HALLOWEEN PART FIVE

If Old Trunks would have kept better notes and taken more pictures, perhaps she would know/remember every costume my children donned in their treks on Halloween. But, she doesn't know. She can only hope that her children will.

I DO remember that for the most part, their costumes fit over their clothes and if the costumes weren't home designed, the children always had their say in what they wanted to be. They generally put in their order early.

Rachel was cute as a witch, a zebra, a pumpkin fairy, and a ghost. She was most patient when we did her hair in eight 'legs' with a spider web and foil to help the hair have joints, as if legs.

I do remember her being the Bride of Frank twice. The first year we bought a dress at the thrift store and we tore the bottom to make it look like she had been running through a Brier patch. Her dress and legs were dirty. She carried 'sticks'. By the time she would play the part again, she had discovered oatmeal make up which when plastered on one's face, made it look like dead skin, she carried 13 roses, well past their prime. The year was 1987 and Ryen, as Dracula had an oatmeal face too. Rachel painted windows at Gibson's two years in a row; she didn't win but had fun. The second year, we mixed the paint, it was not so watered down. Our own picture window as also a canvas.

Bud started out as Superman in 1971. The next year, he wanted to be a battery. A few years of "doesn't matter" where followed by several years of Luke Skywalker. One photo shows him standing with Chewy and Rachel as a skeleton. He did paint on our windows as well as downtown with the bats and rats theme. The paint was watered down and he was NOT happy.

Perhaps Bud's best costumes were in high school. Mike and Bud were going to homecoming. They were to dress as cave men. I don't know why. I painted him him up to look like an African caveman. He was called to the office and told to wash the black off. It was not intended as malice; just in costume. Another costume, perhaps again for homecoming was when he went as a California raisin. I found a vinyl bedspread at the thrift store and colored it purple. It was a truly neat costume, it must have been really hot to wear. Another year, he donned a long white wig and played the part of Noah and the boat he pulled behind him was the arc. You would have to get the full details on that one from him.

Both Bud and Rachel worked at the Schwegler Carnival. Rachel dressed as a clown and Bud had his face painted half white and half black. Bud may have worn the clown costume too, it seemed to disappear. Someone else lost it to us, we lost it to someone else.

One of the years , Bud stated he wanted to be a dinosaur. He changed his mind and never wore the outfit. It had been kept, hoping someday, he would wear it. He went as a gas mask repairman that year. What is that you ask? Something made out of duct tape and card board which fit over his head leaving him able to see. He really wanted a $50 monster mask like Matt.

Ryen was an infant at Halloween of 1979. Bud wanted money to go to LaMans to play games. He had spent his allowance already. I offered him $1 if he would run around the block in the dinosaur costume. I am laughing because by now it was thigh high. Yes, he got the dollar.

The dinosaur costume was inherited by Ryen. The first year he wore it, the tail dragged on the ground. He wore a monster mask. Later, the same costume would become a lizard with his own idea of how his face should be painted. He was a bat and Dracula and a really cute pirate complete with a parrot on his shoulder. Ryen practiced his face painting several times before the celebration. As mentioned before, he got into the oatmeal make up early. One year, his teacher rushed to the door and exclaimed, "He wouldn't let me put his make up on for him." Well, of course not, he already had a plan.

I loved helping them get ready for the big day. I wondered if I would ever dress up again. How fun to be part of the activity staff at the nursing home and dress up. I liked the wigs the best whether it be a short pink bob or a long red tossed style. Didn't seem to matter what I wore, the old men thought I looked like a whore all dressed up. So much for planning to look like an angel with purple curly hair!

In a few hours, Halloween will be over. Old Trunks is hopeful you have spent a few moments digging in your own mental trunk looking at Halloween's past.

Boo.

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