Friday, October 1, 2021

Halloween -- It's My Bag, Baby, and Here We Go Again!

Welcome to Halloween 2021!  Well, technically, we have 30 more days to go.  But today kicks off my 7th annual participation in the Countdown to Halloween wherein I (attempt to) entertain you with my Halloween-related items I've bought at garage and estate sales in the previous year.  And let me be clear: I stretch the definition of "Halloween-related" pretty far.  Hey, I need to pad things out if I want to post every day.

As is de rigueur, my first offering is this year's bag:

Over the years, I've bored you to death regaled you with my memories of shopping at our local Ben Franklin.  How it was part of the triumvirate of  monthly Saturday afternoons -- Barbershop (for haircut, of course), Rexall Drugs (for comics) and Ben Franklin (for candy).  October was particularly joyous at Ben Franklin as the costumes and decorations reappeared on the shelves after a nearly year-long hiatus.  Every decoration was examined. Every mask had to be tried on.  I longed for the expensive rubber masks.  Heck, I longed for any mask.  But I usually ended up making myself up.  The only store-bought costume I ever had was the Ben Cooper Spider-man in First Grade. Toward the end of my Trick or Treating career, I was able to save up enough money to buy a mask; an old man with wild, white hair.  I'm not sure why I chose that one over the various monsters. I was a weird kid.

Anyway, back to the bag. Based on the graphic, I would date it to the 1960's.

The design is one-sided, with a plain black background on the reverse.


It was made by Storpak (in spooky font; it kind of looks like "Butcherman").


Here's a better scan of the image.  Suitable for framing.


What are your memories of shopping at Ben Franklin, Halloween or otherwise?

While you're chewing on that, get Trick or Treating on over at The Countdown to Halloween and be sure to bring your bag -- they're handing out Fun-sized Treats for all!

And there you have it. The first post of Halloween.  Check back daily and I'll try to keep them coming.

10 comments:

  1. Not memories of Ben Franklin, as such, but I also had an old man mask with the wild hair. I used it as part of a hunchback/Igor/Eyegor costume when I was in 6th grade.

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    1. I used it just as a sort of generic old man costume. I do recall one year I put it over a balloon and pulled my coat up over my head and held the balloon/mask in my arm. Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. Always love seeing your finds! Have a great Countdown!

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    1. Thanks, Deadpan. Thanks for stopping by and I'll be by to visit your blog this season.

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  3. Nope never been to a Ben Franklin but I do have a theory as to why you chose that old man mask Tom. It is because you are an old soul, attracted to retro things and that is why you garage sale.

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  4. I looove a good trick or treat bag! I used to have a jack o'lantern shaped basket when I was a child. Then years later during one of our grocery shops, around September, my mum bought at my request a plastic bag with a witch on it. It didn't last long, but I still remember it. I bought two or three for my son, but he hasn't done trick or treat yet. He's five, maybe it'll change thus year.

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    1. I had a Jack O' Lantern plastic pail as well. I used it all my years of Trick or Treating. For more Trick or Treat bags, check out my previous years' Countdowns. Thanks for stopping by, Guillaume!

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  5. Ben Franklin has always been awesome. I am thankful that here in Southern Indiana there my Ben Franklin is still here. I try and do as much craft shopping as I can there even with the slightly higher prices than Michaels/Hobby Lobby. :)

    https://www.benfranklinartsandframing.com/

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