CLOSTER, N.J.—We go back 60 years for this vintage Halloween gem that was submitted to Northern Valley Press by one of our readers, Closter native Lorraine Zampolino Bianco.
The Taaz Trophy is an old tradition in Closter, where the honor is still given out at Halloween to the child with the most outstanding costume.
At Halloween in 1959, when the photo at below was taken, Lorraine Zampolino Bianco (left, holding the trophy) won that year’s “Most Beautiful” category for her costume, “Princess from India.” Bianco is handing the trophy to that year’s winner for “Most Interesting” costume: the boy who dressed as Thanksgiving dinner!
Awards were also given to the most scary and funny costumes. Don’t miss the costumes in the background! Is that an hourglass shape on the spider in the back left? A black widow, perhaps? And on the right, do we have a headless horseman astride his steed?
Today the majority of parents will take their children to a costume store to purchase trick-or-treating attire. By contrast, costumes of the 1950s, except for the plastic masks, were largely homemade and truly one-of-a-kind.
Zampolino Bianco tells us that the Taaz Restaurant and Catering was located on Main Street next to Hometown Hardware.
News reports from the time tell us that in 1959 about 250 Closter youngsters participated in what was then the 10th annual Halloween ragamuffin parade. The Village School marching band led a procession of costume-clad kiddos from Memorial Field to the Tenakill School Auditorium, where more than 45 costume awards were given out by the Closter Recreation Commission.