A lot of my idea of what Halloween is come naturally from US sources – the Child Life journals picked up from our town library, the odd TV programme, and in later years that recentday Bible of Americana, ET the Extraterrestrial. The latter I really took to, especially as it included a pretty hefty – if dubious – nod to the Dungeons & Dragons phenomenon, but the Halloween aspect is key to the story. The disguise our titular alien wears, Elliot’s skeleton makeup, a cornfield bursting with golden promise, the great Star wars vuisual gag in the Trick or Treating scene (which to my astonishment seemed to take place in near full daylight – most ujnlike the dark autumn evenings I’d grown up thinking were a staple. They were like us after all!). Oh, and a trail of candy with which to trick the cosmic critter in the first place.
Halloween in America, the young Simian concluded, must be an awesome thing
indeed. Subsequent encounters with States-born classmates and friends have
tempered that somewhat – and of course, Hollywood will glam these things up,
but for further evidence this evening I took to everyone’s prime source of
facts, YouTube, to see how Halloween was interpreted on the domestic tube in
the 70s, 80s and 90s. How did it go?
As a goodie bag? A bit mixed, to be honest. I have takeaways. Some hard candy, some
soft centres, some saccharine offerings of dubious origin, indeed. The 70s are
a particular revelation, marking the first technicolour video decade of
regional channels promoting local fare on a budget. Yep, Halloween costumes
looked very… economical. Thin, plastic half masks, tamer choices of raggedy
Annes or hoboes (a VERY popular and DIY-friendly choice from that time, it
seems), and some sound mixing and which has not survived the ravages of time
and early VHS technology. It was a bit underwhelming, and the ever-present
cereal ads of Count Chocula and his frightful brethren, not to mention the
long-forgotten pretenders to the McDonalds/Burger King etc throne looked a bit
forlorn.
Ten years later the dayglo decade became a little more adult-friendly with face paints and a promise of dancing and snagging your intended with the right costume… not a lot of spookiness here, really. By the 90s it was more of the same. The technology had improved, but the whole things had a rushed, improvised aspect to it, maybe because of the hodgepodge of corporate and Mom/Pop franchises vying for that sweet sweet Halloween dollar.
Halloweenometer. The question I found myself asking was “does it get me in the
mood?” Kind of. “Does it give me a good idea of what Halloween may have been like back in the day?” Well, maybe it did
- and possibly despite itself. Try it out and see what you think!
Postscript: In the interests of weird science I did compare thins to UK Horror-themed ads of the same time. Beer ads, Hamlet cigars… illicit ice lollies. It’s a contrast, but as much as I had fun with them, they weren’t real Halloween fare. Good, though.
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