We Are Each Other's Keepers

Such vivid memories! But when I was a kid, the camera was pretty much reserved for visits from rarely seen relatives, which required us to stand on the lawn facing the sun ("Stop squinting! Smile!") in a stiff cluster with said relations. I do treasure those pix, but how I wish I had visual backup for vivid memories. Like the year we put our bulldog into my little brother's pajamas. How people laughed to see him trotting proudly along!

Then there was the horse costume I made with a friend when I was ten or eleven. I designed it and we sewed it by hand--by then I had designed and made so many doll clothes out of scraps that coming up with a horse costume didn't seem all that hard, just more stitching. Our trick or treat bag was held by her dad, who insisted on coming along.

It was a huge hit around the neighborhood, but! Though we each had had to model the body in order to get into it, we hadn't thought to practice very long. We soon found out that one person bent over, hanging onto the other's waist was super hard on the back. When we first took off, her mom did want to take a pic, but we were too impatient, and promised to stand still at the end of the evening. When we got back, we were both so sick of bending over we refused to pose, so we never did get a picture, though her mom was willing. Ah, well!

When I was a teen, and deemed too old to go out, I made a robot out of cardboard to deliver candy down a chute. That was fun. my little brother adored it. Some of the neighbor kids came round a couple of times just to see it work.

In those days, pretty much all costumes were homemade. There were some for sale in stores, but they were flimsy, made of really cheapo material, and few parents in our neighborhood wanted to waste the money. I remember my first Halloween, when I was little, my dad had mom divide an ancient sheet and cut out holes for eyes, and we were supposed to save and use the sheet ghost costumes, but mom made some for us when I was about six. I remember a bride dress, which I loved. I kept sneaking out to the garage to put it on afterwards and getting scolded. (We--friends and I-- later scored give-away cocktail dresses for acting out our stories.) I started making my own costumes with the horse.