Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
P. O. Box 3711
204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
276-638-8801
Toll Free: 800-234-6575
|
|
 |
|
|
Al Herndon Jr. picks out his pirate Halloween costume with his mother, Renee Herndon, at Walmart this week. (Bulletin photo by Paul Collins) |
Friday, October 30, 2009
By PAUL COLLINS - Bulletin Staff Writer
Al Herndon Jr. liked the sword, the black and white striped pants with sawtooth leg bottoms, the red sash, the skull decal on the shirt, the black and white bandanna ...
... And the eye patch.
Eight-year-old Al, of Martinsville, decided he wants to be a pirate this year for Halloween, he said as he shopped this week with his mother, Renee Herndon, at Walmart.
And Al the pirate won’t be the only swash-buckling trick-or-treater Saturday. According to a survey done for the National Retail Federation (NRF), pirates are hot this year, coming in as the fourth most popular costume for kids. Others in the top 10 are: 1) princess, 2) witch, 3) Spider-Man, 5) pumpkin, 6) vampire, 7) Disney princess, 8) “Star Wars” character, 9) Tinker Bell and 10) Batman.
For children, make-believe took the top spot among 8,526 consumers surveyed for the fifth year in a row with 4.5 million princesses expected to flood the streets this Halloween, according to an NRF news release.
Those handing out candy also will see an estimated 2 million witches, 1.3 million Spider-Men and a million pirates, pumpkins and vampires, the release states.
Renee Herndon said Al’s favorite things about Halloween are dressing up and trick-or-treating, but he doesn’t eat much of the candy he collects.
Rachel Jones, 10, and sister Lauren Jones, 7, of Eden, N.C., will dress up twice this Halloween season, and each girl will wear two different costumes — one costume for an event at First Presbyterian Church in Eden and one costume for Halloween, their mother, Kellie Jones, said as she and Rachel shopped at Walmart on Tuesday.
For the church event, Rachel and Lauren will dress as pumpkins, wearing costumes made of stuffed garbage bags with holes cut for their heads, arms and legs, Kellie Jones said.
On Tuesday, Rachel hadn’t decided for sure but was leaning toward selecting a girl hippie costume on Halloween. She liked the bright green dress with swirls, butterflies and a peace sign, the bright pink sash and nearly knee-high boots, she said.
Carmela Witt of Collinsville was shopping at Walmart with her three children, Tatianna Witt, 7; Tyler Witt, 2; and Joseph Witt, 1. She had two costumes down and one to go. She already had bought Tatianna’s costume (Sharpay from the movie “High School Musical,” complete with a long, curly blond wig).
Carmela Witt also had bought a clown costume for Tyler, but it fit Joseph better. So Tuesday, Tyler was seriously considering picking the Super Mario costume, based on a video game character.
Like Al Herndon Jr., many adults will be dressing as pirates this Halloween, according to the NRF survey. Pirate is the third most popular adult costume, according to the survey. The other top 10 adult costumes are: 1) witch, 2) vampire, 4) clown, 5) wench/tart/vixen. 6) cat, 7) devil, 8) scary costume/mask, 9) athlete and 10) police officer.
Witches remain at the top spot for adult costumes (18.1 percent), the news release states. Thanks to popular books, movies and television series, vampire costumes jumped to the No. 2 spot (4.2 percent) from third last year. Hardest hit this year were nurse costumes, which fell from No. 5 to No. 13, and political figures, which didn’t even make the list, the release states.
“The departure of both nurses and politicians from the top costumes list could be an indication that Americans would like to shelve the health care reform debate — at least for one night — to have a little bipartisan,” Tracy Mullin, NRF president and CEO, said in the release.
Ashley Hardie, a spokesman for Walmart Stores Inc., said the most popular boys’ costumes this year are from video games and blockbuster movies, such as Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Megatron, all from the “Transformers” movie, and Snake Eyes, Duke and Storm Shadow from the “G.I. Joe” movie. For girls, top choices are Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz” (it’s the 70th anniversary of the release of the movie) and the character Alex from “Wizards of Waverly Place” movie.
But, Hardie said, some traditional costumes for kids also are popular, such as princesses, witches and fairies for girls and pirates and goblins for girls or boys.
For adults, couples costumes are popular, such as gangsters and flappers in “decade costumes,” Hardie said.
Darlene Hagood, an associate at Kmart on U.S. 220 south, said the most popular costumes for children at that store include characters from the movies “Transformers” and “Cars,” and Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz,” as well as pumpkins and Spider-Man.
For adults, couples costumes are popular, such as men and women pirates, and French maid and witch costumes are popular with women.
Janet Mills, the store manager of Dollar General in Stanleytown, said princess, witch and vampire costumes for boys or girls have been the most popular children’s costumes this year. |
| |
|
|
.jpg)
