60s - 5/22 - Retroland

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Those lovable Peanuts characters certainly have a knack for showing up each year without fail, just in time to help us welcome in some of our most beloved holidays. One such occasion is Halloween, which means it's time to huddle around the television for an annual viewing of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. First airing in 1966, it has remained a beloved classic for millions of current and former children, and a testament to the genius of a kind man named Charles M. Schulz.

Bewitched

Ben Cooper

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Halloween costumes are a cherished part of childhood, transforming ordinary kids into superheroes, monsters, and celebrities for that one special night at the end of October. While many constructed their own costumes out of old clothes and face makeup, the rest of us relied on a man named Ben Cooper, who offered an entire plethora of choices, each residing in a small cardboard box which contained a plastic mask and accompanying vinyl garment to be worn over street clothes (and winter coats, depending on where you lived). For a child growing up in decades past, picking out a Ben Cooper costume at the local store was one of the most anticipated shopping trips of the year.

Sugar Babies

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The offspring of the celebrated confectionery clan we'll call the Sugar family, Sugar Babies are the diminutive nuggets of sweetness that bear genetic resemblance to their proud parents, Sugar Daddy and Sugar Mama. They have satisfied the hunger of sweet-toothed fans for over 70 years and counting.

The Addams Family

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Here was a family for the morbidly minded and the theme song said it all: they were creepy and they were kooky. Ooky, even. The opening sequence music had one of the catchiest tunes around, with finger snaps and everything. And, although there were other monsters (er, Munsters) on the television airwaves of the 60s, The Addams Family contained a decidedly darker humor than its prime-time cohorts and, as a result, won the hearts of millions of loyal fans along the way.

Creepy Crawlers

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Many boys harbor a fondness for bugs. Not only are they fun to play with, but there is also the realization of the sadistic havoc you can wreak with them. Every family member had a target on their back and if you played your cards right, you could evoke a scream of blood-curdling fear with just the right placement. Of course, like all of God’s creatures, the little critters wanted nothing more than to escape your clutches and, therefore, weren’t the most cooperative accomplices. If only someone could invent a bug that didn’t run away. Even better, if only you could manufacture an endless supply of inanimate insects all for yourself, imagine the terror you could induce. Mattel Toys, always plugged in to the secret desires of youth, came through by offering your very own bug factory. You know them as Creepy Crawlers.

Dark Shadows

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It was the first Gothic daytime drama, ABC’s first soap opera shot in color, and appealed equally to Goth-loving teenagers and their housewife moms. Debuting in 1966, this half hour of ghostly thrills and otherworldly storylines made Dark Shadows one of the most unique – and popular – shows on television.

Wax Bottles

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Okay, you really weren’t supposed to eat them, but how were kids to know? After all, they were in the candy aisle. Technically though, the liquid inside was the candy, not the wax container that surrounded it - which didn’t stop kids from ingesting enough wax to turn their digestive tract into a candle, sans the wick. That’s right, we’re talking about the wax bottles of our youth.

Mad Monster Party

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After years of creating some of the most beloved holiday specials ever, including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Little Drummer Boy and Frosty the Snowman, the production team of Rankin-Bass turned their attention (and their innovative stop-action animation techniques) to the scarier holiday of Halloween for their big screen debut, Mad Monster Party.