Scarecrow, 1987

It’s one thing to run around the house and think that you’re Rambo, it’s another thing to try to convince others that you’re Rambo. This was the dilemma I found myself with during Halloween, 1987. This was a time when I was Rambo obsessed. Now before I get my parents in trouble, let me clarify that I had only seen parts of Rambo First Blood Part II, and had only seen the NBC edit of First Blood. For the uninitiated, Rambo also had a line of action figures, video games and even a cartoon. He was TOTALLY kid friendly. (I wonder if author David Morrell saw any of this coin?)

I remember wanting to be either Lt. Falcon from the G.I. Joe movie or Rambo. My parents still have a black beret and olive drab handkerchief/scarf for the Lt. Falcon outfit, but I clearly remember being SUPER disappointed by not getting a SGT. Slaughter costume together for my little bro. Buying costume pieces was a lot more expensive then, than it is today.

“Plan B” was to dress up as Rambo. It was easy: Pants, boots, knife, headband.

Lose the shirt and we’re good to go.

To bad it was REALLY cold.

And Rambo DOESN’T WEAR A JACKET!

And I was REALLY scrawny. I was embarrassed and ashamed by how “unRambo” I actually was.

I gave up. Halloween was bust. The night that only comes around once a year waits for no kid. You can be sick on a Christmas or a birthday and just open your presents the next day. But not Halloween. Have you ever seen a kid walk around the neighborhood on November 1^st because he was absent for Halloween? Me neither.

Thankfully, my mom had a plan C (It hadn’t occurred to me to plan past B) and I was a scarecrow: straw hat, shirt stuffed with straw. Piece of cake.

And my little brother dawned the headband and was RAMJOE! Too bad I can’t put my hands on some pics.

It was one thing to run around the house playing Rambo; thinking you looked like Rambo. It was completely different coming to terms that you’re a pale a skinny nine year old.

But this hasn’t been a problem since I’ve been “First Blood Part II” shredded.

Mac Tonight, 1988

Like most kids, I regurgitated every thing that I watched on t.v. And I watched a LOT of t.v. (age appropriate of course.) I really liked the catchy Mac Tonight music.

According to wikipedia:
Mac Tonight was a mascot introduced by McDonald's restaurants in 1986. He was intended to advertise McDonald's late night hours to adults. He had a crescent moon for a head, wore a suit and sunglasses, and was depicted as being a jazzy lounge singer. The name was a play on words of the song "Mack the Knife", made popular in America by Bobby Darin. The song that played over the advertisements, called "It's Mac Tonight", was also a variant on that song, but with McDonald's-themed lyrics.

I used to sing this McDonald's song around the house, so my mom thought I should be Mac Tonight for Halloween. She fabricated a foam head and covered it with cloth. On Halloween night we went to the McDonald's on North Monroe Street (not the one that's there now, but the one that used to be El Jalico) to show off my costume (and probably eat dinner. Natch.) I remember the costume netting my a free sundae. Booyah!

You can see that Uncle Jee-Jah is clearly Superman and not just a kid dressed as Superman because he has the ever important spit-curl that I was lacking five years earlier. Believe it or not, this is not the last Superman to show up on this Halloween-themed blog.

FYI- Mac Tonight was played by Doug Jones who would go on to play other "masked" characters from films like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

Bacon and Eggs, 1986

Here's a pic of my as Bacon and Eggs. It's just the Ghostbusters costume recycled. The "ghost" now has yolk with a side of cardboard and polyurethane bacon. Maybe not the coolest idea, but it was one of the most delicious meals this young picky-eater ever ate with any regularity.

Oh yeah, and it's Uncle Jee-Jah's birthday.
Happy 26th (dang) dude!

Ghostbuster, 1985

Now I've seen a resurgence in Ghostbuster costumes among my generation over the past few years, but I'm here to tell you, I DID IT FIRST.

Well, not really.

My mom had the idea to dress me as the Ghostbuster's logo. It was/is a cool idea because I have yet to see anyone else try it. It was basicaaly a white gown-type thing with a "smurf-ish" hat/hood. I wore a hoola-hoop around my-self, which was covered in red with a red SLASH through the middle.

And of course, I can't track down a picture of it.

Ewok, 1984

I really though that this was a cool costume. As a matter of fact, we still have it. Over the years, it's doubled as a werewolf, Chewbacca, and the Big Bad Wolf in school productions. My mom put a lot of effort into making it and even dressed up as a tree from the moon of Endor as a companion piece. In the group shot, you can see two vintage, store-bought ewoks. "Store-boughts" now give "homemades" a run for their money.

Pac-man, 1983

All of these costumes may be a year off. Pac-man was popular in 1982, but I can't imagine that my had her finger on the pulse of pop culture. She's a parent and a teacher (so am I) so she'd be a year behind the pop curve (am I?) Add this to the holes in the costume/photo archives and I'm thinking that the years represented on the photos could be a year off.

This was a really cool costume, even though I'm didn't grow up to be a gamer. I lack the patience and basically suck at all video games. The only game I "beat" as a kid was nintendo Golf.

And Contra (with 30 extra lives.)

What I remember most about this costume, Halloween is that I look like a wheel of cheese. We went to our next door neighbor's house for our first stop. THE first stop. They lived on a hill, the front yard sloping steeply down to the street. I rang the doorbell, took a step back when they surprisingly threw opened the door, and I fell.

Then I rolled.

And rolled.

And rolled and rolled and rolled down to the curb.

There's a shot in "The Big Lebowski" where the camera angle is the ball's POV. Think that, but replace the bowling lane with grass, and the ceiling with a black sky and orange street light and you get the idea.

Superman, 1982

It’s no secret that the Fall is my favorite season. I’m sure it’s that way for people. Either Fall or Spring. Transition months.

Fall is the best for many reasons: changing leaves, best weather/temperatures, no humidity. September is awesome. But September is just the preamble for OCTOBER! The BEST MONTH OF THE YEAR!

October is the end of the first nine weeks, my birthday and Halloween! The one holiday where creativity takes to the front seat (costumes, pumpkins carving, school crafts.) Halloween has always been a fun holiday in the Penn household. My parents always MADE our costumes and I am always greatful for it. I’ve made it a point to hand-make my children’s costume. For the month of October I’ll be spot-lighting costumes from Halloween’s past and present.