30 Days 'Til Halloween - Woolworth's

No better way to begin the countdown than with what might be my earliest Halloween memory. There's no real story to tell, only a couple of hazy moments remembered on a shopping trip to Woolworth's.

I recall it being a rainy day and crossing the parking lot in a hurry holding my Mom's hand. The whole time my eyes fixed on the front window filled with pyramids of plastic, candy bucket pumpkins.


I stood in an aisle walled in by stacked, boxed costumes. Above me, some were displayed on hangers tied to the ceiling looking like Trick or Treaters hung from gallows.


This might of been around 1969 because the very first costume I vaguely remember owning was Casper the Friendly Ghost. I wore it proudly to a kindergarten Halloween party that year...


When I was a kid, you knew the season had begun when Woolworth's started selling Halloween stuff. Looking back, the store was really no different than Wal Mart, Target or CVS today but long ago, it was a very special store to me.

7 comments:

  1. I loved going to Woolworth's with my parents when I was a kid in the late 70s/early 80s, but I hated the rubber mask endcap they had every year. I literally could not physically walk near it because I was paralyzed with fear. Alas the store is no more.

    Good times, good memories. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have many fond memories of Woolworth's during teh Halloween season. I also dressed as Casper, probably that same year.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Going to the store and picking out a costume was such a hard thing to do. So many choices. Looks like you made a good one with Casper!

    ReplyDelete
  4. The bottom's a great picture. Though it looks oddly like the sequel to The Strangers. lol

    ReplyDelete
  5. How errie that so many years ago the haunting, ghostly image of DAVE LOWE DESIGN was found on the negative for that image when it was printed.
    Amazing!
    Rene'

    ReplyDelete
  6. The big difference is Woolworths food counter.It was more like a little dinner than the fast food kind of places at the newer stores

    ReplyDelete