A Different Hallowe'en

 It will be a different Hallowe'en this year. Covid-19 means it may not be safe to take our children or grandchildren Trick or Treating. 

So with a sense of nostalgia, let's look back at some of the costumes I made for my kids or they put together themselves. I never let them wear a purchased costume, instead we'd go up into the attic where I kept stacks and stacks of clothes from the 1960s, 70s and 80s, and we'd let our imaginations run wild.

For example here's a pirate costume I put together for my youngest son - from a purple dress I loved in the early 80s, white gauze pants from the early 80s, a colourful sash from the 70s, and other bits and pieces I cut from clothing. I'm not a seamstress so I tacked it all together as best I could.

I forgot what he was but he was thrilled with my oversize caftan from Mexico, a coloured sash, sandals, some chunky jewellry, a toy sword and baby powder to whiten his hair.

I hope you can still make this year's Pandemic Hallowe'en fun for your little ones.

What's the Average Age of Death for Your Ancestors?

It's Hallowe'en. What could be more fun than to take a good look at your ancestors' deaths?

I decided to list hubs' ancestors' death ages  and causes of death going back 6 generations - for those whose age at death I knew.

Here are 41 ancestors' ages at death and cause of death where known. The average age at death was 69.36 years with the youngest being 35 and the oldest 96

Not sure I like seeing all those heart issues.... of 41 ancestors 12 died from heart issues and strokes.

Next I did 5 generations of my ancestors. I only had 28 ancestors I could use and the average age of death was 72.07. The youngest was 32, the oldest 93.

The most common cause of death was old age (5 of 28) and I have a variety of death issues showing for my ancestors.

I find it interesting to tabulate and analyze data like this. What is the average age of your ancestors' deaths in the last 5 to 6 generations.

Happy Hallowe'en!

A Spooky Look at Past Hallowe'ens

It was always so much fun creating costumes for my boys for Hallowe'en.

What are your memories of this fun holiday?

Happy Hallowe'en!

Hallowe'en through the years... I always made my sons' costumes out of whatever I could find in the house. Here's a few of their growing up years and a few of my grandchildren's.

Happy Hallowe'en everyone! Remember to drive carefully and watch for children

Hallowe'en Through the Years

Hallowe'en through the years... I always made my sons' costumes out of whatever I could find in the house. Here's a few of their growing up years.... the one of my son as Mr. T. won first prize in a local contest.

Happy Hallowe'en everyone! Remember to drive carefully and watch for children.

Hallowe'en Death Chart

Judy Russell of The Legal Genealogist came up with a fascinating chart of her ancestors causes of death and ages at death. It's so perfect for Hallowe'en that I decided to create my own.

It was actually a good exercise because I realized that I didn't have all the death registrations and that I hadn't really thought about their deaths. Was there a pattern? Did my ancestors have similar, perhaps genetic, health issues? Did they die young? Live to ripe old ages?

Lots of my female ancestors lived long lives, into their 80s and 90s. That's good news for me! With no further ado, here's my Hallowe'en Death Chart. You might want to create one too.

The upper case initials on each line are just to help me keep it straight as to whose information I was entering.