From Zombos Closet

Halloween Novelty

Vintage Halloween Collegeville Hobo Costume

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Mikestaxidermy listed this Collegeville Halloween Hobo costume on eBay. I see a lot of political correctness and social sensitivity statements and didactics on the Internet regarding the use of a "homeless" person personification for holiday dress up to panhandle candy and party with, but that's part of today's sensibilities and how we perceive things. I tried to find information on the historical background to understand why the Hobo costume has been around for generations. So far I have only found a lot of opinion and repetition of opinion. 

From old photographs, one can see it was in the repertoire of self-made costumers at the very beginning of Halloween's celebration. Perhaps panhandling has something to do with it: hobos would ride the train rails and go from town to town, living a life unfettered by convenient conventions and questionable propriety, and maybe ask for a hand-out now and then. But what do you think? Are hobo costumes still relevant today and acceptable?

Hobo costume mikestaxidermy 1

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Halloween 2015 Sighted:
Spirit Halloween Store
and the Zombie Subway

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Spirit Halloween is doing a scary subway display this year, and I finally got to see it in all its gory. This store is at the Source Mall on Long Island. The mall, facing stiff competition from others close by, and hit by its anchor stores leaving, is pretty spooky all by itself. The top floor is mostly shuttered shop fronts, and the food court is now more a snack instead of a meal kind of place. But the Spirit Halloween store has the advantage of using a large, previously vacated space, so the merchandising is spectacular (if you’re a Halloween fanatic, that is). Now if only I had room for all this stuff…

Spirit halloween 2015 zombie subway 2

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Halloween 2015 Sighted: Walgreens

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Some inviting items this year on the shelves at Walgreens. Among the dancing skeletons and animated Medusas, there's an adorable pumpkin pop-up Grim Reaper and a nifty candy dish with a drop-down spider. Giant skull and clown heads will round out any scary decor, and the Day of the Dead and Nightmare Before Christmas decorations get their own endcaps. 

walgreens halloween pumpkin grim reaper animated

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Halloween 2015 Sighted!
Home Depot Stores

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If you want to piss your pants with excitement, I suggest you go into Home Depot. I went there this morning to buy a few sprinkler heads (yeah, an exciting life is mine, right?). And lo and behold, I had to swallow my heart back into my chest after seeing their Halloween display. And there's no better indication our economy is back on track–in spite of all the dyspepsia from the China Syndrome–than a well stocked Halloween display. And Home Depot keeps outdoing itself each year. 

Exciting additions this year are a Dragon Phone (last year they had a Skull Phone), a nice line of lawn blow-ups (great for photo ops for the kids), and an even nicer line of simple animatronics to dress up your Halloween bash.

home depot halloween 2015 animatronics

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Halloween 2015 Sighted:
Michaels Stores

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Michaels is my first invigorating breath of Halloween because I know they have their displays up in August (bless you!). They always have a wickedly good assortment of home decor items and small collectibles. And how can you pass up their Lemax Spooky Town display? This time I spotted the cute little zombies in the first photo, just as I was leaving. Of course I took a few of them home with me. They even squeak!

Creatology zombies

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