Blame It On Mom

I blame my mother. I know it was unintentional but I blame her just the same.

Our entire family enjoyed the Halloween season but aside from a few disposable decorations like crepe paper, honeycomb pieces, die-cuts, etc we really didn't have much to display. We always carved pumpkins and we made the corn stalk tee pee but that was about it. With one exception. My mother always placed a plastic light-up in the front window. The light-up featured a grinning Jack O' Lantern in a top hat balanced on a hunched back black cat with a skull between his feet. Around the base were several flying witches.



The lighting of the Jack and Cat signaled that Halloween was upon us. Every night from mid October until the 31st the black and orange plastic cast an eerie glow in our window. It was a magical time.

Several years ago my parents were cleaning out their basement. (Thank God because they are pack rats and I would hate to have to have done that after they were gone.) My sister and I showed up to help. Well, we showed up to stake claim to certain things anyway. I told my mom that I wanted the plastic Jack and Cat. I was surprised when she couldn't even recall what I was talking about. After relating the entire story as I have here she still couldn't remember it so I figured it had been tossed out.

We cleaned throughout the day and at one point I looked up in the rafters and... did I mention my parents are pack rats? Thank God they are because there it was! Tucked away and dusty but in great shape.

And so it began. My obsession with those vintage plastic light-ups. My collection now includes 25 of these relics from the 60's and 70's and it's still growing. I blame it on my mother.

Other pieces from the collection:
Vintage Light-Ups 1
Vintage Light-Ups 2
Vintage Light-Ups 3