While Back to the Future single-handedly caused me to fantasize and yearn for the imminent invention of flying cars and hover boards, it has become clear that the past simply did some things better.  Sure, we have high definition televisions and instantly streaming digital content, but with their arrival we’ve lost video stores.  And okay, sure, we have video game systems light-years ahead of our old Nintendo, but we’ve also lost most of the arcades.  My point is this: Progress comes with a price.  Things get left behind, and often, they are things we loved.

It’s no wonder that many of us, rather than simply enjoying the holidays, strive to recreate holidays of old.  We do this through traditions that often, in and of themselves, help to relive the past, like watching old Halloween TV specials.  Notice, as you peruse the store displays in October, how many of these “new” products are simply throwbacks.  The General Mills Monster Cereals are a perfect example of taking the old and releasing it to the delight of retro-hounds.

This is not a complaint.  The corporations caught on to the trend, and Halloween-lovers benefit.  However, this example demonstrates that no matter how advanced our society becomes in some areas (vacuuming robots anyone?), other areas were perfected long ago.  One such area is the glory of the Halloween Promotional Item. 

Pretend you’re eight years old again.  Now, quick, answer without thinking:  What’s the best part of Halloween?

Did you say trick or treating?  Did you say candy?  I know those would have been my answers.  And somewhere along the line, the business people behind the largest corporations in the world figured this out too.  Their answer was to include free “treats” in products, thereby recreating the magic of Halloween night.

Hardee's had these little suckers in their Kids Meals.

In 1986, McDonalds released their cherished Halloween pails, which continued for many years after, getting makeovers every now and then.  While they are certainly not toys, and probably at the time, not very impressive to our young eyes, most of us now realize how amazing these giveaways were.

The Halloween McNugget Buddies came out in 1993.  Nothing more than a plastic McNugget with a detachable costume, these are still arguably many people’s favorite Happy Meal giveaway. Luckily, getting Halloween toys in Happy Meals hasn’t changed much over the years, unlike cereal promotions.

While we may still have our beloved monster cereals, what we have lost over the intervening years are the toys that would come in the box.  Don’t even mention the interactive digital boxes or cutout castles; it’s just not the same.

If we slide all the way back to the 70s, we’ll find one of the coolest cereal box toys to hit the scene: Freakies figures.

And lest we forget, there was a time ecstatic children could score a Monster in My Pocket in a box of Frosted Flakes!

How about a sweet Monster Cereal bike spinner?

I’d happily give back every single pumpkin spice flavored product on the market today if Kellogg’s brought back the glow in the dark monster heads in their cereal.

Let's not forget all of the great giveaways drugstores and supermarkets would do during Halloween as well.  I remember going into a Genovese Drug Store in Brooklyn and receiving a free treat with every purchase over five dollars.  Some stores would even put out special branded promo items to give away.

My greatest wish for our retro resurgence is that corporations start packaging promo items with their products once again, and what better time to start than Halloween?  With the next iteration of the Monster Cereals, there should be glow in the dark figures packed inside.  

No matter how much progress we achieve as time marches forward, for me, the Halloween season will always benefit when we recognize and relive the wonder of the past.   

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