Handing Out Some Old Halloween 'Eye Candy'

I have loved Halloween from when I was a wee, young girl living in Mimico, Ontario and first learned of its existence. Though folks might assume that I am over it being all "grown up" now, let me say that aging has done little to wipe the smile off my face at the sight of "anything" Halloween

My grandmother Coughlin-Moynahan adored Halloween as well and how delighted and lucky I am to have photographs of her in the early 1900s all dressed up.

My grandmother Rhea (Coughlin) Moynahan (1902-1992)
dressing up for Hallowe'en  (pre-1920)
Source: 52 Ancestors #42: Trick or Treating

And then there was my two siblings and me who loved to dress up on Halloween - usually by raiding our parents closet and adding some face paint!

Trick or Treating 70's style: It is me (far left) with my sister and brother 
Back of photo says:
" Sergeant Frisk and the two cooler queens - Droopy Pants and Truthful.
(Clearly my sister Kelly was truthful) Source: 52 Ancestors #42: Trick or Treating

I mention all of the above to justify the creation of this Halloween blog post on my Moynahan Studio blog.

Halloween has inspired my imagination and energized me to create since I was very little (and I have photographic evidence that it may, in fact, be part of my DNA!). From carving the pumpkin, to designing a costume to decorating outside - what a creative time of year!!

This Halloween, I am handing out some of my favorite old Halloween "eye candy" to my blog friends

Halloween Eye Candy

Literally all of the Dennison's Bogie Books may me smile
Visit this link
http://archive.org/stream/dennisonsbogiebo00denn#page/n5/mode/2up
to flip through the pages of the 1920 book.

All of the Saturday Evening Post and New Yorker covers that feature Halloween makes me smile

"Halloween Scare" cover by Frederic Stanley November 2, 1935

"Witch’s Mask" cover by Charles Kaiser October 31, 1942

"Halloween" cover by Norman Rockwell October 23, 1920

 "Trick-Or-Treating in the Burbs" cover by Artist: John Falter; Published: November 01, 1958;

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1945/10/27

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2001/10/29

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1990/10/29

I am not sure how Tim Burton managed to have his 5-minute short about a boy who wanted to be Vincent Price narrated by Vincent Price, but it couldn't be more perfect!

Vincent Malloy is seven years old,

He's always polite and does what he's told.

For a boy his age 

he's considerate and nice,

But he wants to be just like Vincent Price....

 "Witch Carving Pumpkin " Saturday Evening Post Cover October 27 1928. "

Two Nerdy History Girls emailed a Friday video this morning: The Skeleton Dance. 

A perfect way to end this post on Halloween images and iconography.

It is part of Disney’s Silly Symphonies and is a great reminder of the amazing artists and musicians who made cartoons in the days before computers. This one is from 1929.

Happy Halloween!

• Dennison’s Bogie Book for Halloween (1920)
• Dennison's gala book; (1922)
• Dennison: The party book;(1922) a book giving suggestions for home parties and dances for St. Valentine's day, St. Patrick's day, patriotic occasions, after Easter week, April fool's day and May day; also ideas for booths and parades .. by Dennison manufacturing co.
• Fancy dresses described : or, What to wear at fancy balls by Holt, Ardern (1887)
• Saturday Evening Post: Classic Covers: The Art of Halloween
• Saturday Evening Post: Classic Covers: Halloween, 100 Years Ago

Artist Statements

"In every picture

There's a poem

In every poem

A picture."

~A Chinese proverb~

P.K. Page's Creative Space

I confess. I love reading artist's statements. 

When I discovered the artist statement of P.K. Page , I was delighted.

P.K. (Patricia Kathleen) Page is regarded as one of Canada’s most beloved creative voices. Both a poet and artist, Page crafted beautiful images through her words and art in her home office in Victoria, British Columbia (pictured above with thanks to LAC).

Here are some highlights from P.K. Page's artist statement:

"I began drawing in Brazil in the late 50's. Immersed in a language I could not understand and surrounded by a baroque world of great and tropical beauty, I was wordless. My writing, except for a journal which I didn't count, stopped. Then the pen that had written, miraculously began to draw. It drew everything around me-each blade of grass, each tree, each chair and table.

 It was not long before the 'gear and tackle and trim' of art began to intrigue me: the tooth of the paper I worked on, the colour of the ink, the thickness of the nib, the sound of the nib on the paper-one might even say, 'its song' -and then the different ways of applying colour: oil pastel, gouache, oil, egg tempera. Each required something new of me. I went to a teacher who told me to throw away the pen. But it would be an amputation! I moaned. Use colour, he advised........"

Flowers in a pot (1); Brazil (Rio); 1957-58

Brazillian Dolls; Brazil (Rio); 1958-59

More:

• National Film Board (NFB) : Still Water's: The Poetry of P.K. Page (1990; 38 min 2 s; Donald Winkler)