Spooky Celebrities of Colorado Springs

 The Colorado Springs Pioneer Museum has an A-Z display about interesting things in the springs.  For the letter E, we have none other than Cassandra Peterson aka Elvira.

L is for Lon Chaney, another actor from Colorado Springs who invented infamous dark personas.

 

The Bogie Book

The Bogie book was a Hallowe'en party manual published annually by the Dennison Manufacturing Company about 1909 until 1935.  It gave suggestions on how to host a successful Hallowe'en themed events including adult and children's parties, dinner dances, club meetings, bridge evenings and other functions.  Much of the manual gave instructions for creating decorations and costumes out of Dennison's many crepe and card stock paper products.  What a brilliant marketing ploy!

Halloween parties became increasingly popular in the early part of the 20th century, due largely to Dennison's commercialization of Halloween through the Bogie Book.  In addition to decorations and costumes mentioned earlier,  other content included stunts, games, invitations, favors, menus, themes, and ghost stories .  Some books also had ideas for Thanksgiving.  If you wish to learn more or even read some original Bogie Books, the Food Historian has an excellent blog.  Also Framingham History Center has an interesting slide show about the Dennison Manufacturing Company.  The company has since merged with Avery and moved to California.

Why this deep dive into the Bogie Book?  I have committed to do the Manitou Springs Heritage Center skeleton window in 2025 in a Bogie Book theme and am learning all I can about the books.  My favorite thing I have gleaned so far is how to dress a pack of cigarettes up as a Halloween prize or favor.  Very few of Dennison Paper products have survived into the present day and what has is viciously expensive.  So I will have to recreate from scratch.  There are a few good resources out there such as this video from Nick Alcaraz at Peculiar food.  As the books are in the public domain, copyright is not an issue.

I have a lot of studying to do as well as getting creative.  Luckily crepe paper can still be found as well as card stock. Wish me luck!

Darn Tough!

 Darn Tough socks are my favorite and for good reason - they last a long time and are guaranteed for life so if one gets a hole, you send it in and they send you a new pair.  They are made in Vermont and as far as I can tell, treat their workforce well with 3 weeks of vacation, benefits and other perks.  Last fall they finally introduce some Halloween socks. Baby M got them for me for Christmas and I love them.

These are squirrels eating pumpkins

Here's Dracula cutting a rug.

If you are looking to ditch cheap socks that wear out quickly, I highly recommend Darn Tough!
 

Margaret Browns House

 This year while in Denver in October, we finally took in Margaret Brown's House.  The "Unsinkable Mollie Brown" was a fabrication invented in the 1930's after her death. Mollie was a slur for an Irish woman and Margaret's life was far more interesting and meaningful than that ridiculous tale conveys.   She was the daughter of Irish immigrants and was born in Hannibal Missouri. She met her husband  JJ Brown in Leadville Colorado.  After making their money in the mining business, Margaret and JJ moved to Denver and built this house.

 Margaret was a huge activist always supporting a cause.  She helped establish the first Juvenile justice system, campaigned for a woman's right to vote, survived the Titanic, ran for state senate and spearheaded the raising of money for the surviving Titanic widows and orphans.  She supported labor rights, historic preservation and many other humanitarian causes.

 

She was also the quintessential hostess who hosted grand events to raise money for those causes.  When we were there, her house was decorated with Halloween entertaining in mind.   It featured many vintage holiday decorations.

There was also an interesting bit about Victorian spiritualism.  Below is a picture made out of human hair - a popular keepsake in the Victorian era.

Embalming tools were also on display

Skeleton Craze Judge Results

 I never disclosed the winners of the Skeleton Craze from 2024.  Here is the article as it appeared in the Pikes Peak Bulletin from early Nov.  Have you noticed whose photos they used under the heading?

First Prize and the Peoples Choice Awards: Flowers and the Moon Moss and Mushroom Skeleton

They won again as this skeleton was just so cool.

2nd Prize: A tie between Mountain High Gallery and Gifts Skeleton Times and Mountains West Beetlejuice

Third Prize: Southwest Silvers Co.  Fortune Teller

Honorable Mentions included Red Mountain Bar and Grill and Border Burger Bar.  I did not choose the store bought prop but the other judges loved it so I caved.

Finally we gave two unique awards - the best childless cat lady to Belle Boheme and the best new business to InclinE-bikes.

Resolutions 2025

 

These are my 2025 Resolutions.  They are designed as obtainable goals rather than nebulous pipe dreams. 

• Build our Pet Sitting Profile - this is through the website Trusted House sitters.  Basically one pays to join and then takes care of peoples homes and pets.  His Lordship and I think it is a great way to get free lodging when we go on vacation.  We, however, will limit ourselves to 1 pet households. 
• Downsize my Household - I am going to decreased excess clutter and junk I have been hanging onto just in case we ditch this country.
• Finish or downsize Halloween crafts - you know who you are. That tote in the garage.  that needs to be addressed.
• Stained glass projects - Make another bristle cone pine tree, design and make a skull with lights, add stain glass panels to a lantern, make his Lordship pikes peak with garden of the Gods. Spider web mirror (one of those Halloween crafts) and make a dragonfly panel for Lisa.
• Baby M craft projects - We are gonna make cloches, witch hats, witch jars
• Heritage Center Skeleton Craze  - Do a window display based on the Bogey Book
• Front Grade trunk or treat - Participate with a green witch theme
• Pawtober Fest - enter the dogs in the costume contest
• Cut my local driving in 1/2 by doing 1/2 my yoga classes online. 
• Use the rest of the foam in garage to make more Tombstones
• Participate in a Cronk Arts and Curiosities Moon Market
• Grow all my own plants - only buy tomatoes and peppers for the garden. 
• Finish the last of the landscape - extend xeric bed and path.
•