And To All, A Good Halloween Night

"And it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Halloween well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us!"

Great Balls of Popcorn!

You thought I was done? Not quite yet.

I thought I'd share this traditional Halloween treat with you.  Popcorn Balls. I'm old enough to remember when old ladies would hand these out as treats in your Trick or Treat bag.

Deck the Halls with Bowels of Ghoulies

Time for my annual post of my interior decorations.  They don't vary much from year to year, but I like to share anyway.  Everything (almost) in these shots were garage or estate sale finds.

Haunting Memories

Happy Halloween all!  The big day is here.

I've always had a fascination with the classic haunted house.  When I was in Second Grade, our school carnival featured one built on the frame of a semi trailer.  I bought my ticket and bravely strode forward through the entrance.  I laughed as I tried to navigate over the rollers on the floor.  A barred window (like an animal cage) allowed people to watch you as you tripped and stumbled through it.  I saw my mom watching and smiling and it gave me additional bravery to continue on.  Once I passed through the second set of doors, everything went dark.  I felt my way along the walls until I saw a light up ahead.  I walked toward the light which soon became a room.  A room with a coffin in it.  Inside the coffin was a vampire.  Just as I was looking at it, someone jumped out of the darkness and screamed at me.  That was it. I ran back the opposite way, back over the rollers which with the pace of my running, just mercilessly spun as fast as my feet could make them.  I fell several times before making my way back out the entrance. Sorry, kid, no refunds.  I later learned it was my older brother's friend who had been hiding inside, not as any part of cast, but rather to specifically scare little kids like me.

A couple years later while on a vacation to Lake of the Ozarks, we came across another haunted house that was on "the strip".  My sister and I went inside, nervously holding hands.  At one point, I felt something brush my leg.  I told my sister to stop, that she'd dropped her purse.  I reached down and grabbed what felt like a rubber strap and gave it a yank.  It didn't budge.  I let out a scream which made my sister scream.  We both ran ahead.  We did manage to finish it though.

What do you imagine when you hear "haunted house"?  Odds are, it's a gothic Victorian mansion, windows broken or boarded up, shingles and siding falling from it. Something like this.

Old Gold Scarecrow

 This ad comes from a lot of 1940's and 50's Saturday Evening Post magazines I bought at an estate sale this weekend.  The magazines were $1 each. How could I resist?  This particular ad comes from the October 21st, 1953 edition.

I'll probably do a blog on some of the other magazines at some point this winter.  I know, hold your breath.

Garage Sale Haunts

I thought I'd do something a little different today.  Rather than showing you what I found at garage sales, I'll share what houses I saw while garage saling, specifically those decked out for the season.

Hopefully the pictures are large enough when clicked on to see the details (blogger seems to be having an issue with that the last couple years), because some of these are great.

Scratch Cat Fever

 These die cuts are referred to as "Scratch Cats" due to their extended claws and hackled backs.

This die cut was made by Beistle and dates to the 1960's. It's jointed and can be positioned as desired.  I recently found this along with two identical die cuts in a lot at an estate sale. I paid up for the 3 at $15, but each is worth $15, so I didn't do too bad. Aside from the staples in the back of this piece, it and the others are in excellent condition. There are no bends and the joints are tight.