Vintage Halloween Collectibles Research (1900-1979)

Halloween Eye-Candy A goal for The Halloween Retrospect's antique/vintage Halloween collectibles art survey  Halloween Artifacts V1:Lighting is a focus on imagery (maintaining a heavy-lean on data from primary sources). The result is a full-color 8-1/2" x 11" book that displays 100+ pages of large-format photos of lanterns, shades and glow-in-dark diecut decor. The end result presents to collectors unusual views and/or previously unseen objects (with enough room in the layout to include vendor timelines and catalog samples). Below is a page sample that hopefully gives readers an idea of book contents cover to cover (and see  THR's bookstore on Etsy  to read reviews like the flattering one included below). Cover and page samples of  Halloween Artifacts, V1: Lighting    Book review of  Halloween Artifacts, V1: Lighting    Given that THR has now published a handful of reference guides, what is this particular reference all about?  Hallowee...

Vintage Halloween Collectible Guide: THR's New Visual Survey of Lanterns The Halloween Retrospect  ( see THR's bookstore on etsy here ) is pleased to announce that as of the end of September 2024 nearly 200 books by THR have sold since the first research digests arrived for sale in June 2023. Perhaps that is relatively a small number, but the archive librarian feels this ain't too shabby give the niche subject matter, and that THR (publications) is a small do-it-yourself enterprise available only via the etsy bookstore .  And, at that, most of those books were wordy research digests based on data from THR's archive library (!!!) but now, just over a year later, THR begins a splashy new series of visual survey books that are more like art-books in their presentation of vintage Halloween collectibles. That said, the content remains focused on using that archive library of catalogs, newspapers, etc., to show the market availability of the items' as seen from the vinta...

Halloween Artifacts, Volume 1: Lighting: Halloween Artifacts, Volume 1: Lighting is the latest book to be released for sale from THR's bookstore . With a different approach from the more in-depth research digests that preceded, this book features vintage Halloween collectibles displayed in vibrant full-color on 8-1/2" x 11" pages - and will offer collectors some unusual views and/or previously unseen objects across 114 pages. That said, the driving force behind this book, as with all from THR, continues to rely on primary sources (of the original vintage marketplace) via newspapers, 550+ vendor catalogs, etc).. Those sources are used together with photography to provide catalog clippings and to develop individual timelines for past appearances of the object.  Below is the cover shown with some sample pages... Cover and page samples of  Halloween Artifacts, V1: Lighting    Halloween Artifacts, Volume 1: Lighting    is expected to have a sales release date o...

Vision-wary Architects freebie mailer: By way of quick introduction, the photo above is a visual celebration that shows all the postcards that went out in a batch mailer the week of July 21, 2024 - to all who previously purchased any volume of The Halloween Retrospect guidebook reference . Thank you!!!  Sending out a mailer in such numbers really proved to this author how much support has found its way to The Halloween Retrospect archive library . A head-spinning number of crossword cards going out to those who in past purchased any volume of The Halloween Retrospect. The story behind the postcard is this.... Since the release June 2024 of new reference  THR,  Vol 3  ( link here to THR book store ) the author has been continuing in background with the creation of brain-teasers for autumn fans. You might recall that Volume 3 is the first in the THR series to contain a "Puzzle Bulletin" with a vintage-Halloween themed crossword "Afterworld Lodger" inspired by th...

Halloween Collector Guides THR - a year in review As of late June 2024 (almost a year since the first book) there will be  three volumes  of The Halloween Retrospect  ( and a new art survey book added below as of September ) for the Halloween collector to add to their shelf of vintage references supporting that collection of visual survey books. THR is full of informative research articles that focus on certain market items as seen in the pages of various primary sources (mainly ~550 catalogs of consumer/vendor materials 1900-1979) and other archive materials across the United States (such as Framingham History Center for THR, V2 or Hallmark Archives for THR, V3 ). Guidebooks for the vintage Halloween collector with a focus on vintage research through vintage sources. If you are just now encountering The Halloween Retrospect archive library and its in-house publishing, please see the Home page (for introduction and a list of numerous blog entries) or check out variou...

The Halloween Retrospect, Volume 3: An expected release of June 2024 is slated for Volume 3, The Halloween Retrospect reference series ( link here to THR blog ) and it sits in waiting with new content in an edition mostly about haunted houses, mostly! It is hoped that vintage Halloween collectors will appreciate a deeper review at ephemera collectible (of the haunted house) by such companies as Beistle, Dennison, Hallmark (featured in book with poster), Gibson (on the cover), Norcross, Whitney, and more. Book availability will be announced on the  THR website  in the near future.  This third time around, the library’s archivist at THR has opportunity to create a double-feature article on the transformation of haunted house imagery in early 20th-century times - and such a survey is not complete without considering the amazing mid-century paper engineering (in Part 2) from the past creative team of Hallmark Cards, Inc. for which help from Hallmark Archive  is include...

Hallmark Vintage Halloween Collectibles Part 3: 1970's As with  Hallmark Halloween Part 1: 1950’s  and  Hallmark Halloween Part 2: 1960’s  the final entry considering the history of vintage Halloween collectibles by Hallmark (Ambassador, etc.) comes to a close with  Hallmark Halloween Part 3: 1970’s   All entries are part of a study by the archive librarian to get a better grasp on assembly, honeycomb, and pop-ups pieces created by Hallmark Cards, Inc. (1950-1980). This is all in regards to a research article (on a different topic of The THR, V3 to appear in THR’s bookstore ). As with  “Decrypting Dennison: Serial Number Guide Featuring Autumn Publications” (THR, V2) , this entry into "later years" is pursued to exhaustively verify changes over the decades. Shown here (and above) are details from a pop-up book  A Visit to a Haunted House (1972) by Hallmark.

Hallmark Vintage Halloween Collectibles Part 2: 1960's As in previous entry Hallmark Halloween Part 1: 1950’s , The Halloween Retrospect vintage collectibles guidebook series is researching dates for autumn Hallmark centerpieces (around and a tad later than mid-century) to inform a book article on a relative subject. The book's article is in development stage for collectors’ guide The Halloween Retrospect, Volume 3, and this entry (including that which falls before and after) will be a bit of a sneak-peek into the next volume ( to be available from THR’s bookstore ). So, here we go, to discover better dates for Hallmark ephemera (assembly, honeycomb, and pop-up) circa 1950-1980. And as with “Decrypting Dennison: Serial Number Guide Featuring Autumn Publications” (THR, V2) , much is revealed by taking a broader view at Hallmark’s products across the decade of the 1960's. Shown here is a detail from a large table-top pop-up  Haunted House centerpiece by Ambassador (Hallmark).