I recently discovered this photo wedged into an old book that had been found in moldy garage which was being cleared out. I have no idea who the book belonged to nor who is depicted in the picture. On the back of the photo are these handwritten words:

The picture was so vivid (click on it to see the full-size extra-vivid version) and so poignantly captured another era that I thought it deserved to be brought back to life 58 years later.

Things are a little different now. Halloween 1951, meet Halloween 2009.

(“Jerry Hazen” was apparently not a member of the family but was rather a professional photographer brought in to take pictures at a kids’ costume party. The Internet being the amazing thing that it is, I discovered after one minute of searching that Jerry Hazen also had the “Picture of the Week” published in the July 30, 1951 isssue of Life Magazine, showing a mouse nibbling an ear of corn in front of a picture of a mouse nibbling the same ear of corn [click the link for an explanation and see the image]. The Halloween photo above was taken just a few months afterward.)