Trick or treat! See some of the vintage Halloween masks & costumes you could get at the drugstore back in the ’60s & ’70s

1960s, Vintage advertisements, Vintage Halloween, Vintage store catalogs

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Costumes popular for Halloween funsters (1974)

Evening Herald (Shenandoah, Pennsylvania) October 31, 1974

Down in the spook works, Halloween costumes are made.

These store-bought costumes for the current Halloween were designed in 1973. And the ones for 1975 are being drawn up right now.

For a preview of what the little hobgoblins will be wearing Halloween, I talked with William Wimmer, an executive of one of the big two Halloween costume makers.

His firm, Collegeville, in Collegeville, Pa., and Ben Cooper Inc. in New York turn out most Halloween costumes — and that includes some for adults.

The hottest costume in the adult line is the Oil Sheik. More than a thousand dozen were sold way before Halloween. In fact, much to Wimmer’s regret, the costume was out of stock weeks before Halloween. (It moved fast, too, in the juvenile line.)

The Sheik costume for adults outpaced the Shadow, Clown, Devil, Fortune Teller, Hobo, Skeleton and Witch.

In the juvenile department, the newest thing is costumes with lights that blink. The flasher-light unit is fixed into the head part of the mask and is said to be safe. Characters in the flasher-light rig include clown, devil, princess, dragon, and spooky monster.

In the tiny tot department, Casper the Friendly Ghost is the rage. The little kiddies also like Teddy Bear, Fluffy Kitten, White Rabbit, Friendly Lion, Bugs Bunny and Clowns. These harmless disguises all pretend to be spittin’ images of characters found by children in cartoons, movies and storyland.

In the costume line for older children, there are frightening characters but also some letting the boys and girls go as contemporary Idols. Namely — Football Superstar, Blues Singer, Beauty Queen, Soul Singer.

MORE These vintage Halloween costumes based on '70s TV shows were creepy for all the wrong reasons

Halloween costumes are keeping up with the fever building toward the nation’s bicentennial. For girls, there are costumes of an Indian Princess, Miss Liberty, Betsy Ross. Boys can select from among the following costumes: Uncle Sam, George Washington, Indian and Brave.

To keep tuned to safety, many of the commercially made costumes have stripes that glow when lights hit them. Another safety twist: Costumes that are mostly all white — more easily seen at night.

At the Cooper firm, Planet of the Apes characters are new this year and the costumes include Caesar, Lisa and Warrior. Other costumes from comics, the movies and television — Star Trek, Kung Fu, Batman, Superman.

From the World of Walt Disney cartoons and creations are the all-time favorites — Donald Duck, Tinkerbell, Mickey Mouse.

Monsters are big with the kids and costumes catering to this appetite include the Creature, Wolfman, the Mummy, Vampire, Frankenstein, Spiderman.

Makeup sets offer the chance to look like almost anything or anyone. Expect a lot of Planet of the Apes trick-n-treaters. A hot item is a Planet of the Apes make-up set.