Vintage Halloween Collectibles Research (1900-1979)

Sane Halloween Observer If you look beyond catalogs (like Dennison's Bogie Books ), there exist a ton of wonderful vintage imagery appearing in magazines, early readers, and comics, etc., receiving little attention for valuation. I'm guessing this is because the content of these various publications is not completely devoted to the holiday, nor tied to the decor that people love to collect and display. So a beginning budget-conscious collector can find some real gems!   One of my favorite vintage covers is this single panel scene of sight-gags created by Graham Hunter for Treasure Chest (of Fun and Fact) Comic Book Vol 4 No. 4. October 19, 1948. A search engine will lead you to a number of his covers (and for other holidays) that are just as much fun! There's so many brilliant details inside of this one piece, that you don't mind the lack of any Halloween content in the rest of this Catholic comic book series. Wouldn't it be fantastic if one day someone g...

Sane Halloween Observer While Beistle's vintage oeuvre gets plenty of attention (that I don't suspect it will need much repeating here), some of the smaller details get lost "in the shuffle" shall we say? The Kitty Card Game  from the late 1920's is often shown with the packaging and instruction sheet, while perhaps the best part, the imagery of the individual items, is only hinted by a stack of nearby cards. I thought it would be fun to create this quick collage of the 10 hatching-effect sketches seen in the deck.

Sane Halloween Observer Offered here are random "pumpkin bits" from a 1905 stage production of  Pearl and the Pumpkin  (originally a1904 children's book, written by Paul Clarendon West and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz illustrator  W. W. Denslow ). And though remarked by many as having little success, the glimpses we get of the stage show and of the musical recordings are intriguing to Hallowe'en aficionados. Pearl and the Pumpkin - Sheet Music Hallowe'en night, Pearl watches her cousin Joe Miller carve twenty Jack O'lanterns in the pumpkin patch. See image above with Joe Miller offering Pearl a Jack O' Lantern, and read the lyrics to Jack O'Lantern Joe at Hungry Tiger Press . A baker and a canner (disgruntled by the wasted food), as well as a Mariner (who magically appears from an apple-bobbing tub and wishes to learn the secret of Joe's green thumb) conspire against Joe. As the scenes proceed from the Pringle Barn, to Hallowe'e...

Sane Halloween Observer Amazing vintage witch imagery on un-marked tally score cards. Have you identified others from this set and/or the manufacturer?

Sane Halloween Observer Here's something puzzling for a research enthusiast... This entry is written with no definitive assumptions of what the mysterious images shown here might mean in regards to production dates, but it will perhaps be of interest to vintage Halloween collectors? And perhaps someone out there can provide clear details on the history and dates of this apparently long-running decor and costume magazine?  For better detail - the images below link to the full image gallery by flickr contributor EYE-talian  where you can see these in much larger sizes. Vintage collectors will of course recognize the bottom-most row of characters on page 39 titled "The Ghosts in Haunted Castle." Anyone care to guess their story? The corresponding description reads something like this...  "#16 Block Mountain freize, 40 cm wide, 2m long, vibrant green wall strip of crepe paper with 7 different spooks together of embossed cardboard ... Frieze 11.50" ...

Sane Halloween Observer A HALLOWE'EN WISH May all the bats and ghosts and frights Bring jolly fun and laughter And fill your day with such delights You'll smile forever after! Here's an incredible vision - of another pumpkin-headed spirit at the fence ( see also  Beware! The Gatekeeper ).  This is a vintage Hallowe'en card posted by Alan Mays on Flickr ( originally posted on Ipernity: A Halloween Wish ). Would love to know more details on this item which is stated as being a single-sided greeting card from the 1920's-1930's. Will this smiling spook be as friendly once it climbs to the other side of the fence?  Check out the meticulous details of this illustration. The landscape above the fence reminds me of Seattle where you see 1930s brick tudor style architecture in neighborhoods of extremely tall Douglas Firs silhouetted in the skyline. The fence alone has me stunned, with the glowing highlights at top, the visible knots and nail-heads, and ...