Squaws and Good Witches and Confederates, oh my!

I had been halfway planning on doing a Halloween Costumes of my Youth post anyway, and that intention was firmed up even more when I learned about the vintage costume-sharing going on over at Goodnight Moon. If you post some pictures of your own and link up, you might get a treat. 

Sadly, I don't have very many pictures to share. They exist, of course...but most of them are in my mother's archives in North Carolina. Hence, I can't access them. However, I was able to glean a few snapshots from my brother's Facebook account, and I had one of my own in my files. Here we go!

At this point I should mention that my grandmother is an amazing seamstress, and she made Halloween costumes for my brother and me every year. Some that I don't have pictures of include Belle and the Beast, Jasmine and Aladdin, and Minnie and Mickey. One year, I was Babe the Gallant Pig and my brother was Luke Skywalker. So, not so much matchey-matchey that Halloween.

In this picture, my brother is Captain Hook, and I am Princess Tiger Lily. The pumpkin, apparently, is the Cat in the Hat.

Moving on, here I am in my Glinda the Good Witch outfit. In the interest of full disclosure, this picture wasn't taken on Halloween (this was probably during dress-up on some random day). I had a more authentic Glinda hat that I wore on Halloween, and I remember that my brother was the Tin Man that year. Here, he appears to be Davy Crockett from the waist up, and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fanboy from the waist down.

 

And lastly, my all-time favorite Halloween costume: Confederate soldier from the Civil War. Yes, Confederate soldier from the Civil War. I honestly don't remember what started it all, but by sixth grade I was obsessed with Civil War history. Obsessed. I read all the books I could find on the subject. I could have told you when and where every major engagement was fought, and what the outcome was. I was familiar with all of the prominent commanders on each side. I knew what sorts of weapons were used, and what their pros and cons were. I researched the period's culture, and knew fairly accurately what daily life was like for civilians and soldiers. Yes, I was already firmly entrenched as a nerd...but I had a blast! And nobody was surprised when I wanted to be a Confederate soldier for Halloween (I had to represent my home state of North Carolina, after all!). Sibling rivalry being what it is, my little brother insisted on dressing as a Yankee soldier. 

I took this picture with my cell phone...but maybe the graininess adds to the "authenticity?"

Johnny (or Janie) Reb and Billy Yank. After Halloween, we fought many a backyard battle in full costume. 

So, there you go! I wonder how my future kids are going to surprise me in their costume choices.