It's that time of year again!
When I was a boy, some children wore homemade Halloween costumes while others wore the store-bought variety - just like kids today.
In my house, my parents believed we shouldn't pay for something that we could make ourselves. That thrifty -- and, I think, admirable attitude -- sent me into the neighborhood to collect candy wearing a hobo costume made from old clothes and a burnt-cork beard and the classic Charlie Brown-like bedsheet ghost, to name just two.
My sister was a homemade pumpkin one year; it was a gorgeous costume my mom carefully sewed. And to fill it out, she stuffed it with newspapers. Now imagine the little girl walking around with three feet of newspaper insulation on all sides. A hot time on Halloween, for sure.
Rats! I could've been Ringo Starr with rotten teeth! For other kids, the desire to dress like Batman (or Snow White, or Spiderman or Wonder Woman) was worth begging and pleading with mom to purchase a store-bought costume; a costume that featured a sweatbox of a plastic mask held in place by an ear-cutting rubber band.
Either way, kids were discharged into the neighborhoods in the hopes of filling pillowcases full of treats.
MORE: Vintage photos around New Jersey
Here's a gallery of vintage photos from New Jersey showing the variety and creativity of costume wearers and makers in the state through the years; some are celebrating Halloween while others had another occasion to don a costume. Be sure to have captions enabled to read all about these classic photos.
Can't get enough? Click here for last year's gallery.
Greg Hatala may be reached at ghatala@starledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregHatala. Find The Star-Ledger on Facebook.