Halloween in the 1960s - Life in America 

It was heaven back in the day as a kid, was the best time to grow up.

I have to many great memories on Halloween 🎃 trick or treating, I'm sure glad I grew up in the 60's!!!

I remember going out with friends and not getting home until well after 9. No parental supervision necessary. The last time I lived in a neighborhood where trick or treating was still a thing, most kids were accompanied by adults and the trick or treating was pretty much over by 8 o'clock. I also remember wax-based candies, not so much whistles but the little soda bottles that had Kool-Aid like liquid in them. And of course candy cigarettes. We didn't have much money, especially at that time of year with back to school and birthday expenses happening, so our costumes were always homemade. I also liked gutting and carving up the pumpkin. Good old days indeed.

The best Halloween I ever experienced was in 1968, I was 7 years old living in Harvard, Illinois. I think of " it's the great pumpkin Charlie brown " when reminiscing of that time of my life

Growing up in the 1960s, my father said hundreds of trick or treaters would come to his house. When I started trick or treating in the late 90s, around twenty to thirty trick or treaters would come to my house, but by the time I stopped trick or treating in 2008, my house only received three or four visitors. For the last four or five years, my house hasn’t received even one tricker or treater. That’s how much Halloween has changed.

We went trick-or-treating without adult supervision with no problem. Lots of Sweetarts, Abba Zabbas, Pixie Stix and Milk Duds!

So much fun and so safe back then!

As a kid of the 60's, I remember never buying a costume...we made our own. We went trick or treating on our own (no parents) and filled a pillow case in about 2 hours. Sometimes, it got so heavy, we had to head home and dump it and go back out again. No one went out until it was dark. For whatever reason, trick or treating didn't start until around 6. I remember the wax lips, harmonica, and a black mustache. Candy bars were mostly full size, and bubble gum was a favorite. Houses were not all decorated to be ghoulish and haunted. Streets were packed full and everyone gave out tons of candy. My mom even use to make bags of popcorn to give out. Man....those were the days:)

As soon as you put on the thin elastic mask you'd begin to sweat. I remember having the Casper mask that was bought at Woolworth's.

I remember one Halloween I tried to get home in time (around 8 pm) in order to catch Its The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown on tv. Of course this was years before the invention of the VCR. It was a tough decision, go out and hit more house for more candy or to watch my favorite Halloween special because if you missed it you couldn’t watch it for a whole year.

This is an incidental memory, but my neighborhood elementary school would also have a fall carnival that was absolutely magical. The school would rent a few small carnival rides and a moonwalk. There were booths of games with cheap but very interesting prizes like the woven ‘Chinese handcuffs’ that you couldn’t pull your fingers out of. A hayride, A cakewalk and a makeshift theater showing scary films were always a special treat.

I was Casper the friendly Ghost most of the time, or a hobo.....pillow case in hand going off in the early evening with my 3 brothers and sister and 8000 other kids without care in the world......parents didn't worry there were kids and parents everywhere before all the craziness we have now ......... sigh

I haven't seen one of those Halloween 🎃 whistles in years.

When you mentioned the smell of the plastic mask you hig it spot on that is one thing that sticks in my mind. And your hair getting tangled on the rubber band stapled to the mask

The late-50s/early-60s was my Halloween golden age. It was amazing. Dad used to bring home these floppy rubber masks that fit all the way over your head. They were super grotesque. We would make our costumes around those. It was so magical when doors would open and nice ladies would give you stuff. Sometimes the ladies would be dressed as witches. Loved that. We used department store shopping bags that had been painted with cheap elementary-school-type watercolors. It was really spooky to go wandering around by ourselves and seeing other little monsters doing the same. It was so amazing to get home finally and see what you had. I remember getting a Pez dispenser one year. I still love that candy. It's funny how vivid all the memories of smells still are; of the rubbery mask etc.

I swear I can taste Smarties candies watching this. The photos triggered some kind of olfactory reaction along with the taste buds. That specific Sweet Tart Chalkie Smartie taste. Great Memories.

I'm a child of the sixties and my Mom always made my costumes. They were so unique. Dad got first crack at the loot when we returned home. I kept the bag of candy under my bed and ate in the night sometimes. I have the silver fillings in my mouth to prove I didn't brush after. lol. We would dress up in the afternoon in elementary school and have a little parade around the school dressed in our outfits. We would stencil Halloween figures on our picture window in our house. And made the other decorations by hand. I'm glad I grew up in the 60's. Thanks for this video. Brings back memories.

I remember going out on Halloween in the 70's, it was wonderful. We would take a pillow case and dump it out at home mid evening and then go out for more. Great time to grow up.

I was born in 1961, watching this video brings back a lot of memories! I remember as a young boy going out trick or treating in my costume and wearing the plastic mask carrying either a big plastic trick or treat bag or pail, those were the best times! I remember the candy cigarettes, wax bottles, root beer barrels, atomic fireballs, candy necklaces, candy dots, salt water taffy! Also, the 60's music was the best music!

My first trick or treating memory, guessing I was 5 in 1967, it was rainy, my mom gave me a paper bag, when I got home my mom said "let's see what you have David" the bottom of the bag was gone and I had nothing. I began to cry, my sister's were so nice, the all gave me some of their candy and everything was fine.

Such adorable pictures! Innocent times.

3:20 The paper articulated skeleton on the wall. I still have mine.

Your video brings back some great memories of the 60's and Halloween. Being a Roman Catholic the next day we had to go to Mass for all Souls Day.

The oldest kids walked with the youngest with few parents around. I remember droves of kids and decorated houses and lots of candy of all sorts, or popcorn balls or fudge. It was scary and fun as a kid. Now no kids come to my neighborhood so I eat candy and watch scary movies.

Mrs. Kitchen was always the last stop in the neighborhood for getting a treat. After a long night's walk, her hot dogs really hit the spot.

My brother Jeff and I hit up our own home, Mom caught it and asked us why, It's because we both loved our Mom's cooking and cookies. My family are long gone and I miss them, thank you for the memories we had parties and made a party decorating.😪 I miss them and those days.

In the NYC area Halloween in the 60s also meant collecting for Unicef, the newly formed UN children's fund. We had our bag of candy and also our collection cup that we would then turn over in school the next day. God only knows where that money eventually wound up but at the time we kids really thought we were doing something great. Also....the wax harmonicas!!! Thanks for that memory!!! A great fear-free time to grow up!

Those plastic masks would crack just by looking a them, One of the holes where the elastic went through with the little metal ends would almost always break. And he's right, I do remember the smell. We thought it was hilarious when dad would exhale his cigarette smoke while wearing a mask and the smoke would come out the nose holes like a dragon, he'd have us laughing til we couldn't breathe.

What about rubber band that was used for the mask?(it broke Everytime), nothing like all the broken pixie sticks, pillow case for candy.

Before the adults took Halloween away from the kids!

Wow, I had forgotten about those wax whistles☺️ always made my own costume🎃

I love this. Took me back in time. I was born in 62 and I remember all of it. I had one of those plastic costumes with the face mask that you could not see out of. Love the orange harmonica, we would eat that and it did not taste very good. I remember the red lips too. We would make piles and seperate the candy and even trade. Thank you for making this!

My mom would bundle me with so many coats, I always looked like a round pumpkin regardless of the mask/costume.🤷🏻‍♀️

was born in 1960 .. first went in 1965 .. great time with family and friends . miss those days more than ever now

I was a kid in the 60s . All my friends had home made costumes . My mother worked and brought me and my brother and i had store bought one it was such a hit. But in reality the stay at home moms costumes were really better. We had those two. And most of the time we got home made goodies. My mom bought big candy bars too hand out. Also some of the old ladies would give us penny's or sometimes nickles.

I remember I had Nightmare the horse from the Casper cartoon in 1964 . My brother and I would try fill as much as the bag as we could . We were living in Riverdale Maryland at the time. Man it just seems like forever ago . This was a really good episode.

I remember *all* of this! ❤ As soon as you said Woolworth's and Ben Cooper I had to literally LOL. Thanks for another cool flashback!

So many memories back then!! My mother sewed our costumes back then in the 1960’s and 1970’s! 🙋🏻‍♀️💕

I got a Casper costume like one of the ones described for kindergarten in 1969!

I was born in mid 70's. So I guess my memories of Halloween started in 1980ish. I remember the sidewalks being jammed packed full of kids. We went out without parent supervision. We had the vinyl suit and plastic masks...I had Holly Hobby and Raggedy Anne, of course our mom saved every decoration from past holidays, so my costumes were used but I didn't care. It was a great memory having options to choose from, or use pieces of things to come up with our own. We had pillowcase bags and candy cigarettes and waxed lips too. Our Halloween always started at 7 and I remember staring out the window in hopes to find the first person out so we could rush at mom to let us start then too. I remember hearing stories about poison and razor blades, so mom and dad told us to not eat anything until they inspected it. Nobody was bloody or gory or tried to jump out in front of cars...I think that added to the degradation of Halloween as well. I remember mom would throw a Halloween party in our basement. She had those paper mache orange and black streamers everywhere and fold out pumpkin decorations. Since I have been a parent, my kids enjoy our small towns' street booth trick or treat experience. We live near 2 small towns that both do downtown street trick or treating and they stagger it an hour apart from each other so us farmers can hit both towns. It is so much fun! My favorite part is going into the older businesses like the book store to get a treat (usually a book and some candy) or another store may have cider or cocoa. The fire department always opens it's doors for hotdogs, sodas and chips in one town and a big church does the same for the other town. There are games, costume contests, and another church puts on a movie, like the Lorax or something. Then after street treating, we hit area homes because they are expecting kids. We know this by the porch light being on. My kids come home with huge bags of stuff! I enjoy watching them get excited!

I remember a house that invited you in for warm homemade donuts a hot chocolate

I remember the Casper and Donald Duck costumes really well from back then.

I enjoyed Halloween in the 1960's! My two favourite costumes were Spot The Fire Dog, that had a pajama costume, in which I slept in way past Halloween; and Casper The Friendly Ghost. I'd go trick-or-treating with my two older brothers, sometimes catching up with friends from school. Once home for the night, the three of us would eat and trade our candy haul. Then, if November 1 fell on a school day, it was Halloween candy for dessert in lunch bags and lunch boxes, and more candy trading. Before Halloween, the elementary schools I went to had Halloween carnivals and classroom Halloween parties. Each kid would get a mini-bag filled with candy. My personal favorite were the Dum Dum Suckers. I'd hear stories about some more affluent neighborhoods that gave out better candy. I also heard stories about "Mexican Halloween" in Tijuana, Mexico ( I grew up in San Diego, CA), which, of course, was actually Dia de los Muertos. I loved being a young kid in the 1960's!😉🎃👻👽

What a great time to be a kid! I lived in New Orleans and we had a local Horror show hosted by a guy named Morgus the Magnificent. He was supposed to be a mad scientist. They would always put on a special program for Halloween. Some fond trick or treat memories. Thanks again for all you do! 😊

Popcorn Balls...Mmmm miss those...

Don’t forget the timeless “It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” premiered in 1966! I watched it in the 1960s as a kid and still watch it today. Much love to Charles Schultz (may you rest in eternal peace!) and his wife Jeanie who keeps the memory alive for future generations!🎃🎃🎃❤️❤️❤️

I love the music. remember buying my costume at the drugstore or dimestore and it ws so easy to pick out what box you wanted. Not to many people made their costumes where i was. some people went to the magic store to buy a mask. My oldest brother made a computer out of a giant washing machine box and it had lights on it that you can make blink from the inside, it ws really quite nice. They came out with that movie, "the computer who wore tennis shoes" that year. It was such a fun safe time and the culture just did not promote anything evil, so it was not scary. After 10pm we would get our windows egged by the crazies or out trees covered in toilet paper and that was kind of wild, but we enjoyed the vandalism of our homes. Nobody called the cops. How do we get back to a time when things weree innocent when there is so much garbage on the internet that decays so many minds? Just dont know. We were all on the same page back then, and that really helped keep us away from brainwashing, at least during the 60's.

What I remember besides the distinct smell of the masks was you took them off quickly because they were hot and you couldn't breath.

I STILL have a Halloween treat that I got while trick or treating in the seventies. My friends and I knocked on a door while trick or treating, and a man came out with a Polaroid camera. He had our group huddle together so we could fit in the photo. After he took the photo, he gave me the Polaroid. I've had it ever since!

I remember that my mother and the mothers of the children who lived next door accompanied us when we did trick or treating.

I remember Halloween in the 1960's. I was a kid who went out trick or treating back then. Even then, your parents had to go through your candy.

My earliest memory of my first trick-or-treating outing was with the teenage neighbor girls who sometimes babysat me and my two siblings. We went with a group of young people and had a magical blast.

This was my decade. Towards the end of the decade, you began to hear about razor blades. I got sick one year from eating too much

My favorite costume was when I was seven was Lucille Ball.

Still enjoy 'The Monster Mash'!!! And no matter that I'm well over the hill, I still enjoy 'The Great Pumpkin'.

Growing up in the West Side of Manhattan, NYC we would trick or treat in friends apartment building and on the Street corner. A party would be held at school . What memories.

Halloween in the 60s was the best memory of my childhood, I remember shoppers world, store bought costumes, yes the smell, t or t until 10pm, multiple brown grocery bags of candy, still my fav holiday but glad I was a kid in the 60s, not the same for kids today.

I have a 1964 Disney album, "Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of The Haunted House". Sounds date back to 1927. It's a very good, scarey sounds, album. My favorite parts are Screams & Groans, and Fuses & Explosions

I was a child in the 60's loved Halloween and wore those kinda costumes this video brought back memories thanks! 🎃

Loved Halloween in the 60's and 70's. We went trick'r treating in our hometown then went to the town my dad was from so we loaded up. It was the best night of the year

I can remember being Casper the Friendly Ghost and Felix the Cat!

Quite a surprise that Halloween in the 1960s is now up. I wonder if you read my comment in the 1950s halloween video on halloween in the (decade). By the way here is one important tradition of halloween that originated in the 1960's. "Its The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" made its tv release in 1966. Tv adaptation of Charles Schultz's Peanuts comic strip. 7 years after the "Great Pumpkin" element of the Peanuts franchise was introduced, it became an expectation to see Linus waiting for this mysterious Great Pumpkin every year since 1959. The 1966 special was the first time the gag was introduced on tv. Keep up the Halloween in the decades Recollection Road. I want to keep seeing more of the changes of Halloween over the years.

These pics are really great; I was born Halloween night 1961, so before going out trick or treating every Halloween, we had cake and ice cream. I never dived into the candy until the next day! My first couple years I wore long red underwear with a bouncy tail sewn on my bottom by my grandma and a red devil mask. But once I got into second grade, I wore a very cool Batman costume and my older brother wore a Land of the Giants costume, with a giant head where the eye holes were in the mouth. And yes we always used pillow cases!🎃💀👍🙂

Remember Halloween well, back in the 60’s. Also, remember the Halloween carnivals at our elementary school ! The treasure chest, bobbing for apples, and MUCH more !! Memories I treasure ❣️ Enjoy your videos, you do an outstanding job.

I recall having one of those skeleton costumes @ 2:42 in the mid 60s. Ah, I can almost smell the wonderful odor of a candle charring the inside lid of the Jack-o-lantern. And be sure to roast those pumkin seeds!🎃

I love these Halloween videos and the memories they conjure up. I hope "Halloween in the 1970s" is on the way.👻

I remember sweating profusely in those masks lol. Then end up getting injured when the elastic broke lol.

The whole thing was less sinister - I don’t recall, for example, the synthetic blood, skeletons, and macabre body parts decorations you see today.

OH! The joy of Halloween back then! All the excitement of that day as a kid came back just watching this. The freedom of being out at night with friends. The friendliness of the neighbors. And of course the tales of who lived in the homes that kept their lights off to make us think no one was home! Pure sweet fun. Thanks for this vid.

Candy corn was very popular at Halloween. I never ate the CC whole. I would always bite off the tip which was white, then the middle which was orange, then finally the last section which was yellow. Not sure why I did it just a habit.

The 60s were my pre-teen and teen years - best time ever! We lived in a VA Hospital a couple miles from town, so it was like a gated community but with about 40 school-age kids. Everyone knew every body’s kid so we were free-range Trick or Treaters. It all started when the street lights came on. We always made our own costumes-the plastic costumes were for the “little kids”. There were 6 kids in our family so mom had little time for making costumes, she helped us, but by and large it was our own project. My sister was the best at it. Her Cousin It costume from the Adams Family TV show was the best. She spent hours unraveling ropes to use as “hair” that reached from her head to the ground. We had no masks, just face paint and other special effects. Since it was northern Wyoming, we often trudged through snow or blizzards and our costumes were covered up by coats, boots, scarves and often falling apart from being wet. No problem though because at 8pm the Director of the Hospital would host a wonderful party and we would watch Charlie Brown while getting warm with hot cocoa and eating home-made treats. Wonderful memories of a very special time!

Initially, I didn't recall Beatles costumes...Upon looking them up, realized I had seen a Paul or two, just did not know who the mask was supposed to depict. These costumes presently are steeply priced. Great photos, as usual... Bobby and Ethyl, Sandra Dee, etc.

50s,60s and 70s,Halloween was awesome

Thanks for sharing 🎃👻🍂

I was born mid 60s. Was a wonderful time to be a kid. Feel so bad for children today.

America used to be so different. In the 60's my 3 younger sisters were safe going trick and treating with their friends. No adult supervision required. Now kids can't even go door to door. Sad. Darkness has fallen on us...by design.

Hope you have a video for Halloween in the 1970's because, I was born in 1965.

Those were the best times ever

Oh what fun it was, so exciting to be out and about. Our hearts pounding, the thrill of running from house to house and yelling "trick or treat!" Wax lips, caramel apples, candied popcorn balls, candied corn, hot balls, Good & Plenty!

I remember it all haven’t thought about my childhood Halloween’s in years Thank you

I was born in 57 in Ontario so yes the 60's were good..when we found out who was handing out candy apples the rush was on!!!! and we used pillow cases to collect candy

Ah, the wonderful and fun Halloweens as I remember them in the 1960s! The long and mysterious arms and hands of Recollection Road went inside my brain and read my memories, which explains the headaches I had not too long ago. P.S. Note at 0:20 thru 0:33 the photo of young children are making homemade Halloween costumes, there is a pack of Winston cigarettes on the table.

My first Halloween trick or treat was in 1969. I was one day shy of my 6th birthday. I dressed up as a witch. Trick or treating was fun. I went with my sister.

I was born in 1962.... As a kid growing up in the mid-west in the 60s our Halloweens weren't near as elaborate as shown in this video. But we did run for miles non-stop from door to door throughout the extended neighborhoods for candy....usually two grocery bags full. 😆 👻 🕷 🍬 LOL

By the mid 60's, some of the 5 and 10 stores began to sell "make up" kits. It was basically a kit that had some pastel crayons for scars and blood dripping, a mustache or beard, maybe an eye patch and even some glue that was similar to super glue for "scars". The creativity of people began and by the mid 70's the costumes were still available, but the "accessories" were growing quite a bit.

Ahh the 60’s . . . If only I could go back for a short visit. I know where I would go, first to my parents house then run over to my best friend Kathy Marston’s house. I had a pretty good childhood. Lots of fun memories with Kathy.❤️🙏🏼❤️

Holloween for me in the mid to late 60s as a little kid was indeed a blast. I couldn't wait til I got into my costume with my Holloween plastic pumpkin with the handle being full of different candies which includes smarties, mini jolly rauncher and more. Watching Charlie Brown Holloween cartoon and others. Of course there was the warning about razor in the fruit which I had. Even though with the continued changes regarding Vietnam War, Civil and women's rights, the loss of MLK, Kennedy, race to the moon etc, it was still something even just for a moment not to worry and stress what's happening in and around the world

Batman and Robin were popular costumes, especially for the couple of years that the Batman series was on TV. I remember being Peter Pan one year, a hand me down costume from an older brother. Another year I was Fred Flintstone, another hand me down... LOL. One year my parents got me an "ESSO tiger costume, it was a promo from a gas station. I loved it because it was NEW, and I didn't see anyone else with it. Most people in our neighborhood gave out full size candy bars. I can't imagine the amount of sugar we ate that night. Those Halloweens are some of my favorite memories. Thank you so much for posting this!

Every year, we made our own crazy costumes and had fun making them . Have pizza, then off trick or treat till 9, pillow case full of candy, even on those cold rainy nights my brother, sister and I would go.At Christmas we would still have some candy left. Amazing how Santa Claus filled our stockings with Halloween candy!

It was 67 or 68, but we took our Halloween stash to the hospital, where they ran it through the X-ray for free. Mom made my costumes. I won first prize in 1971 in the Sammy Terry costume contest.

ha ha I remember these VERY well!!!!! :)

My greatest memories come from the 50's. I entered high school in 59, then of the trick or treat era for me. Good times though.

My brother and I had so much fun drawing and coloring in pumpkins, witches, black cats etc. We would tape them to the picture window. We had the homemade costumes and the plastic mask kind too. We used the plastic buckets and pillow cases. My brother always got way more candy than me. We would empty the candy onto the floor and trade for our favorite candy. Such simple times and it was great. My parents let us eat as much as we wanted....it was over and done with faster that way lol

Remember making my own costume and going out trick or treating with my younger brother and friends. We would start just when the sun when down and go until we filled our bag. Which was a brown paper grocery sack. Fun times back then.

I remember being Casper! It was a more innocent time on the surface, but fond memories of trick-or-treating remain. Thank you for the collection of photos...they sure bring back memories.

Lot of great memories there! Thanks.

One of my best memories of Halloween was back in the 60s. Just before Halloween, like a month, I had ordered the Famous Monsters of Hollywood Makeup kit. I read over the book that came with it for doing the makeup, and that Saturday was Halloween. I took and made up all of my friends. We were all the Monsters. Best Halloween Ever!! We even made the costumes. Sadly no pics from back then. My family really didn't get into Halloween.

I loved the wax, but I never ate it. I chewed it like gum until the taste was gone then spit it out.

Disney's Ichabod Crane was on as was late night monster movies before they were all copyrighted.Haunted houses with neon chalk and paint with black lights.Hand carved pumpkins and the black and orange party favors.The partys at the civic league building and church halls.Mom baked and dad escorted us.This video hits it right on the button.Great times.😅

The later 60s was my prime Halloween experience and one that I still cherish to this day. I had a boxed "black cat" costume, but only had the smock which was black and read "black cat" in yellow. The mask had cracked (I think someone sat on it), so I substituted a wax mask that was a wolfman (I think I still have it in the basement somewhere!). Did not seem to matter that it did not match the smock, as I had the time of my life with my siblings and cousins trick or treating! 🎃 One house in the neighborhood gave out popcorn balls, which were my favorite treat. We would go back to that house later in the evening to get more! 😋