McDonald's Halloween Pails

Yet another festive post from me.  Two in one day....watch out!  Keeping with the Halloween theme, this post discusses the immortal McDonad's Halloween Pails

I say immortal, because these things never die.  They have seen numerous reincarnations since their official inception in 1986. 

The 1986/1987 varieties are nearest and dearest to my heart because those are the versions that stand out most prominently from my childhood.  The Halloween Pails served as a vessel for the Happy Meal.  Instead of getting the cardboard box with the golden arch handles, your meal came in a plastic pumpkin.  The original Halloween pails were a set of three (as always), but they were all pumpkins, unlike their successors who were witches and ghosts as well as pumpkins.  Here is a picture of the 1986/87 pails, compliments of Sydlexia (continue reading if you want to know why I don't have any of these pails in my possession):  

(Image:  http://www.sydlexia.com/halloween_pails.htm)

Their names, in order as pictured above, were:  McGoblin, McBoo, and McPunk'n.  They came with a lid and a handle so that once you had finished your scrumptious Happy Meal, you could then go trick-or-treating and fill them with candy.  Because we already had larger pumpkin pails for trick-or-treating, my mom had other plans for the pails (to the horror of McGoblin, McBoo, and McPunk'n).  I'm not proud of this.  Keep in mind I was 2-3 years old during the pails' inaugural year.  What are most kids doing at that age?  Yup, potty training.  By October of 1987 I had already perfected the idea that I was supposed to pee in the toilet, but when you're three and at your brother's travel soccer game with no bathrooms, desperate times call for desperate measures.  Our family's whip was a brand-new, kick-ass 1986 Chevy Conversion Van, not unlike the 1990 model pictured below:

Should I (or later, my sister) feel the urge to pee when toilets were unavailable, we were free to use the fine facilities my mom provided in the privacy of the conversion van.  These "facilities" consisted of a McDonald's Halloween Pail and a box of wipes in the back seat of the van.  The curtains and blinds on the windows of the van provided a private, dark environment for relief.  When the task was complete, mom simply sealed the receptacle with the lid until she could dispose of our fluids at home.  And to our family, THAT was the primary function of the McDonald's Halloween Pail, hence the pails being so vivid in my mind and double hence why we don't still own them.

The only other McDonald's Halloween Pails that I remember well are the 1989 versions, in which McGoblin and McPunk'n were eliminated in favor of McWitch and McGhost (I bet McDonald's was really kicking themselves for already using the name McBoo, because that name would be so much more appropriate for the Ghost variety had it not already belonged to the pumpkin.  Instead, they had to settle for the lackluster "McGhost.").

(Image:  http://www.sydlexia.com/halloween_pails.htm)

McDonald's must have gotten the word of our family's antics with these pails because they wisened-up (I know that's not a word), and PUT HOLES IN THE LIDS. Thank god I was beyond the age of need for these by 1989, because they may not have been as effective with their contents sloshing around on the drive home.  

Oh wait, I take back my not remembering any other models....eventually, McGhost could GLOW IN THE DARK!  That badass version of McGhost released in 1990. 

McDonald's occasionally releases new models of their Halloween Pails every few Octobers.  They're back this year for the first time since 2001, but their design is severely lacking.  Someone needs to inform McDonald's that sometimes, simplicity is best (and why does there appear to be a potato prominently featured on the pails?).  

2010 McDonald's Halloween Pails (Image:  http://mamasmoneysavers.com)

UPDATE:  I think I get it now.  It appears as if the "potato" I was seeing earlier is in fact, a chicken McNugget.  Also, the craziness on the lid of the pail are stickers.  I assume you're supposed to remove the stickers from the lid and dress your naked McNugget with them.  huh....pretty clever.

DOUBLE UPDATE:  And is that grandiose handle a MASK?!?  Wow.  The more I look at this image, the more I understand.   

There are an abundance of the old school Halloween Pails available on eBay today, although most of them are listed as "used" and if anyone else was using them for the same purpose in which they were used by my family, I wouldn't want to buy them.  

Rating:  7 out of 10 for their multi-functionality.