants

For those not familiar with the term Christmas Creep -- and no, I'm not referring to the skeevy dude dressed as Santa Claus at the mall who looks way too excited to have little kids sitting on his lap -- it refers to the ever-widening window stores use to stock their shelves with gift items and bombard us with advertisements. While some people still debate whether or not climate change is a real thing, there can be no debate that Santa and his multi-billion dollar operation have inched further and further outside the traditionally defined Christmas shopping season barrier of Black Friday. It has become more and more common to see Christmas store displays and ads not only well before Thanksgiving, but now just after Halloween. Hell, I even spotted displays in places like Home Depot and L...

Oct102013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

It’s a Golden Age Superhero Halloween!

Blogstuff

I think I like the idea of reading Golden Age superhero comics more than actually doing it. Compared to today's comic books, the stories and artwork often don't measure up. But man, I could look at the covers all day. So in the spirit of the season, here's a few Golden Age comic book covers with a Halloween theme. The Superman one is technically Silver Age, but I think it has the same lighthearted spirit as the other three so I included it. If straight-ahead horror comics from the Golden Age are more your thing, I've got a gallery of them too. I couldn't resist including this last one from Batman, even though it is firmly entrenched in the Silver Age and is of a much more serious tone. But how can you go wrong with a vintage Neal Adams cover?

Oct82013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Even the Great Pumpkin Is Voting Nixon-Agnew (1968)

Ephemera

Here's a very odd piece of political ephemera. It's a Halloween-themed jack-o-lantern door hanger used during the 1968 Richard Nixon/Spiro Agnew presidential campaign. In big, block letters it announced "Even the Great Pumpkin Is Voting Nixon-Agnew." This bit of ephemera is a clear nod to the classic Peanuts TV special It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. The CBS animated special debuted in October 1966 and was no doubt fresh in the minds of American voters. Whether or not this door hanger was enough to tip the scales in favor of the GOP ticket is debatable, but Nixon and Agnew cruised to a sizable Electoral College victory over Democrat Hubert Humphrey and running mate Edmund Muskie.

Oct12013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

The Countdown to Halloween 2013 Has Begun!

Blogstuff

It's October 1, and that can only mean one thing -- it's time to kick off the Countdown to Halloween! I had so much fun acting as a Cryptkeeper for last year's countdown that I'm back to do it again. So throughout the month you'll see all sorts of fun, spooky posts with a Halloween theme. Along with the usual, non-scary tomfoolery of course. To join in the fun, just click the Fruit Brute icon in the upper right to see every post for this year's countdown. To see all of my cool Halloween posts, you can check out the Halloween archives for those. I'll also be posting some scary stuff on my Tumblr and Facebook pages, so check them out too! Oh and lest I forget, the headquarters for the Countdown to Halloween is here. Please visit other participants' pages as well to see what they...

Sep302013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Album Cover of the Week: Shock Music in Hi-Fi by the Creed Taylor Orchestra

Album Cover of the Week

October doesn't start until tomorrow, but I just can't wait to get started on my Countdown to Halloween 2013 posts so I'm kicking things off a little early. Here's a fun little vintage album cover to set the mood for you -- it's Shock Music in Hi-Fi by the Creed Taylor Orchestra (ABC-Paramount ABC-259, 1959). Now if you ask me, the woman on the front cover looks more in a state of grief than of shock or horror. But it's a neat visual and works well with the "Shock" portion of the typeface. Credits on this one are easy, as they're listed right on the back cover. The front and liner photographs were taken by Tony Triolo, and Matt Schutz designed the front cover. Here's a clip from the album, to give you an idea of what this record sounds like. It's "The Crank," written by Ke...

Aug262013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

66 Days Until Halloween!

Blogstuff

I bring this up for no reason in particular, but we only have 66 days until Halloween 2013 is upon us. I will likely be participating in the Countdown to Halloween again this year (assuming there is one), so really there are just over 30 days until the festivities begin. Until then, enjoy this vintage Kodachrome image of a pair of kids celebrating Halloween, 1950s style.

Nov142012 by Chris Holmes1 Comment

Vintage Photo Wednesday, Vol. 18: Thanksgiving Maskers, 1911

Vintage Photo Wednesday

Before Halloween became the de facto holiday of choice in America for children seeking goodies, there was Thanksgiving Masking. On the last Thursday in November, kids dressed up in costumes -- typically made up of adult-looking clothes and either masks or dark, smudged faces -- and go around the neighborhood begging for treats or scrambling for pennies. The tradition started in the 19th century and, as far as I can tell, was mainly relegated to the northeastern U.S. Once the now-accepted traditions of Thanksgiving and Halloween took hold in the 20th century, masking vanished. Certainly one of the major developments that pushed it into obscurity was the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924. Here's a shot, most likely dated 1911, of a group of Thanksgiving Maskers scrambling fo

Oct292012 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Venture Bros. Wrapup: “A Very Venture Halloween”

TV & Radio

Has it really been almost two years since I last wrote about a new episode of The Venture Bros.? Yup, seems so. And now here we are, with 2012 winding down, and we finally have a new episode from Jackson and Doc -- "A Very Venture Halloween." It's the first holiday-themed installment of the show since "A Very Venture Christmas" all the way back at the end of season one in 2004. Alright, enough history -- let's get into it. This episode was damn good, and sets the table quite nicely for the upcoming fifth season of the show. For awhile I thought this was going to be a typically light-hearted standalone episode, but Doc Hammer (who wrote this one) took things in a very dramatic direction toward the end. Let's get the frivolity out of the way first -- Dr. Venture and Sgt. Hatred han...

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