After countless years of being a hobo (I loved wearing my dad's clothes) and ghosts (sooo easy), I finally got to fulfill my fantasy by being a cowgirl for Halloween.

I got to carry the cap pistols my brother got for his birthday and wear a red cowboy hat. The key was to wearing a mask like 'Tonto' of Roy Rogers' fame!

You couldn't tell me I wasn't cute! And, my favorite candy (always) in my candy bag were miniature Sugar Daddy's! Our family (three children) had pillowcases full of candy that lasted until Easter!

Greytone: Good subject. Mom used to make our costumes out of old curtains (ala Scarlett O'Hara).

However, I recall having to come up with a last minute getup for myself. I grabbed a big Mexican sombrero from my friend's wall and put it on my head, found an Indian blanket and wrapped it around me, put a nylon stocking over my face, kicked off my high heels and crouched down making my tall self look short and, nobody could figure out who I was.

Another time a friend asked me to improvise an outfit for her boyfriend. They were going to a Halloween party and best prize would win $100 (a lot of money back in the day). I made him into a very scary Quasimoto; however, I took so long to make it into perfection that they were late. The prize money was already given out, but they were told if it wasn't too late they would have won. BTW, Quasimoto even scared me!

What is the name of the actress that played Annabelle, the horsemeat queen? She was gorgeous!

In 1967, my mom sewed a long habit with veil and my dad fashioned the "winged hat" out of cardboard so I went as the Flying Nun!

While I'm not old enough to go back to the sixties (or the seventies, for that matter) I did have a mom who could make cool costumes. I remember one year, going as Red Butler from Rainbow Bright. I wore a red jacket, pants, and mittens and Mom made the arm and leg bands, and the belt/vest with a detachable cape.

At the time, I thought it was the coolest thing ever.

For several years I was told to just wear the mask I wore last year--a wolf. After about the 3rd Halloween people would say: "you wore that last year".

Finally one year I took it upon myself to make my own costume. I got a giant cardboard box, painted it grey, cut out a door and shuttered windows and placed small figurines in the windows. One was a troll doll (remember those?) one was a Yosemite Sam. I wore the creation over my head. I won the costume contest at church that year for most original--as a haunted house.

As my own children were growing up I never forgot the humiliation of having to always wear the same costume. I always started in September, asking the kids what they wanted to be and began sewing. We ended up with such a collection of costumes that one year I outfitted our entire neighborhood and they all went Trick-or-Treating together. That year we had a clown, a pencil, a witch, batman, a street shark, Cruella Deville, Winnie-the Pooh, an angel with a halo that lit up, and Betsy Ross, complete with a 13 starred flag. I know I had as much fun making those costumes as the kids had wearing them.

My favorite costume was a princess or Cinderella or something that was sparkly and had a crown. I just can't remember exactly what it was because it was so long ago. I just remember I loved it and felt like a princess in it.

Hi Greytone, it's so nice to "see" you again.

It's too far back to remember costumes I wore as a child. But I'm sure they were all hobo/gypsy type things...couldn't afford to buy them. As an adult I put together a Bride of Frankenstein costume that I wore to a party. Made it out of a white sheet with very padded shoulders. Put enough spray in my hair so it would stay in place, then used white and silver color for the streaks. That went very well with my very pale face makeup - ghostly white. I drew little knobs on each side of my neck (for the electrodes). It was, I might say, very effective.

Loves , you a princess ? I think you mean a witch,that suites you better, don't you think?

If I could remember correctly I think I was a pirate. My mom and I went to Walgreens in Hyde Park and bought one of those plastic costumes. I was a tub of lard when I was little and as soon as the costume was on, it ripped.

I'm gettinig jealous, Chris! I think that someone likes u more than me, and is lashing out quite hard to get your attention. I'm telling your wife now!!! lol

I'm Sally's age (born in 1954). My favorite costume was to dress as my TV hero at the time: Zorro! The fox so cunning and free...who makes the sign of the Z!

My cape and mask were from an old sheet we cut up and died black. Mustache courtesy of my mom's eyebrow pencil. Sword, from the toy store.

BoyToy, no need to worry. I bet you were a princess for Halloween.

Loves ok,now thats funny. Seriously. You made my day... Love the avatar.

I,too, am fortunate to have a mom that is very talented and can sew like you wouldn't believe. She made all four of our costumes every year. Just like Sally, I was a gypsy one year and I remember mom letting me wear a pair of her green pumps. You know the one's with the spike heel and very pointy toes. I felt so grown up, although I could barely walk in them! We were clowns, hobo's, dracula (Using my mom's black velvet cape), hula girl, ballerina, etc. My favorite I guess was the gypsy and those green high heels!!

To this day, I try to make my children's costumes just like my mom did for us. To me it makes it more creative and original if you come up with it yourself. My husband and I go to a Halloween party every year. This year (I did make our costumes) I am going as the St. Pauli Girl (beer wench) and my husband is going as Jose Cuervo!!! (sombrero, poncho, etc.) For the past three years one of us has come home with first place.

My dad really got into making costumes for my brother and I.. we were always some kind of pair and he was really creative... This was 1970-75 one year we were Burt and Ernie.. another the Tin Man and Scarecrow..another year a happy clown and a sad clown. I was miserable in that one. I was the happy clown but I was miserable and uncomfortable crying the whole time painted up as a happy clown.. all our family and friends roared with laughter. Can't blame them now it must have been a funny sight.

@jefflynch2-- you reminded me of the year I was a gypsy and wore this canvas made in Japan mask that covered my entire face, with holes for eyes, nostrils and a small slit where the mouth was. I was only four, and so candy crazy, that I was trying to eat stuff through the little hole and got candy all over my mask about three houses into the trip. The paint on the mask was all running down, and I was crying, and my sister took me home where my dad cut the bottom off the mask so I could go back out.

@Auburn Annie-- I had to wear this green rubber witch mask so many times, the rubber band had been re-stapled over and over until the rubber was torn away. And it stank! We were gypsies and hobos most of the time, but one year Mom made me a Peter Pan costume on a borrowed sewing machine. Green tunic, tights and a felt hat with a dime store feather. Good times!

@Bipolarbear-- I love how you shared out all your hand made costumes. What a great neighborhood mom you were!

@Greytone-- I too was a cowgirl with an eyes-only mask back in the fifties. All the little girls in my school wanted cowboy boots, and I finally got some for Christmas one year. Girls' cowboy hats were always red, for some reason. Was that what Dale Evans wore? Can't recall.

The best year we did for our two sons was when they went as Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. We already had the Vader plastic head in two pieces, so we fashioned the rest out of an inverted Dracula cape, old black turtleneck, black jeans and my husband's old black riding boots. Their dad made all the chest gizmos and buttons out of cardboard and painted them with shiny paint. "Luke" wore his tae kwon do white jacket with old sheets wrapped around his legs. And they carried dime-store light sabers, of course. Darth couldn't see very well, but my husband went along as a guide. They were thrilled.

My big sister used to ditch me on Halloween, and never let me hang around her friends. One year, when we lived in Alabama, my little sister and I ate all our treats pretty quickly, but Big Sis hoarded all of hers for weeks in a box under her bed, counting the pieces to make sure we hadn't filched any. Until the day she finally decided to eat some, and found the box crawling with ants! Somehow, I always believed in poetic justice after that.

OK, time for confession - once I was a hobo for Halloween, but the completely embarrassing thing is that I also applied blackface. (Also shown this season in MM!) I can't believe that I did that, and I am sorry. It really did nothing to improve the home-made costume.

Loves , and now your a beautiful WITCH !!

Thank you Greytone for a trip down memory lane. Everyone has memories of trick or treating and what their favorite costume was at that time. I know I definitely enjoyed it and love remembering my childhood and how exciting it was to do that! I can remember being just like little Bobby and jumping up and down and couldn't understand why it took my parents so long to get ready to take us ToTing. "What is taking so long...let's gooooo!!!"

My mom had this silky, Japanese two-piece lounging pajama set that was dark blue with dragons on it. I wore that and she would put my "Asian" make-up on. I do remember the hair looking more like Princess Leya from Star Wars! She wrapped it up in what looked like two ear muffs over my ears. Other than that, hobo, witch, ghost, bride.

I saw a picture of me in 1969 when I was four during Halloween. My Mom made me a cowboy outfit and I was packing a plastic Thompson submachine gun :) Its funny that tody I don't care too much for guns.

Greytone, nice to hear from you. I remember the delight some neighbors would take in inviting each little group of Halloween'ers into their livingroom -- lavishing great attention on each one of us individually, remarking on our character/costumes, etc. It was such a warm out-pouring of love/friendliness to us kids --and up top of that, they gave us candy!! Wow, like Roger, I would love to have back the "care-free and not-thinking- about- the -future" life that those childhood Halloween nights represented. It was not only a night on which to get a "treat" back then, it was also a night in which to get special attention, love and friendliness from adults. Very special indeed.

Oh, you are all bringing back wonderful Halloween childhood memories! I grew up in a neighborhood filled with kids, and H'ween was quite a big deal.

I was a princess, Spider Man, Batman, a witch, and a die - big cardboard box covered w/white Contac paper, then cut out round black Contac pieces to stick on the sides for the dots, and painted black dots on my face, poked my head out the top, and put on black leotards - so cool! One year, I was a pumpkin ghost, complete with a real giant carved pumpkin to go over my head - it was so heavy, it killed my shoulders - but it was the bomb! I can still smell the inside of it.

When we ran out of candy, I would quickly sort through my bag and give my mom the stuff I didn't want to recycle for the remaining trick-or-treaters - good times!