Boo Buckets

I was alive in 1986, when McDonald's first served its Halloween-season Happy Meals in pumpkin-shaped pails nationwide. This first iteration of what were later dubbed "Boo Buckets" featured bright orange pails with expressive jack-o-lantern faces printed on the side, pumpkin-top lids to match, and black handles. Although I don't remember owning one myself, I'm pretty sure my sister got one of these original pumpkin pails when she was a kid. 

A recent TastingTable article looked at the full history of these buckets. I hadn't remembered there being so many different editions of the buckets over the years—though considering I aged out of ordering Happy Meals before 1990, this is no surprise.

With my youngest needing a pail for trick-or-treating this year, and both my sons still young enough for Happy Meals, I recently decided to treat them to Boo Buckets.

While I would have preferred orange pails (since that's what I remember seeing most as a kid), the McDonald's we visited had only white buckets available that day. My boys enjoyed them regardless.

Because it had been decades since I'd seen a real-life Boo Bucket, I was a little disappointed that they lacked lids and seemed a little flimsier than expected. However, I thought it was cool that the food came covered with a round cardboard card that had glow-in-the-dark stickers on one side (for customizing each pail—a plus when you have multiple kids). Printed on the other side was a Halloween-themed maze (though the activity cards may vary). I was pleasantly surprised that the Happy Meals cost about $4 each.

From the YouTube channel The Haunted Drive-in, here is a 1986 commercial for the original Halloween Pumpkin Happy Meals:

Halloween Mixtape

Okay, the title is a little misleading. But "mix DVD" doesn't have the same ring.

About 20 years ago, back when DVD burners were still standard computer hardware, I made my own two-disc compilation of some of my favorite Halloween TV episodes. Most of the episodes were ones my family had recorded off television onto VHS, and I converted them to digital video. I should add that this was probably a year or two before YouTube even existed.

The first disc contains full episodes while the second is a mix of full episodes with various Halloween-themed segments from other programs.

Disc 1 (menu music: Theme from Disney's Haunted Mansion)

1. Three Stooges: "If a Body Meets a Body"
2. Bewitched: "Safe and Sane Halloween"
3. Brady Bunch: "To Move or Not to Move"
4. Brady Bunch: "The Slumber Caper"
5. Brady Bunch: "Fright Night"
6. Happy Days: "Haunted"
7. Happy Days: "The Evil Eye"

Disc 2 (menu music: "The Skeleton Dance")

1. Little House on the Prairie: "The Monster of Walnut Grove"
2. That's Incredible: Haunted Castle in New Jersey
3. That's Incredible: Haunted Toys R Us
4. Eye on L.A.: "Halloween 3-D"
5. Jack White at the Old Margo Theater
6. Saturday Night Live: Halloween with Matt Foley
7. Our Gang: "Shivering Spooks"
8. Mickey Mouse: "Haunted House"
9. Silly Symphonies: "The Skeleton Dance"
10. 1984 McDonald's Commercial
11. 1985 Vincent Price Commercial
12. McDonald's Commercial: "Scared Silly"
13. Brady Bunch: "Out of This World"
14. Brady Bunch: "Two Petes in a Pod"

In its own way, my amateur DVD compilation helped inspire this blog, The Ghosts of Halloweens Past, which I initiated several years later with posts about many of these same programs. I appreciate the low-fi quality to the VHS transfer, and the fact that I can watch these programs on a TV screen and not have to be connected online. Makes the experience a little more old-school, like when mixtapes were a thing.

What would be on your Halloween DVD compilation?

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Commercial (1993)

Pepsi/Doritos Monster Match Commercial (1991)

National Safety Council PSA (1989)

Public service announcement about Halloween safety, featuring Garfield and Odie. Some of the animation from "Garfield's Halloween Adventure" was used for this commercial.

Nick Or Treat Halloween Giveaway (1985)

Burger Chef commercial (1976)

Circuit City Midnight Madness commercial (1986)

Bud Light Halloween Spuds McKenzie commercial (1988)

Hallmark Halloween commercial (1989)

American Express commercial with Stephen King (1985)

Woolworth & Woolco Halloween Commercial (1978)

Commercial from 1978:


Commercial from 1978 or earlier:

1980s Toys R Us Halloween Commercials

Commercial from 1980:


Commercial from around 1985:

McDonalds Safe Treats gift certificates (1984)

Here is a 1984 McDonalds commercial for Safe Treats: gift certificates that posed much less of a risk to children than traditional Halloween give-aways. Think of how much fun Halloween would be if every house gave these out! I can't imagine real children being as excited over Safe Treats as the ones depicted in the commercial. Safe Treats are similar to the Easter Seals Safe Halloween Coupons.

Vincent Price Easter Seals Halloween commercial (1985)

In October 1985, Vincent Price appeared in this commercial for Easter Seals Safe Halloween Coupons. There are a lot of neat Halloween details in this short commercial: thunder and lightning, a shattering vase, flying bats, disembodied hand, a black cat, and (of course) narration by Vincent Price:

"Halloween doesn't have to be spooky...not with Easter Seals Safe Halloween Coupons, the safe treat that gives treatment. Safe Halloween Coupons are good for treats in stores and restaurants. Give them to trick-or-treaters, or treat yourself. Give Easter Seals Safe Halloween Coupons, because Halloween should be warm and friendly!"


Apparently, Baker's Drive-Thru restaurants, in Southern Californa, are still sponsoring Easter Seals Safe Halloween coupon books after 20 years.