The Magic Of Monsters

This weekend we move our oldest off to college. He'll only be an hour and a half away but life as we know it is about to change. I teeter between excitement for him and pity for me.

In these days that lead up to him going off on his own I find my mind flashing back to various points along the way. His birth...his first day of school...his first Halloween, etc.

This bit of reminiscing has also caused me to revisit my youth. I was a child of privilege. I am a product of the generation that grew up when monsters were cool.

When I first started poking around the Halloween scene online and got to know others of like-mind I was delighted to see that many were in my age range. Oh, sure, there are the young guns out there that get into Halloween but we in our 40's, 50's and 60's were privileged to experience real Halloween magic.

Back in the day the back of many a magazine was littered with advertisements for monsters and other creepy goodness. In the 70's you could send away for your very own 7' tall monster with authentic glow-in-the dark eyes for only $1 (plus a 35¢ postage and handling fee).

picture source: My Monster Memories

How about a Do-It-Yourself Vampire Kit? Just a buck!

There were monster kits:

picture source: Unimonster's Crypt

Monster mags and comics:

And, TV offered Addams Family and The Munsters:

picture source: FanPop

I know that the further we get away from our childhood the more idyllic the memories become. Many of us in this age grew up during war, gas shortages, recession and more ugly stuff, but I still contend that it indeed was a magical time to be a child.

My boys grew up in a completely different monster culture but I made sure that they got a good dose. I hope I've done right by my sons and that one day, in the distant future, they too will feel that their childhood was magical.

Haunt on!

Commercial Break

And now we take a short commercial break to enjoy Halloween ads from days gone by...

Pepsi early 1990s



Pepsi and Doritos circa 1990's



Radio Shack 2001



Budweiser circa early 2000's



Mall Of American 2005

Drink Up

I love dirty vodka martinis and beer. There. Now you know what to buy me next time we run into each other in a bar.

The alcohol industry has to be one of the most creative when it comes to ads. I mean who doesn't look forward to the Budweiser commercials at Super Bowl? They never miss an opportunity to entice you to include their brand at your next St Patricks Day party, Christmas gathering or New Year's celebration. Halloween is also among their target holidays.

Sometimes I hate the brand but love the advertising gimic. Several years ago I conned a local liquor store into selling me their Coors Light inflatable pumpkins. (Bleech - Coors Light!) I also convinced them to part with this full size Miller Lite Halloween standee:



Our game room is decked out to the gills in advertising for this particular vice but I'm always on the lookout for more. During a recent scout about the web I stumbled into Smashing Apps and found some wonderful Heineken ads. I like Heineken beer but I really love these ads. (If you know where I can get copies of these in print let me know!)











UPDATE: Shadows sent us links to two more of the Heineken posters we hadn't seen so we're adding them here. Thank you Shadows!