Halloween Treat: Haunted Air (Ossian Brown, 2011)

If I were a rich man, instead of handing out Tootsie Roll Pops and Jolly Ranchers to trick-or-treaters on Halloween, I'd hand out ridiculously awesome goodies like copies of this book, Haunted Air, A Collection of Anonymous Hallowe'en Photographs, America c.1875-1955.

From the collection of musician Ossian Brown (no, I am not familiar with his work...), Haunted Air is a 200+ page album of vintage black and white photographs of children in Halloween costumes. The photos are presented without commentary, and no attempt is made to date or identify them (although sometimes you might find a hand-scribbled date on the photograph itself.)

Oh yea, there's a short written introduction by director David Lynch, and a historical note tracing the cultural origins of Halloween, but the real draw is the photographs. Some of my favorites are posted below.

Be advised the book seems to cycle in and out of availability. You can nab a copy for under $30 when its in stock, but prices can climb four times that when it cycles out of stock again. Buy it here.

Open Wound (70s Halloween Scar Stickers)

I was browsing clip art at one of my favorite retro-art websites, CSA Images, and happened upon this little number:

...which I recognize as coming from a sheet of spooky Halloween stickers meant to be applied to your skin. I purchased it sometime in the late 70s, probably at the neighborhood Super X or TG&Y drug store. I don't remember too much more about it other than each sticker was labeled somewhere on the packaging, and that big gash in the upper left was described as an "Open Wound".

If anyone else has more information on this sticker set, I'd love to hear about it.

UPDATE 3/9/15: Here's a pic of the stickers in packaging from an Ebay listing.

If you aren't familiar with CSA Images, Kirk D. of Secret Fun Spot and its associated blog has a terrific account of a tour he took of their 120,000 square foot warehouse of vintage artwork. ;)

Trick or Treat (1978, CHiPs)

CHiPs (an acronym of California Highway Patrol) was the cop show for kids that didn't like cop shows. Officers Ponch (Erik Estrada) and John (Larry Wilcox) rarely drew their weapons, and let legions of criminals walk free with a stern warning.

In the world of CHiPs, police work wasn't about using either brute force or ingenious detective work to bring hard-boiled criminals off the gritty Streets of Mean. Instead, a typical beat might entail rescuing a runaway boat on jet-skis, luring an escaped circus tiger back to his cage, or delivering a newborn on the floor of the disco (after winning the disco contest, of course!)

The Season 2 Halloween episode, Trick or Treat (1978), stayed true to the formula.

Nothing scary to see here, folks, as Ponch and John tackle decidedly lightweight incidents like a hold-up woman dressed as a ghost, candy-bag theft by an older woman convinced she's lost her wedding ring in a batch of candy, and a pair of naughty ladies stealing city property for a scavenger hunt.

Sarge demonstrates how to thoroughly search a suspect for hidden contraband.

The biggest treat of this episode is getting a look at vintage plastic Halloween adornments... close encounters of the Ben Cooper kind.

Below we have Bigfoot (mask only, missing the smock, from the 1977 Sid & Marty Krofft show Bigfoot & Wildboy), a Batman (1974, this rendering based on the comic strip), and a Raggedy Ann (1973). Oh yea, there's also a non-plastic vampire and witch, too.

Later that evening we'll encounter this group. Bigfoot again, this time complete with smock, Skeleton (looks like a slight variation of a 1974 version that I remember as being the first costume I ever wore), The Incredible Hulk (looks like an earlier version than the 1980s model posted below), and Darth Vader (sin smock, con cape).

Here's a closer look at Skeleton.


Costume images came from the awesome and topical book Halloween: Costumes and Other Treats. See many more images in a previous post here.

Ideal for Discos

Check out this awesome old ad for Don Post masks, from the back of the first sci-fi movie magazine I ever purchased, the July 1980 issue of Fantastic Films. I probably spent more time leering over these amazing mask images than reading the magazine itself, even though it was loaded with interesting articles on The Empire Strikes Back and John Carpenter.

After all, 1980 was The Year Of The Masquerade. (That's what the ad copy says, anyway. Who am I to argue?) Ideal for parties, discos, masquerading and collecting. Be a somebody!

A couple things about this ad stood out for me. First, these masks were of much higher quality than the usual Halloween stuff I was used to browsing through at the TG&Y Store.

Second, based on the prices (some as high as $64.95, in 1980 dollars!), these masks weren't aimed at the kiddies, but at grown adults. I imagined what kind of world I was missing out on, where adults donned expensive, high-quality monster masks for a night at the disco?

I hadn't yet heard of Plan 9 From Outer Space, so I had no idea who this Tor Johnson guy was... but the unusual name stuck with me, and almost exactly two years later I would name a monster after him in my crappy home-made comic.

It also never occurred to me prior to seeing this ad that a mask might be considered a work of art worthy of being displayed. And these mounts and cases were clearly aimed at the adult collector. I mean, what kid is going to buy and install a thirty dollar wall mount to display his mask (or a $125 case to protect it)?

Which led me to ponder... what kind of adult was awesome enough to hang masks on the wall of his home for all to see? Relatives from back East coming by for a visit? There's Mr. Kool staring them down through dinner. Neighbor drops in to borrow some flour? Dracula's giving him the evil eye from within his glass cube.

Here's a pair of premium-priced repros, Nosferatu and the Face-Hugger from Alien.