Pigtails….Pixie Cut….Princess Leia buns….lavender bangs?? Wow. Even the little girl in red is impressed. Knit one. Pearl two. Shock three. I’m into it.
Category Archives: Vintage Kiddo Photos
The Third Annual Creepy Cool Vintage Halloween Mask Tribute
A few year’s ago I was out shopping and wandered into the Halloween aisle. And I remember being totally horrified (and a little bummed out) by all the ultra creepy masks. There were freakish ghouls, the weirdo from the Saw movies, the Scream ghost, random slasher hockey masks. I thought to myself, “This is the end of childhood innocence! Where are the cute costumes?? Who lets their kid dress up as a crazy axe murderer??!” I shook my head, “It’s not like back in the day when we were kids!”
I have to say I stand corrected. While the costumes themselves were under the guise of more innocent characters, some of those old school Halloween masks are positively terrifying. Case in point:
The cheap plastic only adds to the horror/appeal. Of course I guess I secretly still love ’em all. (And frankly, they’re miles better than letting your child dress up as a murderer). Every year I like to round up some of my favorites. Here are some fabulous vintage kiddo Halloween pics….terrifyingly awesome.
OK, this next one….is that a bearded lady mask??? That poor child. (Love the paper bags too…looks like the sailor has a big ol bottle of booze in his.)
Aww. Woody Woodpecker is so charmingly rotund……but that weird Shaggy dog takes the cake. Leaving Woody to stare hungrily
Aw, it’s Kris Kristofferson and a Storm Trooper!
This poor child. I’m traumatized just looking at this photo…much less being the person IN the photo.
OK. So I picked this one because of Yoda, but I have to say ol Elton John jr. is stealing the show.
This next one isn’t scary, but the cardboard storm trooper was too funny not to include!
The polka dotted ghost in top hat is the winner!! Â (Sorry baby….)
I posted this one last year but it gets me every time. That Dutch Boy looks like he’s been sniffing too much of his paint and the, er….”exotic” girl who looks like a Tretchikoff painting on acid. Yikes!
This is so SOOOO cute!!! And terrifying. George Harrison, in case you were wondering which one.
Aw I LOVE this hep cat!!!
Some snazzy group shots:
This last group is amazing. Smirking Zorro, Dwarf Ghoul, Super Girl, Mighty Mouse, Drunk Bear, Crazy Eye Duck, Little Pochahontas and uh……Zombie Pig???
And finally, these guys RULE. This is your future album cover, boys:
So there you have it. Wild, weird and wonderful…..ya just gotta love Halloween.
{To see last year’s selection, go here.}
images: vintage masks and costumes
Call for Kiddos! Show Us Your Best (or Worst) Homemade Costumes!
Back in the day, all it took was a pair of red sweats and a towel and (believe it or not) you were The Greatest American Hero. I love a good homemade costume. Growing up, my parents were always big into the homemade costumes. There was rarely sewing involved, but my folks were masters at embellishing stuff we had around the house in a spectacular way. Take a basic dress, add a Spanish scarf, some fashion boots, loads of mom’s bohemian 70s costume jewellrey—VOILA! I was a gypsy! Take some overalls, cut up dad’s old plaid shirt and make a little satchel of treats on a stick? BAM! We got ourselves a hobo. My parents were really creative and my whole family always loves dressing up.
Even though most people buy their outfits (and trust me, there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that! we do it too) I still love seeing what people whip together for their little ones. Sometimes the homemade costume turns out amazingly well and then sometimes….welllllll, not so much. But there is something undeniably charming about doin’ it your own way.
Which leads me to this: we want to see YOUR homemade kiddo costumes. And let me be clear, you don’t have to be a Mini Martha, we’ll take it all! Perhaps you made something so stinkin’ cute you got compliments everywhere you went. Or maybe things didn’t work out QUITE the way you expected (a la Dottie’s spectacular Craft Fail—which I thought was pretty adorable anyway). Either way, we want to see ’em all.
Don’t be shy—the good, the bad, the ugly are all welcome. Vintage/retro photos welcome, but I’m looking for recent examples of your craftiness! We’ll be posting them here on Modern Kiddo in a Costume Parade Photo Gallery the week before Halloween to offer inspiration—and perhaps a little “what not to do”—to all of our beloved readers.
So what are you waiting for? Send me those photos!! Email them to: Alix [at] modernkiddo.com. We prefer 550-600 pixels wide, if possible….and feel free to include a link to your blog, if you have one. Looking forward to seeing what you scare up!
First day of school photos!
Oh, the first day of school. I remember that itchy, nervous, excited feeling I would get. Â And of course, I was wearing my special outfit.
And my parents took a picture. Â Because that’s what parents do.
I wonder if a parent insisted on the tie or if that was his idea? Â I think it might have been his idea…
I love it when kids hold hands.
A child’s face can say so much!
Oh and a few tears sometimes. Â But that’s OK. Â It gets easier tomorrow. I promise. You can hear the mom’s voice almost, urging and reassuring
Up, Up and Away with Yummy Retro Birthday Cakes!
Today is a very special day. It’s Wolfie’s BIRTHDAY! I’ll be doing a little special edition Weekly Kiddo showcase later today, but for now I wanted to talk birthday cake. Mmmm. Birthday Cake. You know, back in the day people really made an effort to make their kiddo’s birthday cakes special—and personal. They cut and created. They decorated and embellished. Cakes were artful in a very home spun way!
image:Â curly wurly
I never was a fan of too much frosting when it came to eating, but I sure loved to look at it. When I was 4 or 5 one of my mom’s friends made me a gigantic ballerina shaped cake and whooooo boy did I think it was cool.
image:Â the happy apple
I have to say that ultimately I’m a big fan of the sweet and simple old timey two layer cake. My specialties are yellow cake with chocolate frosting and M&Ms all over the top (cute, easy, and festive!) and a lemon cake with cream cheese frosting (which is sooooo freakin’ scrumpdillyicious I can’t stand it).
Nowadays it seems that birthday cakes fall into a couple of camps. The over-the-top fondant covered fancy cake—that’s so elaborate it’s almost more of a wedding cake. (Does fondant really taste good anyway??) And the other option are the prefab, store-bought rectangle cakes with that puffy sweet frosting that makes yer teeth hurt. And then there are the cupcakes.
For all my yackin’, I’m never that adventurous and I always end up making cupcakes—which are admittedly all the rage with the elementary school set. While I do love a good cupcake, I still miss those proper homemade “cut up” cakes of the 1970s . Take a look at these babies from the Baker’s Coconut Cookbook and you’ll see what I mean! (Please pardon the butter and flour stains on the page—this little book as well loved!)
Poor Jerry Giraffe….it’s never a good sign when there are only two good things about you, and one of them involves you being eaten.
Awww, the gum drop horsey! So cute. Although it kinda looks like a llama…..
And then there’s the quirky Teddy Bear with it’s craaaazy eyes.
It’s a fluffy bunny, bear, er…. “THING”. And finally, the Cut-Up Kids!
The little girl is a TAD creepy. A slab o’ pink “leg” anyone??
So fun huh! I would loooove to bake something like that for Wolfie. Like, a groovy guitar cake! Or a wacky dog. Alas, my son is the World’s Only Child Who Hates Cake. And Chocolate. No lie. It’s maddening. So it’s cupcakes I’ll be making our party this weekend! Yellow cake with vanilla frosting and sprinkles most likely. Someday I’ll just surprise him and bust out with something totally crazy. Like this red and yellow luv:
