Wednesday, October 28, 2015

1959 Woolworth’s Halloween Ad

Well, Halloween is only a few days away – so I’d better start posting some of these seasonal ads.

First up is one for Woolworth’s, highlighting their selection of costumes for trick or treating. It ran in the Lorain Journal on October 21, 1959 (the year I was born) – 56 years ago this month.

Although the ad is from 1959, there are no TV characters in the costume line-up with the exception of Walt Disney’s Zorro. Otherwise it’s strictly big-screen cartoon characters (Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse and Casper), Walt Disney-licensed properties (Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty) or generic monster types.

By the way, I don’t remember ever going trick or treating as a skeleton, devil or something scary. I was strictly the type to go as Huckleberry Hound, Woody Woodpecker, etc. (That probably says something about me, but it would take an analyst to figure it out.)

I did my usual internet scavenger hunt to compare photos of the actual costume with the artist’s renderings in the ad.

The Mickey Mouse costume was pretty easy to find.

Finding the Cinderella mask took the better part of my lunch yesterday (below).
On the other hand, it took less than a minute to find the Disney Zorro costume (courtesy of modernkiddo.com).
I managed to find an actual photo of a kid wearing the Bugs Bunny costume.
It sure beats this (ugh) modern monstrosity (below), where Bugs appearing to be gnawing on this kid’s noggin. What fun is that?
Lastly, I had a devil of a time trying to find this mask (below).
Yikes, that thing is too creepy for me, even as an adult. No wonder I went trick or treating as Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, Donald Duck, etc.

4 comments:

-Alan D Hopewell said...

So much fun

Kathaleeny said...

I think that bunny mask is the same one used in the Faroh's Finest Easter ads.

Wireless.Phil said...

I don't even remember what I went as?
That Cinderella mask was always creepy.

Anonymous said...

Those plastic masks were awful. They would get damp from your breathing, and there was always one sharp edge, usually near the mouth.