Having grown up surrounded by my mother’s impressive creations for various professional, community and friend’s projects, (life-sized elephants, school mascots, stage scenery, props and costumes for school plays—the list is endless), I wanted to pass on some of that creative ingenuity to her only granddaughter, Waverly. Seeing a costume or set takes on new meaning when you actually see it designed and manufactured. Halloween provided a good impetus to create something for love and with a deadline!

As the years go by, Waverly’s Halloween costume projects have evolved into an event at our house—from the humble beginnings of a Minnie Pearl hat at age 1+ to the technologically elaborate and battery-powered “neon” cat of 2007. Discussions and sketches start the day after each Halloween, long before all the candy has been consumed. It often takes the better part of a year to arrive at tripartite consensus and then we have to budget time for construction. Below is a retrospective of Waverly’s costumes through the years for your viewing pleasure.

♠ Trading Cards ♠

Click here to see Waverly’s Halloween Trading Card Collection.

2011

✭ the Year of the Busker Monkey ✭

♥ now with organ-grinding dad!  ♥

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Waverly’s Costume/Prop Rank: ✭✭✭✭✭

Dad’s Costume/Prop Rank: ✭✭✭✭✭

ometime in early Spring, the concept of Organ Grinder with Monkey came to the forefront of our thinking. This was not necessarily a new idea on our ever-changing list, but Waverly seems to be the one who brought it up and once she uttered it, it was a fait accompli. This concept fulfilled several prerequisites. It allowed Waverly to act out one of her multiple animal personae; it allowed us the opportunity to build something with power tools; and it allowed us to use up more excess house paint. Time was already running out—only about 230 days left at that point!

Our first thought was actually not about Waverly’s monkey costume (or for that matter who would be the monkey and who would be the organ grinder). We assumed that would be easy. Our thoughts turned to audio—how to get busker organ music and play it for Waverly’s “act.” We actually investigated wood-pipe organs and found amazing do-it-yourself kits. I so want to make one of these, but logistically speaking it was unfeasible. If it rained on Halloween night (always a threat), the huge effort in making an organ would only be equal to our huge disappointment. Boom-boxes were the next logical alternative. We began this process with the thought that I would be carrying the organ with a single leg support but then I became nervous about the effects on my back. We have also learned over the years that Halloween night is exhausting for Waverly. This is one of the reasons we introduced the hand truck years ago—to preserve her energy between house stops. And thus, the organ on cart was born. We could not only carry the boom box disguised as organ, but we could also tote Waverly around!

With this flurry of early activity under our belts, our attentions went elsewhere for several months. After all, the thinking is the hard part. After a summer of high temperatures and national economic woes, I found myself entering fall with a low ebb of creative energies. Then, on October 3 while driving Waverly home from school, she told me without solicitation how much she was looking forward to Halloween (see clue answer, the third, below). That was all it took to shake me out of my funk. Not as abrasive as a slap in the face but more akin to a B-12 shot, it certainly woke me up. If Waverly was in, I was all in.

We initially thought of using a fez for the monkey hat as that seemed to be our embedded memory. Further research revealed the hat to be more of a bell hop’s cap. Waverly’s grandmother graciously undertook hat and vest duties and we turned to cart construction.

I surveyed out vast wasteland of “things with wheels” (trikes, wheelbarrows, etc.) and emerged with a garden hose pipe reel that had four wheels and rubber tires. Waverly always wanted to make something out of this, so we dismantled it down to only the essentials and we had our base. A quick two days in our friend Lewis’ wood shop and we came away with the basic conveyance. Now on to the 50-some-odd coats of paint.

What more could you want from your family. I say, “what about eight to ten colors in very intricate patterns?” and they say, “that’s not enough!”

The other reason we like to make things is that we get to keep up with technology. Water-based polyurethane? Who knew!

We finished construction and decoration on time this year. Budget? What budget?

Another Halloween is in the books and it went smashingly well. To quote Waverly, “best Halloween, ever!” Perfect weather and even the moon was out for everyone. Each year I do have to worry whether or not we have matched our previous efforts. You just can’t judge success until you circulate. This year for Waverly: applause, gasps of delight, speechlessness, A+’s (from students), awesome (most repeated comment) and many times we heard that we surpassed last year. Waverly eats this up. She had a great time, as did I being with her.

My favorite part is hearing people ask Waverly, “Were you carrying the dumbbells last year? Were you the giraffe?”

Another barometer of success? The candy haul. Shockingly, Waverly filled a full bag-and-a-half after only traveling ¼ of our route, and we had not even made it to Sneed Road, the usual neighborhood Halloween mecca. I was really shocked this year at the amount. I have always tried to teach Waverly that if you put a lot of effort into something, you will likely be rewarded, either in personal satisfaction or candy.

So what is the legal limit on the amount of Advil one can take? I knew this would be a rough year on me, but my ergonomic planning was near spot on. Our fulcrum was perfectly set when Waverly rode our cart. All I had to do was hold the handles down and I did not have to lift them up. That’s if she rode on the cart. Unlike her usual pattern, she wanted to walk the first half of our night. This really messed up my balance. Why did she choose this year to want to walk? I was only carrying 1 and ½ sheets of ¾" thick plywood, one boom box, 12 D cell batteries, assorted flashlights and a 100+ lb. monkey with ever growing candy bags. Now my arms are killing me! On the bright side, it wasn’t as rough as I thought it was going to be. The only other design problem was that Waverly parked her candy bags (yes sir, three bags full) on the handles of the cart for easy access. She carried a large tin cup which she emptied into the hanging bags. This also threw off my balance!

Waverly’s identity was only mistaken twice tonight, once as a bear and once as a bell hop. A bell hop? Believe me, Waverly works it. She would do her “monkey dance”, twirling her tail, and it was awesome. There was one house where as long as Waverly kept doing her monkey dance, the old gentleman keep putting handfuls of candy in her bag. Do I need to worry about this?

One elderly gentleman even uttered the words, “hurdy gurdy” which pleased me. Seemed as if the older generation were more in tune with busker organs than the younger one. A small child asked if we were a magic cart. I answered yes and that for our next trick, Waverly and I would make all the neighborhood candy disappear. This scared him and he ran away. Oops. Guess I don’t know my own strength since we made him disappear.

I was especially pleased that the audio portion of our program was a success. Our battery levels survived the cold and the night. Being able to control volume and song selection on the iPod with one hand while I cranked with the other was a blessing. I imagine that one or two of the music pieces are now firmly embedded in Waverly’s brain, as she was sitting in front of the speaker. If you would like to hear a sample of the type of music we played, have a look at these YouTube videos here and here.

I do fear I have created a little Halloween monster. Waverly absolutely loves Halloween night, but at the age of 10, she is beginning to make judgments and comparisons. If a house only put out a basket of candy or if a woman admonished, “only one piece”, Waverly would utter to me, “mental note: we aren’t going back there next year.” I think we need to develop our own set of hobo symbols to draw on each mailbox, indicating what to expect. Waverly even spontaneously came up with her own zen mantra: “respect the art of the Halloween!” I nearly spit out my gum when I heard it. If anything interrupted her act, such as a pea-gravel driveway (since the cart would not travel on pea gravel), or if someone was not home we were hoping to see, she would start muttering her phrase and shaking her fist in the air.

As always, a big thank you to our special cadre of neighbors who make Waverly feel welcome and her effort appreciated. She loves it when they come out of their houses and engage her and take her picture and laugh with her. One woman even came all the way down her driveway because I could not make it up. It’s for these moments that our hard work is made easy.

Once home again tonight, I asked Waverly what we would do next year. Instead of giving me a blank stare as in past years, this year I could see the wheels turning in her head. She didn’t answer me yet, but I know she’s thinking about it. That’s all I ask.

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This year, for the first time, we decided to tease the costume with clues, or rather random ideas that came to me as we worked on the costume. If you were following along, here are the “answers” for each clue:

clue, the first:

That’s what I am
Please understand
I wanna be your holy man

When we started this costume, the hat was the focal point. We initially thought of a fez from our memories of monkeys and organ grinders. After some research, we settled on more of a bell hop cap. Thanks Steely Dan, for The Fez.

clue, the second:

Though you may not drive a great big Cadillac
Gangsta whitewalls
TV antennas in the back
You may not have a car at all
But remember brothers and sisters
You can still stand tall

From the song, “Be Thankful for What You’ve Got” by Portrait (also covered by Yo La Tengo on Little Honda). As attention turned to the cart, the phrase that keeping coming to mind was “pimp my organ grinder cart.” Waverly would strike a “gangsta lean” whenever I needed assistance in designing her seat configuration. Waverly does not know what a “gangsta lean” is, it just comes naturally.

clue, the third:

It takes two to tango

Continuing our music-themed clue set, this clue arose around October 3, while driving Waverly home from school. She was talking about how she could not wait for Halloween, and as her voice trailed off and her inner-voice started coming out unfiltered, she mentioned to herself how happy she was that I was going to be part of her Halloween (meaning part of the act). I always thought of myself as part of her Halloween, but only as the man behind the curtains. Her comment made me very proud and snapped me out of my Halloween funk. It was full speed ahead at that exact moment. Thanks, Pearl Bailey!

Somehow, I was hoping that three consecutive music-related clues would hint that our costume involved audio this year.

clue, the fourth:

“I would drape myself in velvet if it were socially acceptable.”
—George Costanza

We did a mental calculation, balancing cost, time, and whether we could do a better job or not, and came to the conclusion that a store-bought (gads!) monkey outfit would be the proper course this year. We went shopping and found a full-body costume made of velour. The softness of the material made Waverly very, very happy. She would sleep in this if she could, and she probably will.

clue, the fifth:

Furniture design is all about the angles.

In designing and building the cart, we really concentrated on the seat angles—at resting, riding and exiting positions. It took me back to a furniture design course in college. Secretly, I would like to be a furniture designer.

clue, the sixth:

This year, it’s Waverly’s concept and you could only
take it from her cold, dead hands.

I figure Charlton Heston is well known for his NRA quote and when I think of Charlton, I think of monkeys.

clue, the seventh:

Waverly will finally get to come home from Trick or Treating and get to utter the phrase I say after coming home from every meeting.

“Get this monkey suit off of me!” [And she did, right on cue.]

clue, the eigth:

It could be a part of your body.

Organ.

clue, the ninth:

“I’m gonna paint this wagon,
I’m gonna paint it fine,
I’m going to use oil-based paint
because this wood is pine.”

I was delirious from weeks of painting and started singing this classic ditty from
The Simpsons in my head.

clue, the last:

The evolution of man

Ten clues for her tenth costume.

thank you, play again next year!

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miscellany (or things that may interest only me)

Yes, the organ box is on a Lazy Susan. I thought it necessary to “aim” our music from house to house. Inside the organ box is an original Apple iPod Hi-Fi, the much-maligned Apple shelf stereo. I suppose this was our own little tribute to Steve Jobs.

The handles and the decorations on the organ box were off-the-shelf parts from Home Depot. There is a bright yellow rope in the front that serves as both lifting handle and Waverly’s foot rest.

Typically, one starts with a sketch and then works from that. Not us. We finish a project and then Natasha draws a picture of it (see back of organ grinder box in slideshow above). Not sure what to paint on the back, Natasha says, “well, you have to look at it all night!” Good thinking.

A note about demographics: Waverly and I typically make our way down our home street, stopping to see friends who know us well, but we are really headed to Sneed, a block behind us. For many years Sneed has been Halloween party central for our neighborhood. People set out tables with drinks (alcoholic) for parents and cupcakes for kids and it’s quite crowded. After 10 years of trick or treating with Waverly, I’ve noticed a change in the local demographics. With new houses being built on our block and many older residents leaving, our block is actually getting more action than is past years. As I stated, Waverly’s bags were near full just after our start. Look out Sneed, you’ve got competition and competition is good for the free market candy solicitation racket.

My analog nonagenarian mother stopped by a few days after Halloween to read Waverly’s webpage and look at pictures. I was still in the middle of cleaning up the studio and driveway. As she as leaving, she looks at our mess and says, “oh, this just makes me so happy. Looks like one of my messes.” She was right. In the middle of all the painting and building, I kept thinking the same thing—only without the layer of Styrofoam shavings covering the driveway like snow.

A big thank you to honorary Godfather Lewis, who is as generous with his time as he is talented with a table saw. I love working in a dedicated shop and Waverly loves seeing her dog pals Daisy, Bear and Pepe. From setting us straight on the playhouse, to teaching us about pocket screws for Waverly’s lemonade stand, and now helping us build our grinder cart, Lewis got mad skillz. I always imagine a hushed voice-over announcer: “He’s about to attempt a triple lutz on the high-diving angled table saw. Never been done… and he nails it! (pun intended.) The crowd goes wild!” Thanks, Lewis!

Now what do we do with the cart?

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Goodnight, everybody. Till next year!

2010

✭ Strongman of the Circus ✭

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Waverly’s Costume Rank: ✭✭✭✭✭

Dad’s Costume Rank: ✭✭✭✭✭

ince Waverly was three years old, “Strongman of the Circus” has been a suggestion I have slipped into the ongoing conversation of potential Halloween costumes.

Hope springs eternal. In my mind the visage of a tiny tyke carrying a dumbbell was irresistible. Waverly has consistently rejected my entreaties. Until…

Waverly and I were in Home Depot last August and after sharing a laugh about something or other there was a long pause in our conversation as we passed through the “door and cabinet hardware” aisle. As if by habit I blurted out, “How about ‘Strongman of the Circus’ for Halloween this year?” Waverly, quietly and without hesitation, said “yes”—with a smirk on her face no less. Maybe after all of these years I had worn her down with my persistence but I dare say she was excited about the idea and was not just taking one “for the team.” I will always remember this moment.

Construction-wise, this was one of our easiest costumes. The hardest part (at least made hard by our own exuberance) was the construction of the dumbbells. We thought we would outsmart ourselves by injecting spray foam insulation into two large kick balls. When the foam dried, we would cut and peel the ball away and be left with perfect Styrofoam spheres—light weight and ready for painting. I was so sure this would work that I was terrified of injecting too much foam into the ball, having it explode and then being covered by the obnoxious stuff. Sorry to say, after injecting a full can and seeing no expansion or hardening, we had to abandon the process and resort to purchasing the Styrofoam on-line. Next time, I will do a more thorough internet search before performing home-science experiments. (Thank you, Smoothfoam!)

Perhaps my favorite, but hidden part of the dumbells is how the bar is connected to the weights. I embedded a female PVC connector in each styrofoam ball and then added male connectors to each end of a length of PVC pipe. I then had three interchangeable lengths of PVC pipe so we could get just the right proportion and collapse the dumbbells if need be.

We had several conversations about using the dumbbells as “candy holders”, but after our experience with the Ostrich mouth, we decided against it. The muscles were made from foam left over from our Easter Island Head costume (2008) tucked into flesh-colored body suits. The bald cap was not part of our original vision, but with Waverly being game, we went for it! I think Waverly’s favorite part was seeing herself with a mustache.

I admit that Waverly as a 3-year old strongman would have been funnier, but she has really pulled this off.

Success! Another fabulous Halloween is in the books. Waverly actually received applause this year. Perhaps the first time ever. Actual gasping occurred. She only bonked one or two people in the head with her prop dumbbells as they gave her treats—less than I expected. Our dumbbell props also survived relatively unscathed, also unexpected.

Waverly and I keep our ears wide open as the comments that are not made directly to us are the most telling barometer of our success. Lots of oohs and ahhs this year. Lots of ‘best costume’ comments. Waverly’s favorite indirect compliment was overhead from a teenager who mentioned they were going to copy her costume next year. She liked that!

Waverly and I both loved it when people would say, “better take some extra candy. You need your strength—you’re carrying a lot of weight.” I wish I could remember all of the funny comments.

Waverly turned on her acting gene right from the start. She would go to a front door, check her dumbbells to make sure the type was facing correctly (that’s my girl!), ring the doorbell and then raise the dumbbells over her head, striking a pose. I loved seeing her and the dumbbells in silhouette at door after door.

We carried two sets of dumbbells this night. After constructing the first large set I began to get nervous about the size so I conjured up a smaller set. Waverly would size up each next house and make a judgment call. “Hmm, small porch. Better give me the 100 lb weights.” I began to feel like a golf caddy on our trek and expected her to ask me for the seven iron next.

Thanks to everyone on our route who makes this night special for Waverly. You know who you are. Waverly eats up your attention.

We often try to keep our costume ideas secret in order to make the “reveal” all the more exciting. This year we issued a surreptitious clue when Natasha decorated one of Waverly’s lunch bags with a circus tableau. Sorry if you were not in Waverly’s school cafeteria to see it.

As an example of my type-nerdiness, I have to say that my favorite part of this year’s costume construction was selecting the typeface for the dumbbells. I was surprised to find so much image reference that used sans-serif type for the weight labels. I’ve always been a big fan of Le Corbusier’s stencil typeface and selected a variant for our purpose (for reference, see Lettres à jour: public stencil lettering in France). It is likely we made the 500 pound weights just because we loved the number “5” in stencil type.

As mentioned, we actually built two sets of weights—a 200 pound set (2 x 100) and a 1,000 pound set (2 x 500) as we were not sure which would be easier for Waverly to navigate small porches with. I did not want Waverly to knock little tykes off their feet as she swung the large weights around. She is a bit of a “bull in a china shop.” The strongman of the circus persona fits her well. Waverly has often been heard to exclaim, “I’m no girly-girl!”

2009

♥ a Brief Halloween Interlude ♥

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Dad’s Sculpture Rank: ♥♥♥♥♥

ometime after Halloween 2009, Waverly was tasked with a school project: select and read a book and create a caricature sculpture from the book. Waverly choose Mrs. Patty is Batty by Dan Gutman. I guess Halloween was still fresh in her mind.

Her mother and I spent our energies keeping Waverly focused but other than that, we lent no aide other than chauffeuring her to her grandmother’s house/studio where Waverly worked on her project. When we finally saw her progress we were amazed.

Waverly’s sculpture stands a little over two feet tall and is made from a plastic orange juice container, cardboard packing material, an egg carton and buttons. We hope to hold onto this longer than any of her costumes.

ver since 2006, Waverly has fixated on the type of costume where she is seen as riding an animal. She has suggested many variations on the theme—riding a flamingo, a peacock, etc. Her girlish love of horses won out this time and Waverly became “the girl on a horse.”

This year we leaned heavily on my mother’s aid as we were busy with professional commitments. As usual, she came through with a tour de force example of her papier-mâché skills. We thought we could handle the body ourselves but after making what looked like a VW Thing, we instead crafted a rudimentary chicken-wire body and turned it over to her for finishing.

From the beginning of this process, we anticipated using brown wrapping paper for the exterior and not painting the costume in any way. The crowning touch was a mane made of die-cut cardboard used as a packing material. Another found object put to exquisite use. This made my mother’s heart grow ten sizes.

No candy in the horse’s mouth for us this time. We’ve learned our lesson.

The funniest part of the particular year’s adventure was watching Waverly get increasingly nervous about finishing the costume on time. We pretty much came in under the wire, finalizing everything the day of Halloween. Several days before, Waverly requested that the ostrich be brought down from the attic—she wanted a back-up just in case. Just goes to show her trust in our ability to finish.

Waverly had a great time this Halloween. It is now getting to the point where people provided specially made treat bags just for Waverly, which she loves. She is often hustled into homes so people can take her picture.

Waverly names most of her costumes. The giraffe is named “Princess Golden Sunshine, the ostrich is named “Ostrina” and the busker monkey is named “Elvis McDelvis.” She named the horse “Honeybun.”

2008

✭ Easter Island Head (aka “dum-dum”) ✭

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Waverly’s Costume Rank: ✭✭½

Dad’s Costume Rank: ✭✭✭✭✭

averly’s favorite movie of 2008 was “Night at the Museum” (released in 2006, but not seen by Waverly until the DVD came out). If you have seen the movie, you will remember the character named Dum-Dum—an Easter Island stone head that comes to life with other museum attractions when the museum closes. This costume was a challenge but we were driven by the possible rewards of the final product.

Natasha and I had to learn new skills such as foam rubber engineering and gluing. Gluing is easy. A special spray adhesive works like magic when attaching foam pieces. Surfacing foam rubber is not easy. We finally found “spray gesso” which was used as a primer and “stone” spray paint as the final layer. Without the gesso, the spray paint would have dissolved the foam rubber.

An armature was built from heavy aluminum wire covered in foam pipe insulation. The armature rested on Waverly’s shoulders and rose up to a circle, not unlike a halo. The foam costume could then be lowered over Waverly and rest on the armature. If I had it to do over, I would have made the armature stronger as the wire bent too easily during use and pratfalls. Waverly played with the armature like a James Bond jet pack.

We missed using our Live Wire from the cat costume so we dug out our scrap pieces and made glowing eyes—only one battery pack (embedded in the nose and controllable by Waverly)!

The only problem with this costume that we should have anticipated is that Waverly’s shinning face (her calling card) was obscured far too much for her taste. Waverly knows how to work her audience but she was too constricted in her interactions while encased in fake stone. We will make every attempt to never cover her face again or let the costume concept overpower her personality.

The use of the mouth as a candy bag seemed logical but in practice the mouth was too low for people to access, or perhaps they were too afraid to stick their hands inside. In the end, Waverly opted for a normal bag. You would think we would have learned by now that some Halloween traditions are not to be tinkered with.

Aside from a few well-padded tumbles because Waverly could not see her feet we had a splendid evening. I was reminded of the movie “Flubber” as Waverly would fall on her giant faux stone foam nose and bounce right back up.

Special thanks for one particular neighbor who knew of our plans in advance, and provided Waverly with a giant pack of gum when she came to their door. After all, you gotta give Dum-Dum lots of gum-gum.

2007

✭ the Year of the Cat ✭

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Waverly’s Costume Rank: ✭✭✭✭

Dad’s Costume Rank: ✭✭✭✭✭

ixing Waverly’s animal themes and a piece of technology that had been floating around the house for a decade, we created Waverly’s most luminous costume to date. While living in New York, Natasha bought a “kit” of E-Wire from our local lamp purveyor. The kit was a two- or three-foot strip of wire that glowed like neon when attached to a battery pack, but was extremely flexible, unlike neon. This was one of those things you own, think about and show off once in a while but have no idea how to apply, at least not until a costume idea emerges.

After some internet sleuthing, we found the original source that had undergone a few name changes (Live Wire). The wire was available in many colors and sizes so we loaded up on multiple colors and electrical configurations. We then constructed a wire armature and attached the Live Wire.

In retrospect, my only mistake was not fully understanding the power requirements of Live Wire, which are rather minimal. For each color of Wavely’s cat head (seven or eight total) I attached a battery pack. We certainly laughed at the time about all the buttons required to turn her costume “on” and the battery packs that resided around her waist, but it turned out I only needed one! A miscalculation due to our haste.

The only other change I would have made is how the cat head attached to Waverly’s own head. Next time I would let it sit on her shoulders and not her head even though it was cool that she could turn her head and the cat head at the same time.

The Cat Head was a huge success. Seeing the glowing light emerge through the darkness was a delight for many hosts. I also enjoyed the fact that we were our own safety gear—no need for reflectors or flashlights. The best time I had was driving Waverly to another neighborhood to show off for friends who had recently moved. The vision of Waverly and her glowing cat head in my rear view mirror was well worth the effort.

Waverly’s costume was so cool, I decided to muscle in on the action too and so we made a pumpkin head for me.

2006

✭ the Year of the Ostrich ✭

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Waverly’s Costume Rank: ✭✭✭✭✭

Dad’s Costume Rank: ✭✭✭✭½

xtending our animal theme, we decided to branch out with our ever-growing construction skills and Waverly’s willingness to try new concepts and contraptions.

Through some random shipment I had secured an amazing piece of packing foam, the specific name of which I do not know. It was both pliable and capable of being carved with a knife and this particular piece fit around Waverly’s waist like a dream—we almost did not need suspenders. Adding a dryer vent hose for a neck was a snap and Waverly’s grandmother again graciously added the papier-mâché head—her work has more animal personality than ours. Natasha knew of the feather supplier for Sesame Street’s Big Bird and we were set!

Early on we decided to make the ostrich mouth the receptacle for trick-or-treat candy and we engineered a removable cup underneath the ostrich body as well as a top access hatch so Waverly could see her loot. The sad part of all this effort is that so few people could comprehend the concept of putting candy in the ostrich mouth and not a bag. It appeared the more educated the neighbor, the less likely they could comply to Waverly’s commands. While standing in the shadows, all I remember hearing is Waverly saying, “Put the candy in the mouth. In the mouth, please!”

Note about feathers: if you ever order feathers for a similar use, do not use dyed feathers! The color comes off on your hands and your child.

The only sad part of this costume is that the waist line was engineered for Waverly’s five-year-old body. She has since tried to wear this costume and it’s a real struggle to fit into.

For 2011, we needed a costume for Waverly who was attending a pre-Halloween party. Our Busker Monkey costume was not quite ready so we ascended to the attic storage facility and Waverly selected Ostrina, the ostrich costume. I needed to make waist adjustments and while I was handling the costume, a tiny heart fell out of the mouth and onto the floor. Waverly had secretly and discreetly placed it in the costume before we entombed it in plastic. True love.

2005

✭ the Year of the Giraffe ✭

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Waverly’s Costume Rank: ✭✭✭✭✭

Dad’s Costume Rank: ✭✭✭✭✭

hile Waverly may not have been initially keen on the dragon hat of 2004, it did set a precedence for animal-themed costumes. I was sorry to see the female role model theme come to an abrupt end but none of my cohorts thought a Ray Eames costume would fly. How could anyone not recognize the dirndl? I would have been more than pleased to pose as Charles to reinforce her act.

This was the first year Waverly took a keen interest in her costume—from concept to art direction. She thoroughly took ownership of the costume. The concept was simple: drop a cardboard cone over Waverly with holes for arms and face and then add an expertly-made papier-mâché head created by her grandmother. Dividing construction tasks over two studios proved wise as we were a tad late getting this costume ready.

One of my many fond Halloween memories is of Waverly walking home with her mom on the afternoon of Halloween from Grandma’s house after completing the paint job. It was hilarious to see her toddle down the street in the daylight as a giraffe—the first time I saw the completed costume.

2005 was one of those perfect Halloween outings—the weather was great, Waverly was in a great mood and we had our hand truck routine down cold. Highlights included running into a toddler wearing a cloth giraffe costume (it was great fun to see them both stare each other down) and at the end of our run we stopped at a house with a transom door window. When the door opened, the inhabitants were in fits of laughter. Seeing a giraffe head peer in through the transom was quite humorous.

The one odd encounter of the evening and perhaps of all our Halloween evenings over the years occurred with Natasha at the helm. After making a great first run and feeling ebullient from all of the enconiums, Waverly and I ducked home. Hearing about our great reception that night, Natasha (usually stuck manning the door) wanted to hear some comments first hand. After Waverly got her second wind, she took her out to cover a few houses we had missed. Passing by a gaggle of parents, one woman, speaking to her companion, but with cutting volume said, “Oh, she’s one of those moms!” Natasha was pleased to retort, “oh no, she’s got one of those dads!”

I often puzzle about this stranger’s comment. Is there some level of conformity that we are supposed to meet in order to make everyone feel adequate? Is it that hard to see that we work with great enjoyment and play with equal zeal and want to share that with our neighbors on Halloween? As Charles Eames said, “Take your pleasure seriously.” I know we do.

Waverly loves her giraffe costume and for years afterwards she has often brought it out to show guests and friends.

One adult wanted to borrow the costume the following year. When I asked how they expected to fit into a child’s costume, they said, “just cut it here” motioning just below the head as we recoiled in horror. They obviously did not understand our emotional attachment to Waverly’s costumes.

2004

✭ the Year of the Dragon ✭

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Waverly’s Costume Rank: ✭✭✭

Dad’s Costume Rank: ✭✭✭✭

n May of 2004, Natasha and I decided to take Waverly to the Dragon Park walk. The park is named Fannie Mae Dees Park but is affectionately known as “dragon park” to those who frequent it and the walk was a yearly neighborhood gathering. To get into the spirit, we made a dragon hat for Waverly.

The hat was a bit much for her 3-year head to carry for the entire walk but it was a success otherwise. As the summer rolled on and time was running out we decided to repurpose the hat for a costume. Waverly helped with her spine and we added LED lights to the eyes and tail so they would flash. This was our first experience with costume technology involving batteries but not our last.

We learned from this Halloween evening that Waverly does not like makeup on her face! We added colors to her face right before we left the house but failed to take into account the high humidity outside.Waverly carried on the whole evening with a puzzled look on her face. Once we got home I asked if something was wrong. She pointed to her face and said, “Get it off!”

This hat has proven to have some “legs”. Waverly still dons it occasionally and recently wore it to “Crazy Hat Day” during a summer camp to widespread peer approval. After six years, she is finally beginning to appreciate her dragon chapeau.

2003

✭ Edith Prickley of SCTV ✭

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Waverly’s Costume Rank: ✭✭✭

Dad’s Costume Rank: ✭✭✭✭✭

or 2009 we continued our theme of strong female role models for Waverly’s costumes, and decided on Edith Prickley of SCTV fame. Ms. Prickley was a recurring character played by comedienne Andrea Martin on the television show of the late ’70s and early ’80s and a favorite of mine. According to the Second City website, “Ms. Prickley had all the style of Jackie O. and all the charm of Jackie Mason.“ Now that I reflect on Waverly’s costumes, I am pleased her first two were based on comediennes. Of course, it is good to get these ideas out of the way while Waverly is more compliant with our wishes.

The costume was straightforward and seamstress duties were again enthusiastically handled by Waverly’s grandmother.

Our one incidental addition to this year’s Halloween trek was made out of necessity. I brought out our two-wheeled hand truck and taught Waverly how to hop on, lean back and then hop off. I anticipated that Waverly’s two-year-old legs would not make a full circuit in the neighborhood so this would be our conveyance. The hand truck with Waverly on it proved to be almost more popular than Waverly’s costume. The only trouble we had was with pea-gravel driveways—worse than quicksand!

This was the first time Waverly began to understand the purpose of Halloween—candy! At our second stop, a very formal looking woman greeted Waverly and after dispensing a few pieces of candy, Waverly motioned for the lady to come down to her level with a crooked index finger. When the lady kneeled down, Waverly kissed her on the cheek and hugged her neck. You should have seen the look on the lady’s face. She immediately dumped her whole bowl of candy into Waverly’s bag. And to think we never practiced this before! The rest of the night Waverly was planting kisses, melting hearts and filling her bags.

This Halloween year provided me with an enduring mental image. We stopped at one final house before heading home and this particular house had a driveway that slopped down from the road. I wheeled Waverly halfway down the drive and she hopped off the two-wheeler and up a small set of steps to a walk-way leading to the front door. The house had a bright outdoor corner light that silhouetted Waverly perfectly as she marched off, not pausing and leaving me in the well of the steps looking up at her. All I could do was stand there and think, “there goes my little two-year-old girl, all dressed up in adult garb, carrying a formal purse with her tiny patent leather Mary Janes click-clicking on the brick walkway. A vision of the future.” My retelling of this event made my wife sob. It makes me cry now.

My biggest regret of the evening was that only one person on our trick-or-treat route knew who Edith Prickley was.

2002

✭ Minnie-Me Pearl ✭

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Waverly’s Costume Rank: ✭✭✭✭✭

Dad’s Costume Rank: ✭✭✭✭✭

hen Waverly’s first “actionable” Halloween rolled around (actionable = the ability to walk), we began to search for costume ideas. I did not wish to focus on the macabre aspect of Halloween costumes but rather use the chance to show Waverly strong female role models. Who better a role model than Minnie Pearl if you live in Nashville? Besides, she was a family friend when she was alive.

Waverly’s grandmother fashioned a miniature trademark Minnie Pearl hat replete with tag and all we needed was a dress and shoes. When asked how she made the hat, my mother replied, “I just took an old raffia shopping bag, cut it into strips and patched them back together” Simplicity at its best considering she once made a 15-foot wide Minnie Pearl hat out of woven beige plastic trash bags for Minnie’s museum.

Waverly’s 1-year-old stamina not really being up to Halloween snuff yet, I spent the early evening driving Waverly to a few select houses. Buckling and unbuckling a child from a car seat at 5-minute intervals was not a lot of fun, but our Halloween die was cast. I do love our nickname for this costume: Minnie-me Pearl.

This hat currently resides in the permanent archive of “things saved for Waverly’s future.”

♥ the Final Brief Halloween Interlude ♥

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Waverly’s Idea Rank: ♥♥♥♥♥

ith several years of Halloween costumes under our belt, it became necessary to find a way to show people who were new to the neighborhood what they had been missing. Trading cards!

Click the image above to see the full set!

Around 2007 we developed a template to show off to family and friends not in town for Halloween. Trading cards also gave us a perfect gift for those who are always generous with Waverly. Tit for tat. Also, since our Halloween time is limited and Waverly is in it for the candy, we hand off a set of cards when a neighbor starts reminiscing about Waverly’s old costumes for too long. We love talking to our neighbors, but Waverly’s sleepy-time clock is ticking!

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Graphic Blandishment: Dad

Icon Conceptualization: Waverly, whose motto is “I come by it honest!"

and thanks to our daughter Waverly for allowing us to have this much fun!
We love you!

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