Halloween? Already?

Spirit Halloween Store

While driving around Surfside Beach yesterday, I noticed that a Spirit Halloween Store has taken up residence for the 2011 Holiday season in the Deerfield Plaza. To be a little more specific...that is in the old Home Accents store back behind the Pizza Hut and in the same parking lot as Old Time Pottery.

Ever since my daughters were little fellas; I've always popped into a Spirit Halloween store each year to pick up some sort of doodad for our costumes.   Even though I've worn the same get-up for years and years it's always nice to freshen it up with some new embellishment or accessory.


I love that this company goes in and occupies an otherwise vacant retail space for a few months.  I always look around whatever town I'm living in at the time to see where the Spirit store will set up shop and I'm jazzed to find out that this year it's on my turf...in Surfside 


Last year Spirit took up residence in the strip mall where H.H. Gregg now lives and the year before they were on Seaboard St. 


Whether you're in town for a visit or a local yocal ...at the very least go in and browse the aisles.  It's sort of like a mini attraction in and of itself and you'll very likely walk out of there with some cool ideas for a costume or tote home some ghastly decoration for the front stoop.


I love Halloween because it sort of ushers in the whole Holiday season bringing with it cooler weather and a festive atmosphere!


If you have little tikes and want to know a great neighborhood for trick or treating in Pawley's...send me an email and I'll let you in on the secret!




And Speaking of Halloween...
...I dug this out of my bin of pictures recently:

{click on image to enlarge}
Circa 1971
I'm on the Left
The photo is a little worse for the wear as it is one of those
thick old Instant Polaroid stock photo paper.

My mom smoked Winston and my dad smoked Lucky Strike {for all I know; he still does.  Do they still make Lucky Strike?} Mom was a great artist and she spent a lot of time making these costumes for me and my brother.  We wore them to school for the little Elementary School parade and everything.   Man, times sure have changed. I can't imagine showing this photo within 200' of a public school nowadays.

And for all of that; my brother and I never became smokers...go figure!  We actually used to try and throw away cartons of our parents cigarettes because we hated the smoke and smell so much, but the consequences for our actions were dire and after the second attempt...we abandoned our search and destroy missions.

I remember my brother and I marched in the little Halloween parade that our town sponsored each year and we won some sort of prize.  The more I think about it; the more I have to laugh.  I can't even imagine daring to don children in cigarette boxes these days.  

I loved my costume because I remember it was cold the night we went out trick-or-treating and I duct taped a pouch inside where I kept my gloves and candy to munch on while I stumbled door-to-door in the dark.  That was also back in the day when you started knocking on doors right after school let out and kept going till what seemed like 9 or 10 o'clock.  In fact, it was tradition in our town that the younger kids were done begging for candy by 8 and then the High School kids would show up at our door between 8 and 10.  They always seemed to be dressed as witches and hobos

We all celebrated the night before Halloween as Mischief Night, but of course, my mom never let us go out and participate...we just watched the rest of the kids in the neighborhood TP the trees from the big "picture window" in our living room.  


The whole week before Halloween...We danced to the Monster Mash and bobbed for apples at parties in the finished basements of friends and neighbors.

Those were the days!!!


Am I totally dating myself or what?