Very few stamps were issued during first years of World War II and most that were issued related directly to the war and the war effort. But one of the handful that were issued was today’s #stampoftheday, a 3-cent stamp issued on October 31, 1944 honoring the 50th anniversary of motion pictures. (The event commemorated by the stamp was the opening of the first commercial venue using machines invented by Thomas Edison.)

If you look closely, you’ll see that the stamp does, in fact, relate to the war effort because it portrays troops watching a movie on a make-shift screen made from a bedsheet. Though he never mentioned seeing a movie such a situation, the image makes me think of my father, who arrived in Europe sometime in the fall of 1944 and spent the rest of the war serving as a radioman in a reconnaissance vehicle, a posting that often put him on the front lines.

The stamp and the connection to my father makes me think about the power and importance of storytelling and imagery, particularly in challenging times. And the fact that today is October 31, makes me think of a particular type of imagery: the things we use to mark Halloween.

Well after my siblings and I had left home, my father found one of his many true callings, creating whimsical animals and people from pumpkins and other fall vegetables. He would do this – along with a wonderful and well-developed shtick – in my mother’s elementary-school classrooms, in the children’s ward at our local hospital, and then for his grandchildren. In the 1990s, this was a highlight of the October visits my parents would make before they left for warmer places.

In October 2001, 10 months after my father had passed away, we were pondering whether and how to continue what had become a beloved tradition, particularly because we lacked his artistic talents, at least as it came to vegetables. Nevertheless, we persisted and began making our own creatures, a tradition that continued long after our daughters left for college. Over the years, our displays included a host of whimsical creatures as well as a large Red Sox player (in 2004), a vegetable chorus, five pumpkins that spelled out “Obama in 2008 and 11 that spelled out “Obama” and “Warren” in 2012,” and, in recent years, variety of pumpkin protests, including an “Occupy Outlook Drive” protest in 2011, and a call for the president’s impeachment in 2019.
Like everything else, Halloween is different this year (and to make it even more bizarre, there’s currently about three inches of snow on the ground). So Jody and I weren’t sure if the tradition would continue and, if it did, what would emerge when we sat down with a pumpkin and a table full of vegetables. As you can see, in our way, we are using this tradition to suggest (perhaps even urge) people to wear masks and vote to end this nonsense.

Be well, stay safe, fight for justice, vote, wear a mask, and work for peace.