Halloween as a kid

This photo is circa 1974. Obviously (I hope) I am on the left. My little brother, TJ, is on the right.

I was dressed as Pippi Longstocking. I seem to remember that the only thing about this costume that we had to create was getting my hair to stick out straight like that. It was accomplished with a wire hanger. Obviously, I was not the daughter of Joan Crawford. I thought my Mom was brilliant. The freckles? I had 'em, we just made them more prominent. It's unfortunate that it gets cold in Colorado come Halloween time, because the coat I am wearing really covers the hideous dress. I think it came out of my Mom's closet and was one of her favorites. Remember, this was 1974. This also makes me wonder about the condition of my closet. Look at those shoes! Those were really mine. That is bordering on child abuse. I think we had to duct tape the bottom of them so my feet didn't get too cold. And how about those socks, eh? Mismatched and all. I actually do remember getting the pair of orange argyle polyester socks for Christmas, the year prior. Yep, child abuse again. I got socks for Christmas. 

And then there is TJ. He didn't have a say in what we dressed him as. He probably liked having pants big enough to smuggle a pumpkin in - although, it is starting to fall our at the bottom of his legs.  I don't know if it's rouge on his face or chocolate. 

Can we talk about the carpet? Brown and white and bits of orange shag. It does go nicely with the sandstone fireplace that has some  serious suet/smoke buildup on the exterior. And I love the way the brass gleams in the photo. 

This was the same year as the 67 pound pumpkin. I clearly remember how much it weighed. Plus, somebody really smart wrote it on the back of the photo. 

This would explain TJ's obsession with overalls, even to this day.  It does not explain, however, the person with their head practically up TJ's butt. But it looks like this person (I have a sneaking supsicion it was my Grandmother) was the only one with any kind of fashion sense. 

I mean, take a gander at my plaid red, white, and blue dress with the big-ass collar. 

And speaking of plaid, who in the hell picked out the wallpaper????? This could explain my obsession with orange and green. But it would not explain my sense of decorating sense, unless you count this clearly as a "what-not-to-do". 

In case you can't really see all the details in this picture, maybe you could put on the 3D glasses sitting on the counter. I'm still not sure about that one. 

I'm not sure why we finally decided to gut the 67 pound pumpkin. We obviously didn't need to carve it up, since it already had a face out of black construction paper. I don't even know if I knew you could make a jack-o-lantern any other way. More child abuse. 

I may have to do Pippi Longstocking again for Halloween. I bet I can find some rag-a-muffin outfit in my closet right now. Or perhaps for lunch. I'm meeting a girlfriend for sushi. I wonder if I have time? Crap. I don't have any wire hangers in my house. EVER.

I was talking to TJ the other day and he was trying to figure out what to be for Halloween. I'm thinking he made a great pumpkin smuggling, chocolate eating clown.