Mariah Nichols, Staff Writer
It’s Halloween night and a silvery-full moon glows against a black sky. Your jack-o’-lantern is lit up wearing a toothy grin on your front doorstep. Outside there is a commotion with the pitter patter of feet and then your doorbell rings. You grab the bowl of candy and open the door to be greeted by Sexy Pizza Rat and Hillary Clinton checking her emails and chiming “trick-or treat!”
Now let’s time travel back to the 1960’s and do this whole scenario again. It’s Halloween night, the doorbell rings, but this time you are greeted by a giggling group of little children, one a fairy, one a witch and another a skeleton. Here is a wholesome holiday with homemade costumes and a pillow case full of candy like Bazooka bubble gum and popcorn balls with caramel apples. Obviously, Oct. 31 just isn’t what it used to be.
One of the major differences between then and now is that Halloween costumes have become more commercial. Back in the day many made their own.
For example, being a ghost would entail using a simple white bed sheet with the eyes cut out. Now, the norm is to head to a retail store and choose a costume in a bag that is full of detail, accessories and of course the high price tag. Getting dressed up in earlier decades was mainly focused on children, but in today’s world, teens and adults are commonly seen taking part in spooky fun, too. Their costumes, however, range from the outlandish to mimicking any trending news topic or imitating celebrities such as Miley Cyrus, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. Women’s selections tend to be sexy and revealing, while couples’ costumes are often comical. In other words, today anything goes.
Another fun fact you would discover in our time travel would be that pets in the 1960s weren’t very fond of this holiday. They stayed at home hiding behind the couch every time the doorbell rang on Halloween night. Now you’ll find them coming out of the house dressed up and ready to join in on the fun or hanging their heads in humiliation. Petco has a pet costume contest every year with prizes for the winning contestants. It’s not unusual to see the pups in your neighborhood dressed as a T-rex, hot dog, cowboy and a unicorn, which you can find in popular retail stores like Target.
With Halloween being just around the corner, you will still see a mixture of both old and new with many still making their own costumes while others spend the big bucks. The main thing is to stay safe, have fun, enjoy and let this night of dressing up bring out the kid in you.
Happy Halloween!
