Halloween Party Fun

It's Halloween! And I hope you all have a good one!

Whether you have a party for kids:
Or one just for adults,
You might want to scare up a little fun with something like this:
"When you're too old to trick ... treat!" Just invite your friends, have a party, and serve cute cutouts of Kraft Cheese on top of your Sloppy Joes or cheeseburgers:
Or maybe this:
Perhaps you feel like you want to "Make something ugly for Halloween" with Karo Syrup:

And don't forget some "Spooky Costumes.....
.....for Well-Dressed Goblins"

And then, of course, there's always the old "Bobbing For Apples", as depicted here by this cute little "Champ":

But you might get pretty wet doing that!

Whatever you do , don't be a "scaredy cat" - and have fun!!

Decorated For Halloween

It's already the day before, and I almost forgot to show you my Halloween decor. I don't usually add a whole lot of things to what I've got, so, yes - you've seen most of it before, but here goes:
I had to display my Haunted Mansion album - gotta have a little Disney Love in there somewhere!
Decided to make china baby doll head into scary Baby Head for the holiday:
The vintage masks worn by my husband and his brother many Halloween moons ago always make an appearance:

"Quoth the raven...."
I love this antique mirror more every year!
Not so scary, here - just stuff hanging on a tree - including a vintage Disney Pinocchio mask:

And my thrift store painting again "Outskirts of a Cemetery", for which I found a thrift store frame that was an exact fit!

Here's wishing you many happy hauntings.

Then And Now # 74 Wrigley's Gum

Good old Wrigley's Gum - Spearmint shown here in an advertisement from 1910:

And here in an Halloween-themed ad from 1961:

One with a recipe from 1962:

And as it appears "Now":
And then there's Doublemint - here in an advertisement from 1930 :
And one from 1975:
(I couldn't find an ad with the Doublemint Twins - I'll add one later if I ever come across one!)
And Doublemint now:
I'm funny about gum - the only kind I really like these days is cinnamon flavored. When I was a kid, I think I liked Juicy Fruit, and those striped fruit-flavored ones. And yet, if I want some gum and somebody offers it, I'll usually take whatever they've got!

Halloween With Better Homes And Gardens

We'll start with this lovely scene, photographed at the home of the Yasmineh family near Minneapolis, which was used on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens in October of 2000:
A sweet little poem "Jack O'Lantern Fever" from BHG, 1939:
A cupcake recipe from 1939:
Ideas for some "Spooky Snacks", 1959:

And some "Spooky Cupcakes" (from 1961):

This is a "Jarrahdale" pumpkin, fitted with a pot of black mondo grass, curly willow branches and pumpkin peppers from last year's October issue:

One more gorgeous photo taken at the Yasmineh home:

And I'll leave you with a recipe for Golden Pumpkin Muffins from October 1968;
2 c. packaged biscuit mix
1/2 c. sugar
1&1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
3/4 c. milk
1/2 c. canned pumpkin
1 slightly beaten egg
2 tbsp. cooking oil
Thoroughly combine biscuit mix, sugar, and spice.
Combine milk, pumpkin, egg, and oil.
Stir into dry ingredients till blended.
Fill greased muffin cups 2/3 full.
Bake in hot oven (400 degrees) about 20 minutes.
Makes one dozen muffins.
I decided to try these, and I added raisins:
And a little Laughing Cow, while still warm from the oven.

They were just okay - not as spicy, nor as moist as I would have liked. I'll try a different recipe next time.
(I'm sure I probably even have a more recent one from another Better Homes And Gardens magazine!)

A bit of old Placerville poetry

Good morning. This is Tina, and I am having a bit of a fight with my computer this morning. I am going to do a short post with an excerpt from the Special Edition, Mountain Democrat published January 6, 1928 as a Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Souvenir Review Edition.

Just below is a copy of a fine drawing of the old Catholic Church which once stood on Sacramento Street in Placerville, by a great artist, Carol Mathis, daughter of George Mathis, who was also a fine artist. We lost Carol a few years ago, at a too young age, and I miss her beautiful drawings.

Fine Poem Written on Old Window

On exhibition in the Kelsey museum, is a pane of window glass taken from the cabin erected in Hangtown in 1858, said to be the first glass window in the camp. The cabin was built by Benjamin Post and stood on lower Main street, on what has been known as the "Fred Hoffmeister place". It was torn down in the '80's.

The poem which follows, was pasted upon the glass on the day of Lincoln's funeral; it contains a very fine bit of sentiment:

"Touch me gently, friend of mine,
I'm all that's left of '49.
Many a long forgotten face
Hath watched me in my good old place,
Many a heart, once true and warm,
Hath watched thru me the threatened storm,
A moral on my face is cast,
Which all must truly learn at last:
Man's hope and fears, are all, alas!
Like me, a fractured piece of glass."

The Kelsey museum is also gone now, and apparently the contents went to the State of California and are stored away somewhere. I wonder if this pane of glass is still among them.

Above is another fine example of Carol Mathis' work, showing the Cary House on Main Street. I have several nice prints I purchased from her about a year before her death, and I plan to share them with you in the future.

Enjoy this lovely fall day, and GO GIANTS!!!

The Raisin Bread I Remember

I REALLY like raisin bread - well, cinnamon raisin bread, specifically.
I remember that the kind we used to have when we were kids had this yummy cinnamon sugary topping on the top of the crust - that was my favorite part! I think it may have been Roman Meal brand, I'm not positive about that.
SunMaid is good, but it doesn't have that topping:

And I like the Cinnamon Raisin Swirl from Pepperidge Farm, too - but no sugary topping here, either:

Other than possibly getting it from a bakery, I don't know if I will ever find it again. It was definitely a sliced, packaged, brand-named loaf.
Does anyone else remember it??

Not So Scary Stories

Lori had "Gus Was A Friendly Ghost" when we were kids, and I always loved it. I was so happy when I found a copy for myself! (She still has hers.)
I like to collect these old Scholastic books whenever I find them, and I put some of them out with my Halloween decorations:
"Mystery At Shadow Pond" looked especially familiar - so we either had it, or I knew someone who did:
Mysteries and ghost towns and frightening masks for secret hide-outs!

Oooohhh....very scary!
Not.

Here's Looking at You, Kid!

Call me silly, but when I laid down my reading glasses on top of one of my old magazines the other day, what I saw was so humorous that I just had to go get my camera and capture it to share with you!

This "old kid" definitely needs those reading glasses these days!

Another Birthday

Another year has come and gone - and it's birthday time again.
Here's a picture of "Little Me" when I was four.

Looks like I was attempting to remain relatively calm, probably all the while wondering when we would get to that CAKE!

Then And Now #73 Milky Way

So....it used to be that you had only one choice when it came to the fabulous candy bar that is Milky Way - as seen here in this great advertisement from 1954:

But "Now" - well, NOW, you have more choices!

And all of them are GOOD.
Oh - and there's always "Fun Size" for trick or treaters!

(Yes - the bag IS empty - and I only ate two!)

Hooligans Retreat

Sister Lori here:
I recently went to an annual scrapbook/stamp retreat in South Lake Tahoe. We had a great time for 4 days - 16 ladies, scrapping the days and nights away!!
The theme was "Hooligans". Close To My Heart (a stamping/scrapbooking company) has a new paper set with this theme.
I wanted to share with you a couple of the items I received while there; we all participated in a swap.
Here is a chipboard book - the front cover:

And a couple of the pages inside:

An awesome scrapbook layout - left side page:

And the right side page, below: (Some of these items are made with the "Cricut" machine - if you don't have one yet, it's an awesome tool!! I just got a small version.)

A wooden coffin-shaped box all decked out in Halloween finery, and
a cone that was filled with delicious "zebra" popcorn from the Popcornopolis at the Galleria at Roseville. I am going to have to visit there soon!

A few cute tags; I love the RIP one the best.

SO much talent in one place all together!! We all had such a great time!!!!