Week 44: #52 Ancestors – Frightening
By Eilene Lyon
My grandfather, Laurence M. Smith, was apparently a bit of a prankster, so it’s no surprise he enjoyed Hallowe’en. My mother told me a story about how her dad gave her a noisemaker made from a spool and told her to run it along the window of a neighborhood widow’s house then run away. Oh, Grandpa, how naughty!
Finding old family photos showing Hallowe’en costumes is always a bit of light fun. This mask on Grandpa really does look quite creepy, though! But Mom doesn’t appear to be frightened, knowing it was just her Daddy playing around.
Then they put the creepy mask on my aunt and it practically swallows her up!
And I suspect this photo of Grandpa in a phony gas mask was another Hallowe’en party get-up.
Feature image: Photo by Mark Rall on Unsplash
Myricopia 
What a naughty trick to play on the widow! The mask looks less creepy on your aunt than your grandpa! Do you carry on the fun at Hallowe’en?
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I used to do a lot of Halloween costumes and parties. Trick-or-treated well into my teens, too. I almost posted photos of some of my costumes, but decided to stick with ancestor history! My mom thinks the hazing was quite traumatic, actually. Since she has dementia, it’s hard to tell if it was a major or minor scare.
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I could see how your mother as a child might have been upset, it might have gone against what she knew was right, but we don’t want to disobey our parents. It may have stuck with her! I’m always amazed at some of the costumes people come up with!
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Love it! I’ve actually never found any Halloween photos of my ancestors–I’m left wondering if they even celebrated the holiday, or if it was just another day for them. I LOVE Halloween; good to see your ancestors did, too.
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Yeah, those kinds of photos seem to be rare. I love this little collection.
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Great photos. I’m intrigued by the witch hat. It looks so perfect. Do you suppose someone made it? Or was it store bought?
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It was undoubtedly made by my grandmother. She was an excellent seamstress. I have lots of photos of my mom and aunt in matching outfits that are super-cute!
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Cool.
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Fabulous family photos!
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Thanks!
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I really loved this, and the pictures are priceless. I too had a naughty grandfather who I adored. Wish we could call them up and reminisce about old, spooky times…:)
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Oh so many things I would ask my grandparents if we could chat!
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Me too. sigh
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Grandpa loved him some Halloween! How great are these pics!!
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I’ll bet there were many more costumes than what I have here. I do have some other photos of him really mugging for the camera, though. He was a character!
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And what’s great is that his kids knew it, as you can gather from the pics!
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I love those masks! Cool and fun time! 🙂
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Back when they were all homemade, not bought at Walmart!
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How about those original Chuck Taylor high-top sneakers that he’s wearing! You can even see the Converse logo on the ankle. Sometimes you see little things in the photos that you wish you had today.
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I did admire those sneakers! Thanks for mentioning them.
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Halloween masks and costumes were so much creepier back then!
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Those are some fantastic family photos – I love the classic jack o’lantern, and that mask is so creepy, but in the best way! I think it’s even scarier when worn by a child!
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It is fun to share these old pictures!
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