on the back of this picture, in my mom's writing, it says "halloween 1974". that means i had just begun kindergarten, and would turn five the following february.
my previously featured scarecrow costume must have been from '73. i have that photo, but not the costume itself. my first halloween must have been '72, at age two and a half, when i was a witch. i have the witch costume, but no pictures of me in it.
the skeleton costume of '74 is the only case in which i have both the costume and a photo of me in it. i would like to get the two framed together, but i think the costumes i have might get another wearer before they go into frames.
during the christmastime after i wore this costume, i requested a "book about skeletons" from santa claus. tireless, i tell you. i'm trying to remember what i was picturing in my mind when asking for this. probably just pages and pages of cavorting skeletons. what i got was a book called "the human body" which had chapters not only on skeletal structures but muscles, digestion, and fetal development (which quickly superceded my fascination with skeletons.) it proved very satisfying.
note in the photo, i have a homemade costume, but a store-bought mask. this was a concession that had to be made. i was the only kid in the neighbhorhood getting these fabulous handmade costumes, but at the same time, i felt left out of the whole buying-masks-at-woolworth's process. my mom worked the costumes out so that i could always go get a store-bought mask to augment them. and she made whatever i asked her to. i never had to be a ladybug or some crap. the bones of this costume are drawn in marker on interfacing, then cut out and stitched onto the black one-piece.
29 years later, it must be clear, that my interest in skeletons is not to be taken lightly.