See how a teen Halloween party was imagined in 1963
One party guide from that year — featured in a fall issue of Ladies Home Journal — covered it all, starting with a suggested menu that leaned into playful names and seasonal flavors. Dishes like maple-glazed ham, red devil candied apples, and “midnight scramble nibbles” gave the table a little flair without being too complicated. Decorations were built from crepe paper, cardboard and raffia, and the games had a do-it-yourself twist.
A spiderweb maze made from yarn, a glowing skeleton dance-off, and a dice-based gift exchange all added structure to the night without taking things too seriously. It was the kind of party plan designed for teens to manage on their own, with a little help from the grown-ups.
This particular article reflects one vision of what a teen Halloween party could look like in the early ’60s. We’ve collected the full feature, including photos, food ideas, decorating tips and game instructions — all straight from its original vintage source.
Teen-age guests will swing at a party of food, fun and favors that a young hostess can make herself. Greet your invited ghosts and goblins with a party that says HELLO HALLOWEEN!
This All Hallows’ Eve — big night for fat black cats and broomstick-powered witches — you should welcome your ghost guests on their own terms.
They’ll arrive for the Halloween party amidst spooky decorations, perhaps behind eerie masks.
Meet them with a sprinkling of party witchcraft; entice them with unusual fun and favors; bewitch them with food that is not merely delicious, but to which you’ve added a dash of pure black magic.
Halloween party menu & recipes
Midnight scramble nibbles
Maple-glazed baked ham
Spook’s pickle-potato salad
Demon’s hot gingered fruit
Hades-hot buttered rolls
Red devil candied apples
Savory sugared doughnuts
Harvest-moon sippin’ cider
Midnight scramble nibbles recipe for your Halloween party
1 cup butter or margarine
1/2 teaspoon dry powdered garlic
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 tablespoon Worchester sauce
1 box (6-1/4 ounces) small cheese crackers
1 package (6-1/4 ounces) corn chips
1 can (8 ounces) walnuts
1 can (6 ounces) pecans
1 package (7-1/4 ounces) pretzel sticks
1 package (3-1/2 ounces) popcorn
Directions
Melt butter or margarine. Stir in garlic, salt, curry powder and Worcestershire sauce. (2) Combine remaining ingredients and toss with the butter mixture. (3) Place in two large baking pans in a warm oven. 250 F for about an hour. Stir frequently. Makes enough to serve 12 hungry goblins.
Maple-glazed baked ham recipe
1 canned or boneless precooked buffet ham (8 to 10 pounds)
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup orange juice
Carrot curls, celery curls, ripe and pimento-stuffed olives, parsley sprigs (garnish)
Directions
Have your butcher cut the ham into 1/4-inch slices. Tie the sliced ham together with heavy string to form its original shape and place in baking pan. Bake in a slow oven. 325° F, allowing 15 minutes to the pound, about 2 to 2-1/2 hours total time.
(2) In a saucepan, heat together butter or margarine, syrup and juice. Bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
(3) During last half hour of baking, spoon half of sauce over ham; bake 15 minutes more. Spoon remaining glaze over ham and bake another 15 minutes.(4) Remove ham from oven. Place on
(4) Remove ham from oven. Place on platter and cut string. Garnish platter with olives, parsley sprigs, celery and carrot curls. Makes 12-14 servings.
Garnish: To make carrot curls. wash and scrape carrots. Slice lengthwise paper-thin with a vegetable peeler. Roll up and fasten with toothpicks. Crisp in ice water. For the celery curls. cut celery stalks in 2-inch lengths. Slit both ends in narrow strips almost to the center. Place in ice water to curl ends. Arrange garnishes attractively around ham.
Make a delicious, chocolate Ghosts in the Graveyard Halloween dessert with pudding & cookies (1997)
Halloween party fun & games
Let the spook party begin right at the front door. Cover the door with white butcher’s paper, oilcloth or plastic.
With a black indelible thick marker, write the words “TOMB ALL WHO ENTER ABANDON HOPE.” Tack dead branches on each side of the door to form an arch. Cut a black paper circle and attach to the wall.
Spiderweb Maze will confuse and delight your Halloween party guests as they enter. Make a maze (tangle) of yarn using as many different colors as there are guests.
Tie one end of each color to a stationary piece of furniture in the party room. Then wind around chairs, table legs, under rugs. Attach a clothespin to the end of each piece and hand one to each guest as he arrives. The aim is for him to untangle his color as fast as possible in order to get to the party room.
Jack-o’-Lantern contest — where would Halloween be without it? Have each guest A bring a hollowed-out pumpkin with him. but no faces. please. Supply knives, colored feathers, small vegetables, colored paper, and scissors. (Be sure to put down newspapers to protect the floor.)
Let each artist go to work and may the best jack-o’-lantern win! After the game, place candles in them and arrange around the room.
Everyone loves a dance — especially the Skeleton Sock Hop! Buy a life-size cardboard skeleton and paint it with luminous paint. (Or make one yourself, attaching the arms and legs separately so they “move.”)
One guest dances with a skeleton until the lights go off. If the skeleton taps you, you are now his partner. The idea is to avoid the skeleton that glows eerily in the darkened room.
Careless Casino. Have a mound of wrapped gifts in the center of the floor. and A have the guests sit around them in a circle (the gifts should be small and funny from the 5-and-10-cent store).
Each guest, in turn. throws dice. Any combination of seven or eleven takes a prize. If a player throws “two ones,” he gets to take any gift from anyone else in the game. Open when all gifts are gone from the center.
Halloween party favors & decorations
Festive table settings and decorations accent the magic of your meal and add atmosphere to your Halloween party.
A centerpiece of a spook, witch and scarecrow in a moonlit cornfield can be made by you. For the base, buy a 1-foot long, 4″-wide piece of Styrofoam from a florist or variety store. Cover it with crepe paper or straw. Our figures are made of raffia tied to sticks and clothed and decorated with tissue paper. Insert figures into Styrofoam base and decorate with leaves.
Halloween Voodoo Sticks: Buy three-foot lengths of wooden dowels from the lumberyard and paint black.
Make the heads from Styrofoam balls (6-8″ diameter) and wrap around with raffia in the color of your choice. Secure raffia with construction pins. Make the faces with raffia and pins or glue on pieces of felt. Fashion hats with colored tissue paper.
Bewitched Black Cat Lanterns: Cut off the tops of quart milk cartons and wrap with black paper. Draw on faces and cut out eyes. Paste on whiskers. Insert a candle in each one. Make half-pint containers for candies.
Pumpkin Pyramid Lanterns: For another centerpiece idea.hollow out small pumpkins. and cut out faces. insert a candle in each one.
On table or buffet table, place five or six pumpkins joined together at the sides with small dowels which you have painted bright colors. Stack about four more pumpkins on top of this. joined together in the same way. Top with one pumpkin for a pyramid. Place leaves around base.
Hocus-Pocus Owl Baskets: Use round cereal boxes as the containers. Draw black ovals in the center of small white paper plates for “owl” eyes and glue onto box near top.
Cut strips of black crepe paper. Cut jagged edges along the strips of black crepe paper and glue on box in layers.
By Mary Jane Engel – Photograph by Mark Kauffman
Halloween party favors you can buy today
- HALLOWEEN CANDY: Unwrap the fun with our iconic wearable hard candy lollipop ring with an eye-catching candy gem. Perfect for Halloween parties, candy bowls, and trick or treating!
- TRICK OR TREAT CANDY GEM: Ring Pop lollipops make delicious gifts for kids -- add to birthday party favors, wear to celebrate your Bachelorette party, or give them to your kids so they can enjoy a...
- BULK LOLLIPOP BAG: 50 individually-wrapped shelf-stable Ring Pop lollipops per bag. The variety pack means there are different tasty flavors for everyone to enjoy, but enough to go around and share...
- As Bright As It Gets – These glow sticks are ultra-bright and will light up your event like no other. Whether you’re celebrating a public holiday such as Halloween, New Year, Easter or 4th of...
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- Endless Glow Accessories Options - This pack was thoughtfully designed to provide the ultimate glow party experience. Use one connector to create a bracelet or three to create a necklaces. You can...
- TREAT WITHOUT THE SWEET: Be everyone’s favorite Halloween hero with this bulk Play-Doh bag of non candy Halloween treats
- FUN SIZE 1 OUNCE STICKS: Each individually wrapped stick contains 1 ounce (28 grams) of Play-Doh modeling compound (contains wheat)
- 5 DIFFERENT COLORS: The frightfully fun colors include 6 sticks each of black, green, orange, purple, and white to help every little ghoul and goblin find a color they like
- HALLOWEEN ASSORTED CANDY: Uncap the fun with our variety of delicious Push Pop lollipop flavors that come in a portable, easy-to-carry case and cap. Perfect for Halloween parties, candy bowls, and...
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- BULK LOLLIPOPS: 24 individually-wrapped shelf-stable Push Pop lollipops per tray, making it the perfect candy for goodie bags, trick or treating, and party favors.
- 42 DIY HALLOWEEN STICKERS: 42 sheets Halloween theme stickers includes pumpkins, vampires, zombies, witches,mummies, monsters, total to 6 different styles, and each style has 7 sheets to fulfill your...
- PREMIUM QUALITY: All these Halloween crafts are made of high quality vinyl material, which is safe and non-toxic, waterproof. 100% brand new high-definition printing, the patterns are more precise and...
- FUN HALLOWEEN ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS: Great activity for busy little hands! It feeds the developing minds of young kids, helping them practice fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and...
- HALLOWEEN PARTY FAVORS FOR KIDS：A non-candy Halloween treat toy pack specially prepared for children. Halloween party set - This is the big hit of this year's Halloween! It contains over 40 kinds of...
- HALLOWEEN BULK FIDGET TOYS：Halloween fidget toys have a good educational meaning for children. They can not only cultivate children's concentration and creativity, but also make children feel happy...
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- GLOW IN THE DARK FAKE BUG TOYS: This 30-pack of light up plastic bugs and insects for kids includes (10) fake critters ranging from fake lizards, fake spiders, fake beetles, fake flies, to fake rats...
- 20 MINI GLOW STICKS: These bug toys for kids and adults are powered by glow light sticks in blue, red, green, yellow and purple; snap to activate the mini glow sticks and install into each critter to...
- NONTOXIC LIGHT UP TOYS: These kid-safe glow in the dark toys for kids can be used as party favors, goodie bag fillers, neon party decorations, wearable glow jewelry, and glow in the dark party...
- 【What You Get】 Your order includes a complete Halloween party kit, 40pcs LED Finger Lights (10 colors, each with a different Halloween projection) and 10 Glow-in-the-Dark Tattoo Sheets (with over...
- 【Spooky Halloween Themed Designs】 Light up the night with 10 unique Halloween projections including a pumpkin, bat, ghost, skeleton, cat, owl, spider, castle, and a witch on a broom. The tattoo...
- 【Child-Safe & Premium Quality】 These Halloween LED finger lights toys are crafted from non-toxic, high-grade plastic for safety and durability. Each finger light features an adjustable rubber...
- VARIETY PACK:Package contains 24pcs 9-color skeleton stretch toys,allowing you to choose your favourite colors freely
- FLEXIBLE STRETCH:Halloween stretchy skeletons are approximately 3.6 inches and can be flexibly stretched up to 21 inches.Watching the skeleton being stretched will bring you even more fun.Each...
- SAFE MATERIAL:Squishy stretchy skull toys are made from safe TPR material(similar to rubber),with a shiny finish. They are non-toxic,odourless,highly elastic,and durable,offering an excellent tactile...
