Hallowe'en Panorama

Sane Halloween Observer

Hallowe'en crepe paper (and it's ephemera relatives - napkins, paper plates, cups, etc.), is in some ways the forgotten art form of vintage Hallowe'en, and the great variety of these prints mostly absent from many modern books on collectibles. Dennison's Bogie Books offer a resource from their own company catalog, but a full visual retrospective of multiple companies' work could fill an entire collector's book of richly bizarre patterns. It would be a welcome addition if someone out there surveyed these amazing works!

One amazing snippet from this neglected history is listed as a Panoramic Crepe in the 1921 Bogie Book - H108 Hallowe'en Design  (fold 10 ft. long without repetition of design).  It can be seen appearing for a few years in the Bogie Books, and is here (image below) used as a table skirt. Amazing to imagine how these now precious paper designs were sliced up to make other displays. Directly below this "decorating suggestion" is a slow un-rolling photograph of the design left to right.

Bogie Book decorating suggestion - 1921.

For more Halloween crepe paper patterns check out Rise & Fall Of the House of Crepes and for a little something about the challenges of maintaining these fragile works see Halloween Humidification Horrors! If you know of any good visual surveys on paper party-good designs for crepe, napkins, cups, etc., don't hesitate to share the link.